Vi i Villa Invests in Mobile Platforms

Vi i Villa, which is produced by the Swedish Bonnier Publications, is Sweden's biggest magazine with 2 million copies printed. They are distributed free to all homeowners in Sweden, with comparable magazines in Denmark, Norway and Finland. The web site is also popular with over 100,000 unique visitors each week. In December came the next step: a  cell phone site that will also be a smart-phone application in the future.

"Many of our readers and visitors use cell phones for different services," says Christopher Holmerin, Nordic sales manager for interactive media at Bonnier Publications. "We wanted to be seen and show that we're on the cutting edge. Plus the mobile site set us up for the next launch: an auction service that premiered in January."

Every month will have a new auction, where readers can bid on fifteen different products related to house and home - such as cast-iron stoves and furniture. The products will be part of a package that Vi i Villa will offer to advertisers - Vi i Villa has had no problem getting products to auction.

"We have 175,000 subscribers to our newsletter, where the auction service has been marketed," says Holmerin. "It provides a good foundation for the effort and we have had some 2,000 unique visitors to the auction module in the first hour of the three auctions we've had since the launch."

Above all, Vi i Villa's advertisers are most interested in the leads generated, says Holmerin.

"If 100 people bid on an cast-iron stove and one person wins the auction, the advertiser has 99 others who have shown they're interested in buying a stove," says Holmerin. "So we can send an offer to them to buy a stove at a reduced price. It's obviously interesting for our advertisers."

The auction service will launch in Norway next week. Denmark and Finland will follow. And this isn't the only news for Vi i Villa's mobile strategy.

"We've just launched a check-in service based on Facebook Places," says Holmerin. "Users connect their cell phone numbers to Vi i Villa's Facebook page and check in to different events we participate in to receive an invitation and information. The opening offer is a 20 kronor rebate for entry to the Hem & Villa house and home show in Malmö on March 3-4. Just now we're also looking at the possibility of launching check ins in the other three Nordic countries."

Vi i Villa Checkin was developed by TV4 Mobilab, which has also built check-in services for Pressbyrån, among others (read more here).