Strategy

Our strategy is focused on the customer, improving the customer experience and creating value for all our stakeholders. The three focus
areas are: 1) transformation, 2) growth, and 3) scalability.

Three focus areas of the strategy

Our transformation from a company reliant on the printed newspaper publishing business to a provider of digital services has been well underway for a long time and investments in digital media and services have been made since the mid-1990s. Alma Media has been transforming the media business since it decided to take the publishing business to the future by turning printed media into digital.

In fact, the first efforts were already seen in the late 1990s in the form of Kauppalehti and Iltalehti websites. At the time, digital business accounted for a few percent of revenue. At the same time, as work on the media revolution began, investments in marketplaces also started. During the transformation trip, the company has had practically the same strategy all the time: translation from print to digital media and media to services, and internationalisation.

In our strategy, we have outlined a comprehensive plan for the development, growth and scaling up of our business

Alma Media continues its strategic transformation of the media and service-providing company towards advanced platform solutions-company in marketplaces, media and information services. Our key business areas are recruitment, mobility, housing and premises, information services and news media. We focus on the businesses where we have the ability to create added value for the end-customer and where the competitive advantage enables us to grow profitably. We combine our own and our customers’ technical and commercial platforms for seamless service packages that improvethe customer experience of our service users and enhance digital processes of our corporate customers, such as sales and purchasing processes in the marketplaces business. We seek growth by supplementing our offering in key businesses’ value chains. We accelerate growth via acquisitions and we will continue the internationalisation of our businesses also in new geographic areas. We develop both technology and knowledge capabilities to enable growth and transformation. The artificial intelligence and audiences are the shared strategic priorities of the Group’s businesses for the strategy period. The rapid development of AI will have a broad impact on our operating environment and business in the future. We will fully leverage the opportunities presented by the latest AI-driven technology and harness AI in our business operations to develop our products and services, increase the efficiency of our processes and streamline the work of our professionals.

It is our goal to support faster time to market for products and build greater agility. Growth of the audience using our services, increase the engagement of the users, registered use of our services, more personalised services are essential for all of our businesses. We pursue synergies through cooperation by, for example, managing traffic between our services to support audience growth; collecting, refining and commercialising data; taking advantage of common technology, platforms, capabilities and functions; and investing in joint media sales in Finland.

Users are increasingly interested in online services and trading, even when it comes to larger household purchases. With the digitalisation of purchasing processes, we are taking a strategic step towards developing our marketplaces from classified advertisement listing services to advanced digital platforms. The goal is to help both our end users and our B2B partners to easily and smoothly interact online, and we also aim to offer additional services at different stages of the transaction process. For example, a consumer can take the car or housing transaction to the end, up to financial arrangements, on new trading platforms. This will require a licence granted to Alma Media in late spring 2023 to handle payment intermediation.

Examples of the advanced new services in the mobility vertical include the digital used car auction service Baana, online documentation and electronic payments in the car trade, and the “Helpot Kaupat” (“Easy transaction”) model that can be used with a smartphone. In the housing vertical, the OviPro solution is a similar example. The DOKS service is a digital tool that helps companies manage anti-money laundering obligations, monitor sanctions and, in general, identify and know their customers.

Since the end of 2021, the Alma Career United project has increased cooperation, as planned, in product development, sales and marketing, harmonised technology and operating models, and built services that are even more internationally competitive. The project aims for stronger synergies in the production of services for corporate customers, as well as the development of recruitment solutions that extend across the borders of our countries of operation. Central to the progress is the harmonisation of technology and service platforms enabling joint product development in 10 countries, as well as the gradual integration of financial, HR and legal processes into the Group’s processes. The Alma Career B2B brand has been launched for corporate customers, also enabling the buying and selling of the entire Alma Career product and service portfolio in all operating countries and across Europe going forward.

Strategy implementation during 2024

The Career United project, which seeks to deepen internal cooperation and improve productivity in the Alma Career segment, continued to move forward. Projects related to the renewal of a common system architecture and back-end systems progressed according to plan. The CV databases in the Czech Republic and Slovakia were consolidated to serve the needs of recruiting companies even more effectively. Following the adoption of a new job platform in Slovakia, the deplyoment of new AI-driven search technology significantly improved the matching of jobseekers and employers. Our cross-border product organisation began its operations with the aim of maintaining competitiveness, enhancing product development, accelerating the integration of platform systems and improving the management of the product portfolio. The Prace za Rohem mobile recruitment service developed in the Czech Republic was successfully expanded into the Slovakian market, and the redesigned Poslovac mobile recruitment service was launched in the Croatian market. Business operations in Poland were wound down as part of the Group’s withdrawal from the Polish market. The withdrawal does not have a material impact on Alma Media’s financial figures. Alma Career acquired the Czech start-up Nelisa s.r.o., whose main product is technology that enables the programmatic buying of recruitment advertising. The acquisition provides the segment’s operating countries with additional tools for the targeting of recruitment advertising, as well as new distribution channels for advertising displays.

Digital housing transaction services are developed in cooperation with banks and real estate agents. The DIAS platform covers over 3,000 real estate agents and all significant banks providing housing financing in Finland: DIAS was used for nearly half of all transactions for shares in housing companies that were concluded through real estate agents. In the business premises marketplace business, the platform is being redesigned to meet the diverse needs of our customers in Finland and Sweden, and digital services are being expanded to cover the various stages of the customer’s entire value chain. The Nettimökki service for renting holiday homes was redesigned, enabling secure payments via Alma’s own payment service. In addition, a new service was launched for legal professionals, bringing together content produced by specialists in various branches of law.

In Alma News Media, the main development projects included building a shared media platform for different media brands and taking advantage of AI in editorial work. The new segment’s technology and data organisations were consolidated in 2023 and in 2024, common digital publication tools were launched for use by the editorial teams. The AI team started its work, and tools that assist editorial work were widely deployed. AI is also used in Iltalehti’s sentiment analysis, which helps develop content and target content at audiences even more effectively than before. Among the products, Kauppalehti’s website, application and digital services were completely redesigned and the news content was sharpened. The KL Avain concept was launched as a new content product. It puts more emphasis on in-depth content and increases Kauppalehti’s value for digital subscribers. In Q3, the focus of the redesign effort was shifted to Arvopaperi. The segment’s digital subscription sales strategy is supported by the merger of the Group’s Finnish companies during the period under review, which made it possible to consolidate the customer bases of different media products. To ensure its long-term competitiveness, the segment conducted change negotiations. The publication of Kauppalehti’s print supplements Optio and Fakta ended at the turn of the year, as did the publication of Mediuutiset. The number of employees was reduced by 20 person-years. The Kotikokki.net service was sold. The divestment did not have a material impact on Alma Media’s figures.

Read more about Alma Media long-term financial targets.

Business model

Alma Media has business operations in three business and reporting segments:

• Ama Career
• Alma Marketplaces
• Alma News Media

Alma Media’s sources of revenue are:

• classified advertising,
• advertising,
• digital services,
• content,
• other sales.

The revenue categories listed above comprise several different revenue generating models. The media sector’s historically clear division between circulation sales and advertising sales has become diversified as a result of digitisation. 

Description of the business model

As the digital transformation has progressed, digital marketplaces have become an increasingly significant area of Alma Media’s business. They include services related to recruitment, housing, cars and mobility, for example. The customers of Alma Media’s digital services include both companies and consumers. The digital services business model is based on customer fees charged for classified advertising, fees for increased visibility in classified advertising, service sales, revenue streams from service content and/or advertising targeted at the users of the service, subscription fees and licence fees for the use of information systems.

The media business includes, for example, the professional and financial media and books as well as the national multichannel media Iltalehti. The media business is based on a relationship with readers built through content. As media develops, the reader relationship is shaped into a multidimensional customer relationship with a media brand. The strength of this relationship can vary from occasional visitors or buyers of single copies to the use of online services as registered users of online services, paying consumers of digital content and long-term subscribers of print publications.

The Group’s other services include information services as well as training, event and direct marketing business.

For all businesses, readers and online visitors constitute target groups that are characteristic to each brand. These target groups are the basis for advertising sales. These target group contacts are sold to advertisers on a brand-specific basis and as audience segments from the digital Alma network. For advertisers, this opens up valuable opportunities to specifically target the businesses, professionals, decision-makers, entrepreneurs or consumers that are relevant to the growth of their business. The use of data, analytics and machine learning plays an increasingly important role in improving the product and service offering for advertisers and enriching the end-user service experience. Data and marketing automation enable the provision of increasingly high-quality, effective and impactful solutions to advertisers.

Brand appeal and the communications and marketing efforts aimed at maintaining it are crucial in the digital environment. Alma Media’s services are the best-known brands in their segments in Finland and the Group’s operating countries in Eastern Central Europe. The popularity of these services among users is based on a high level of usability, unique content and, in many cases, the importance of the social or communal dimension. It is also essential to have the ability to respond to customer needs by delivering localised products and services.

Value creation

In Alma Media’s value creation for customers, shareholders and society, the key roles are played by the strong journalism, marketing and technology expertise of the Group’s employees, strong product and service brands, customer data, the best partners, an efficient production and delivery network and a stable financial position.  These are described in more detail in value creation model.