Following the carve-out of Schibsted Media, Schibsted’s remaining business areas – Nordic Marketplaces and Growth & Investments – will create the basis of a new and exciting marketplace company.
Nordic Marketplaces currently comprises leading marketplaces across the Nordics such as FINN, Blocket, Tori, DBA, Oikotie and Bilbasen, as well as the Delivery operations in Norway. Growth & Investments includes companies such as Lendo, Prisjakt, MittAnbud and a portfolio of early-stage investments.
Our marketplace businesses are currently in the midst of a large strategic shift, as we have organised them to collaborate across the brands in four key verticals: Mobility, Recommerce, Real-Estate and Jobs, instead of countries.
This makes it possible for us to create common platforms, enabling greater investments in each solution and faster rollouts of innovations. This decision was founded on our belief that the way you sell a car is fundamentally different from the way you sell a t-shirt, but the way you sell a t-shirt is quite similar across our countries.
This journey will continue as we step into the future of a new marketplace company with a mission to make sustainable alternatives and circular consumption the obvious choice. The future strategy and organisational setup for this company are being developed now and are expected to be presented at a Capital Markets Day in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Christian Printzell Halvorsen, EVP Nordic Marketplaces
“I am incredibly excited about what’s next. Schibsted Marketplaces will be a leaner and faster organisation that can – and will – do more,” says Christian Printzell Halvorsen, EVP Nordic Marketplaces.
The new brand
The Schibsted brand will follow the new media company after the separation, meaning that this marketplace company needs a new name and new brand. Hanne Hollstedt, CMO of Growth & Investment, and Janne Jacobsen, Director of Brand and Marketing in Nordic Marketplaces, are leading that project.
Hanne Hollstedt, CMO of Growth & Investment
Janne Jacobsen, Director of Brand and Marketing in Nordic Marketplaces
“We have some of the strongest brands in the Nordics, to embrace them in a new family with a new ‘mother’ will be great fun,” Hanne says.
The brand we create needs to be broad enough to work for different directions that the company might take now and in the future. For instance, you don’t want a name that makes the scope of the operations too narrow for future innovation. In these times, when change is constant, this is the reality for brands in general. Companies develop and take new directions.
Another key component will, of course, be Schibsted’s long history of trust legacy, innovation ability and the culture of entrepreneurship. The timeline is short – the goal is to have a new brand in place late this year, but the name and overarching story should be decided on already by the summer.
Both Hanne and Janne are looking forward to getting the name in place – but they are also aware that that’s just the beginning.
“Of course, it’s important to have that name and a logotype in place – but it doesn’t mean anything until you fill it with meaning. To be known, recognised and liked, you also need to invest a lot in a new brand,” says Janne.
