Pirkka family of publications to A-lehdet

Kesko Corporation and Markkinointiviestintä Dialogi Oy, which is part of the A-lehdet Group, will start cooperation in the publishing of the Pirkka family of publications. Dialogi was selected as the publisher of the K-Group's customer magazines on the basis of competitive bidding.

Cooperation that will start at the beginning of next year will include the publishing of the Pirkka, Birka and K-RuokaPirkka magazines as well as the Pirkka.fi web service. Pirkka, established in 1933, is the most widely circulated and read Finnish magazine. According to the National Media Research KMT, the magazine has nearly 2.5 million readers. Pirkka and its Swedish-language sister magazine Birka are loyal customer magazines of K-Plussa.

”The agreement signed underpins the K-Group's customer loyalty reform we are currently working on. The development proposals presented by A-lehdet in competitive bidding best met our objectives of making our publications a whole with a stronger focus on serving customer needs and trading sector seasons. We have also agreed that the magazines of the A-lehdet Group will be included in the network of the K-Plussa system from the beginning of next year,” says Niila Rajala, Managing Director of K-Plus Oy.

”The agreement considerably strengthens our customer magazine business, the development of which is one of the cornerstones of our strategy. A-lehdet and Dialogi provide high editorial competence in the very areas highlighted in the K-Group operations and the Pirkka magazine: food, interior decoration, home and leisure time. Participation in developing the largest magazine in Finland is a huge journalistic opportunity to A-lehdet," says Olli-Pekka Lyytikäinen, Managing Director of A-lehdet.

With the new publisher, the visual appearance of the magazines will be modernised and their structure will become better defined. From the beginning of next year, Pirkka and Birka will also be published online. Facsimile editions are readable simultaneously with the printed magazines at the Pirkka.fi web service. The popular Pirkka.fi service will continue to complement the parent magazine with the focus on consumers' daily life, not forgetting tips.

K-Plussa is the most comprehensive and diversified retail store customer loyalty system in Finland. Approximately 3.4 million Finns have a K-Plussa card.

The A-lehdet Group consists of A-lehdet Oy and Image Kustannus Oy, which publish 22 magazines for consumers. The Group also includes Markkinointiviestintä Dialogi Oy, which publishes over 20 customer magazines, the biggest of which are Op-lehti and Futari.

Further information:
Managing Director Niila Rajala, K-Plus Oy, tel. +358 1053 37100
Managing Director Olli-Pekka Lyytikäinen, A-lehdet Oy, tel. +358 50 414 4546