Blog and news from JG Communication.
JG Communication produces Ericsson’s internal magazine, Kontakten (in Swedish) and Contact magazine (in English). Kontakten has now been nominated for a 2012 Guldbladet award in the category for Best Employee/Internal Magazine.
Small children love hearing their parents talk about when they were born. Telling – and hearing – stories is a natural human need. We want to see the context and understand where we come from, where we are today and where we are going.
Ericsson wanted to bring the attention of software developers around the world to its Developer Program. Working together with JG Communication led to the production of the Susie’s Sushi video.
JG Communication followed Los Lonely Boys on their tour through the Rocky Mountains. The idea was to show how Ericsson’s technology simplifies everyday operations for an enterprise that is truly mobile.
JG Communication has won “Svenska Publishing-Priset” (the Swedish Publishing Prize) for the second year running in the “Infomagasin” (Best Information Magazine) category, this time for 152, the latest in Edita’s communication-magazine series.
In a statement from the jury, the magazine was praised for “its pages filled with great spreads, stylish typefaces, suitable colors, and texts with ‘drive’.”
In autumn 2010, Ericsson employees were asked to grade the company’s internal communications channels. They gave a good rating to Contact, and therefore also to Ericsson and JG Communication’s ambitions of publishing a modern feature magazine with items of current interest and in-depth articles.
In January 2007, Ericsson decided to review its internal communication channels. One of the goals was to reduce the distance between the management team and the employees to help improve the commitment level and instill a more positive feeling about the company.
At the center of this initiative was Contact, which had been Ericsson’s internal magazine since 1939. The question was how Contact could convey Ericsson’s goals in a way that was tangible, accurate and easy to read. Another issue was how it could be used to explain how each individual employee and unit could contribute towards the company fulfilling those goals.
The huge task of improving the magazine began immediately, and this included extensive input from the magazine’s readers – Ericsson employees. A work group that included representatives from the customer was asked to submit requests regarding the new internal magazine.
A readers’ survey conducted by JG Communication showed that there was still considerable interest in having strategic material that was directly linked to the Ericsson organization – especially regarding coverage of services, products and trends that drive business.
The survey also highlighted that there was a great demand for a broader range of material, such as personal portraits, industry reports, competitor analyses and feature articles that placed Ericsson in a larger context – in other words, a more journalistic product.
Ericsson and JG Communication published the first issue of the new Contact in January 2008. Employees received a magazine full of relevant content in a format inspired by publications such as Time and Newsweek. The new approach to dealing with images, headlines and texts created an interest and encouraged employees to read on. It became a sharper internal magazine with a more familiar and honest tone – in other words, it was fully in line with the customer’s wishes.
The accolades then came thick and fast. In its 70th year of publication in 2009, Contact won in the Best Redesign of a Staff Magazine category at the Guldbladet awards – an industry competition organized by the Swedish Association of Custom Publishers (Sveriges Uppdragspublicister) – and took the bronze medal in the North American Ozzie Awards for the Best Use of Illustration. In 2010, Contact won the Best Design category in the annual awards organized by the Swedish Association of Inhouse Editors (RIM).
However, the positive feedback from the readers in each subsequent internal survey has been even more important.
JG Communication produces Contact, which is published six times per year in both English and Swedish. In 2010, the magazine had an overall print run of 65,000. Contact is one of several internal communication channels within Ericsson. The others are the Contact Online intranet, the electronic Contact Newsletter and the Contact TV video channel.
“A sober yet attractive design, more varied content and a more familiar tone all contribute to the facelift of the magazine. The spreads are carefully selected and reflect a cross-section of Ericsson’s global world. Despite Ericsson’s diversity, the publication conveys a sense of unity, belonging and commitment to a common goal. Purely and simply, the magazine has radically changed for the better.”
(The Guldbladet jury, 2009)
“The magazine is very professionally designed, clearly profiled and very coherent with clear strap lines, well-designed graphics and a pleasant range of contrasting colors. The design is well thought out from cover to cover, and gives a generous and substantial feel to the magazine which, despite containing a lot of text, is never gray or heavy.”
(The jury of the Swedish Association of Inhouse Editors, 2010)
Ericsson wanted to bring the attention of software developers around the world to its Developer Program. Working together with JG Communication led to the production of the Susie’s Sushi video.
JG Communication’s assignment was to produce a video that would both inspire more people to use Ericsson’s software development kits and that would provide examples of how telecommunications functions can be useful additions to various IT applications. It also had to attract interest as well as being fun and modern.
The result was Susie’s Sushi – a film about a programmer who creates success for both himself and for a sushi restaurant by using Ericsson’s applications for ordering, payment solutions and location systems. The film is now on YouTube, as well as on Ericsson’s external website.
Yanling Li-Strandh, Marketing and Communications Manager for the Ericsson Mobility World Developer Program, has used the film a lot and often shows it during presentations and events:
“Employees and customers get inspired and appreciate the humor,” she says. “The video goes against the blinkered thinking that sometimes exists within our company. We must dare to push the boundaries more, with common sense, and this video is one step along that road. We’re very pleased with the end result.”