The V free sheet, published by Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet Oy, will become a weekly supplement of the Metro free sheet – it will be called Metro Live. The last issue of the V free sheet in its current form is published at the end of May.
Metro Live will be published in the centrefold of Metro every Friday, starting 7 September. Metro Live will reach all 300,000 Metro readers.
Metro Live meets the needs of advertisers to be involved in a known brand, which is able to reach, nationwide, a large and youthful market of readers, and which is published frequently. "Metro Live is part of a Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet plan, where Metro will seek younger readers in comparison to Uutislehti 100. The corresponding product concept, the attachment extension process of a well-known brand, has been globally successful," says Niko Ruokosuo, President of Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet Oy.
"Metro Live lists all the most interesting and the most current events and people, in the city as well as in the world. Metro Live aims to be useful, up-to-date, entertaining and easy-to-approach. Live informs the reader of what is going on in his or her home city during the weekend," explains Janne Kaijärvi, Metro Editor-in-Chief.
Metro Live has a layout design of its own, which can easily be recognised as belonging to the Metro product family. There will be between 12 to 24 pages in the new supplement. In addition, Metro Live will be distributed separately in locations that are important from the viewpoint of its target group. The re-launch of the Metro Club customer loyalty system is an essential part of the product concept. Through the club, readers will be offered a wide range of reader benefits.
"Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet will stay in the youth market, which we consider strategically important. The conceptual change of the V free sheet is due to the fact that the paper did not fulfil the goals we had set for it. We are focused on the development of our best brands," says Ruokosuo.
Cooperation procedures will be started within Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet Oy in order to discover the personnel effects of the arrangement. "The six employees involved in the making of the V free sheet will, to the greatest extent possible, be re-assigned within Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet," says Niko Ruokosuo.
The Sanoma Kaupunkilehdet business unit for free sheets is part of SanomaWSOY's newspaper division Sanoma.