Why do we love this client?
Valio is a landmark in the landscape of Finnish food brands! For several years, we have had the pleasure to work with Valio on the magazine Maito ja me (Milk and us). Most recently we have collaborated on Valio’s renewed Voilà! Magazine since 2021.
“Valio is a demanding and inspiring customer that has provided Genero’s food content production team with ample opportunities for developing their expertise. The Valio team is always hip to the latest trends. It has been rewarding being involved in achieving Valio’s ambitious goals,” says content strategist Anu Mäkelä.
Goals
Voilà! is a B2B magazine for Valio’s foodservice and bakery customers. The magazine is highly appreciated by its target audience. The publication allows Valio to highlight their expertise and also helps their customers stay ahead of the curve. At the same time, it offers concrete benefits to the busy industry professionals.
In 2020, Valio was looking for a long-term partner to renew the publication, to develop its content towards a more journalistic direction as well as to take on responsibility for its ongoing production. By presenting a well-thought-out conceptual vision, Genero convinced Valio to partner with them. The decision was also helped by Genero’s solid experience in food content production.
Solution
Before starting work on re-conceptualising the publication, it was crucial to listen to the customers’ needs – especially so as the re-launch coincided with a challenging time for the industry in the midst of the Covid pandemic. We conducted a target group survey to kickstart the concept work.
During the conceptualisation phase, we did a complete redesign of the magazine’s contents, ranging from their visual feel and pacing to what kind of content pieces would be included. The end result is an eye-catching and fresh-looking publication that is an inspiring read. It also offers restaurant professionals encouraging success stories from their peer entrepreneurs. The new contents are illustrative, with detailed information that the magazine’s readers can utilize in their own work. The new Voilà! is a magazine whose content, format and print material will stand the test of time and hard use of the kitchen environment.
Valio’s strength lies in their own recipe development, which is carried out in their own test kitchen. The backbone of Voilà! is formed by delicious recipes and the knowledge on how to use Valio products. We produce a lot of food photography for the magazine in collaboration with the chefs in Valio’s test kitchen. It’s not enough to just take stylish food pictures for this publication; its readership of industry professionals needs to be able to see the composition, texture and characteristics of the ingredients and products used. Succeeding in this requires, among other things, solid expertise in lighting.
In addition to the magazine, the food images produced by Genero are also used in Valio’s other marketing activities. The requirements that further use poses are taken into consideration from the very beginning of the image production process.
Results
According to Valio’s customer satisfaction survey, Voilà! was rated the best trade magazine of the industry.
“We are very pleased with the new concept of the magazine, with its improved readability and interesting and skilfully written content,” says Nina Metso, Marketing Manager at Valio.
Check out the Voilà magazine (in Finnish): https://www.valio.fi/ammattilaiset/materiaalipankki/
A magazine for Valio’s owner-entrepreneurs
The magazine Maito ja me (Milk and us) is also a country-wide publication for a large professional group, aimed at Valio’s owner-entrepreneurs, the dairy farmers. Genero is responsible for the graphic production and layout of the quarterly magazine. The publication aims to share information and best practices, to help the owner-entrepreneurs develop new skills and to inform them about the company’s strategy and the issues and phenomena relevant to them.
Maito ja me was ranked among the top three most important agricultural magazines in the 2019 Farmers’ Media Survey for dairy farms. In collaboration with Valio and editor-in-chief Anu Artjoki, Genero has created the concept for the magazine, and from time to time has also done some re-conceptualisation and content development.
