Sanoma has had a significant role in Tokmanni's growth story

The strategic partnership between Tokmanni and Sanoma has developed both of their businesses.

“Huomenta Suomi, hyvin pyyhkii.” (Good Morning Finland, I’m doing fine.) When Finns hear this evergreen song used in Mr. Tokmanni ads, they know who is speaking.

Storytelling is essential for Tokmanni.

“A brand without a meaningful story is just a logo. It is all about leading and influencing with stories or, to put it more eloquently, strategic narrative,” says the marketing and communications manager of Tokmanni, Veli-Pekka Ääri.

“Influencing has always been about stories and will always be about stories. Commercial influencing has been around for only about 100 years. Influencing as a part of leadership has as long a history as humankind and society,” says Ääri.

Tokmanni does not have separate brand, marketing and communications strategies.

“We have a competition strategy which assesses the outputs of all our departments. The key goal of the brand is to communicate the customer benefit in a distinct manner.”

The owned media, the advertising paper Tarjoussanomat and the stores are essential for Tokmanni. Paid media also has an important role in meeting the business goals.

“We need the audiences reached by Sanoma in order to continue and develop the story of our brand.”

Each outlet of Sanoma has its own role in every step of the purchase journey. An ad on IS.fi directs the customer flow to Tokmanni, and television and videos help tell a story of the world’s best buyer, Mr. Tokmanni.

Tokmanni’s main indicator of successful marketing is sales even though the brand’s attributes are also measured.

“Discount retailing is popular culture by nature. Marketing is measured by how many Finns we have attracted to either the Tokmanni stores or the webstore, which means that marketing is measured as through a live show with the number of audience members as the main measurement. Every week we check how well we have done. Depending on the day, it is either great or ruthless,” says Ääri.

Ääri describes the co-operation with Sanoma as a real strategic partnership. Sanoma has had a significant role in Tokmanni’s growth story.

“The co-operation has enhanced both of our businesses. We learn, pilot and take things forward together which is very important for Finnish companies and trade. The consumer always has a global selection on hand via phone. Strategic partnership between a domestic retail business and a domestic media business is a requirement for thriving against global giants.”

With familiarity, management is also easier.

“We need to be so ambitious that the international giants are not allowed to enter our domestic markets too easily. Finns do not benefit from retail or media business becoming a dead zone handled by branches of global businesses. Taking care of domestic trade and media is our common mission,” emphasizes Ääri.

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