Overview of this campaign
Reaching young audiences is one of the biggest challenges facing traditional media.
Most young people consume news from social platforms. Media brands that do reach them, often rely on Algorithm-controlled international platforms — and rarely make money doing so.
At Aftenposten, we chose a different path.
We made a clear decision: our initiatives for young audiences should be built on Aftenposten’s own brand and technology.
-
In 2012, we launched Aftenposten Junior, a print newspaper for children.
-
In 2022, we launched Aftenposten Junior School, a news and edtech service for primary schools.
-
In 2025, we launched Aftenposten School, a news and edtech service for lower secondary schools.
Aftenposten School
By tailoring the product and developing it with the target group — teachers, school owners, and students — we created a truly unique service. The result has been exceptionally fast market penetration. After just five months, 35% of all lower secondary students in Norway have access through a purchased license. In the education market, known for long decision cycles and slow implementation, few — if any — products have grown faster.
This clearly shows a strong and unmet demand for real news in education.
Politicians, teachers, parents, and society at large are increasingly concerned that young people — who are highly impressionable — get most of their news from social media and YouTube. Too often, that content is misleading, agenda-driven, or simply false. Aftenposten, a democratic news organisations with no political agenda or political assosiation, is well suited to play this role.
That’s not just a media problem.
It’s a challenge for democracy.
Results for this campaign
Sales of the service began in May 2025. By the beginning of the school year (august), 35% of the target group had access to the service.
For comparison, the Aftenposten master brand is read daily by approximately 8% of Norway’s population. Prior to the launch, usage among lower secondary school students was very limited.
This performance even exceeds the strong launch of Aftenposten Junior School, our primary school news platform launched in 2022.
Reaching young readers is notoriously hard for news media.
Those who succeed often point to brand awareness or user numbers — but rarely to profitability in the traditional sense.
Our investment in young audiences is different. It’s highly profitable. For our newspaper, Aftenposten Junior, we deliver industry-leading margins in print. And in our school initiatives, we already see positive contribution margins, despite significant investments in technology and editorial resources.