Marketing man
Sweden
The LunarStorm portal is a phenomenon in Sweden. In a country with less than nine million people, LunarStorm receives more than 360,000 visitors a day and has over 1.2 million members, making it the most visited virtual community in Sweden. In fact, about 80% of all young Swedes between 15 and 20 years of age are connected to LunarStorm.
LunarStorm is a natural part of the day-to-day lives of young Swedes and a focal point for many of the relations they establish and the things and activities they surround themselves with. This is amply proved by the fact that 3.5 million text messages are entered on the site each day!
LunarStorm also has an impressive reach, with figures that are as good as those chalked up by Swedish satellite channels like TV3 and Kanal 5.
The LunarStorm community was launched in Sweden in 2000. Fifty-five people currently work at Lunarworks, the company behind LunarStorm. The concept will be established in the UK in the second half of 2005.
Johan Forsberg (b. 1963) is Information Director at Lunarworks AB. Besides his job at Lunarworks he is also Creative Director at Prime PR, one of Sweden’s leading PR agencies. His work at Lunarworks has involved the development of company strategies, information and business development and organisational growth. Forsberg, who has an MSc in Financial Economics and specialist knowledge of young target groups, media, and fast-moving consumer products on the Swedish and Scandinavian market, has played a significant part in the success of LunarStorm.
Johan Forsberg is a member of the board of BitoS, a branch organisation for content and service suppliers on the Swedish online market. He also heads the organisation’s ethical council. He is a member of the Swedish Government’s Strategic Working Group for IT and Culture, and is on the nominating committee of the Advertising Association of Sweden.
