Riitta Pollari is Editor-in-Chief of Me Naiset (We Women), Finland's biggest women's weekly. Riitta has worked with magazines for twenty years, including Anna. A juicy detail, considering that Anna and Me Naiset have been fighting for market leadership for ages. Who is better suited to tell how Me Naiset finally managed to win this battle than Riitta?

Me Naiset was first published as a monthly in 1952 with the slogan 'A contemporary read for the contemporary woman'. In 1958 Sanoma Corporation acquired the magazine, and increased the frequency to weekly two years later. The circulation increased steadily: from 25,000 (1952) to 120,000 (1962), and even 180,000 in 1973. But some years later the situation was different. Competition had emerged and Me Naiset's circulation fell to 110,000. In the beginning of the 1980s, Anna became market leader.

Riitta explains: "Basically that situation lasted for three decades. Although Me Naiset was regularly refreshed, Anna maintained the top spot. Despite a more clearly defined target group, Anna was still number one. The quality of printing, paper and the contents continued to improve, but Anna kept ahead of Me Naiset. Me Naiset ended the 1990s with a revamp and a new logo. Anna however ended that decade in the number one position."

What then did Me Naiset do to finally win the battle? Riitta: "We decided it was time to develop the magazine into a brand and manage it strictly."

Me Naiset was retargeted towards busy, modern women aged 24 to 44. Age however was not important in the magazine - but the lifestyles and values of readers were. That's why new subject areas (work, money, cars, human relations) were added. And Me Naiset became structured very rigorously. From now on readers always knew what to expect.

"We also developed Taru, a fictitious reader of 35 years old," says Riitta. "Taru has quite an ordinary life, but she is interested in many things and she has lots of dreams. We would always ask ourselves 'What would Taru think?' when producing Me Naiset."

The result is that Me Naiset readers find the magazine a relaxing reading experience, with a special, humorous tone-of-voice. That clearly distinguishes Me Naiset from Anna.

It took some years before the changes had effect on the circulation. Not earlier then in 2006 Me Naiset realised better circulation and readership figures then Anna, and since then it has stayed that way. Today Me Naiset's circulation is 133,949, and Anna's is 119,583.

Riitta concludes: "Our future plans are as clear as the changes we have made: we will continue to improve the magazine issue by issue and maintain the number one position for years to come."