Situation
A Greek news publisher knew that pursuing a digital-first reader revenue strategy was critical for its future business model. They faced the challenge of achieving organisational buy-in and collaboration across commercial, digital and print. FT Strategies was enlisted to help prepare the client for a paywall model.
Following this initial phase, FT Strategies was again engaged to help co-create a digital North Star, with ongoing support for experiment design and delivery.
Engagement
FT Strategies engaged across two phases. The first phase of work included:
- Analysis of reader behaviour including benchmarking to inform reader revenue model and type of paywall
- Online reader survey to understand willingness to pay, reader satisfaction and reader habits
- Synthesis of research outputs to provide long-term and actionable recommendations
- The second phase of work included:
- Workshops to define the digital North Star and ongoing retained support for experiment execution
Results
- Board approval for a digital reader revenue model, including investment into technical solutions to implement the paywall and payment solutions to manage subscriptions
- Facilitated a shift in mindset through the North Star methodology and goal with practical steps forward to build a robust and structured strategy
- Promoted cross-functional collaboration and alignment within purpose and strategy
The client was “so impressed with the work FT Strategies has done” that they moved from a project fee to a long term retainer basis, in order to secure our ongoing support.
Managing Director
