from bitcoins to bitnews: towards the one-cent article

PAID DIGITAL CONTENT: a brief history & a bright future

Kelly Leach 11 June 2015

2015 Expanded into Latin America

and Africa

Introduces Metered “Solo” &

“Lite” solutions

Launches Piano National

in Slovakia

Launches Piano National

in Poland

Launches Newsweek Magazine

Acquires Press+

Launches NOZ, 1st

German client

2010 Piano Media

founded

Introduces Secure

Authentication Gateway

Creates Magazine

Entitlements

A brief history of Piano Media…

Selected Brands:

Piano powers digital content e-commerce

600+ websites n 70+ publishing companies

Metered paywall seeks to convert most active users to subscribers

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+ 10+ 11+ 12+ 13+ 14+ 15+ 16+ 17+ 18+ 19+ 20+

Shar

e of

use

rs

Content Consumption

Desktop

Piano DACH Benchmark Desktop

Metered paywall solution targets the most active users

Number of full article pages read monthly

Multiple paid models will thrive in the digital world

Multi-title subscription access

Subscription to Individual title

Micropayments

Day Pass, Micropayments

Heavy users

Light users

Publisher Owned Platforms

Off-Platform (& Multi-Title?)

Engagement is key ingredient in subscription growth

Increase readership

Improve conversion rates

Optimize pricing levels

Keep the subscribers engaged

& Upsell

Boost subscriber growth

via promotions

Key Drivers of Digital Subscription Revenue

Working all the growth levers can drive significant results

SITUATION & ACTIONS •  In early 2014 Gazeta Wyborcza

committed to significantly increase its digital subscriber count

•  Use a variety of tactics to improve across multiple areas of the purchase funnel

•  Leveraged group and other off-line sales to drive significant growth

RESULTS •  Achieve 4x’s growth to 55,000

digital subscribers in less than one year

Lessons Learned

Paywall data can inform product investment

INSIGHT •  Canada’s Global and Mail found

that 70% of their subscriber conversion happen when someone hits the paywall on a financial story

ACTION •  Investing in expanded business

and financial content

•  Launched premium product, Globe Investor Gold, which sells for $20 per month and has 10,000 subscribers

Lessons Learned

Third-party content can enhance a paid subscription product

INSIGHT •  Týždeň is a Slovak newsweekly

magazine and website

•  An independent documentary film posted behind the paywall drove significant incremental subscriptions

ACTION •  Added a section of independent

documentary films benefitting acquisition and retention efforts

Lessons Learned

Ultimately, what does the future hold……

Consumer Revenue from Digital Content

Consumer Revenue from Print Content

•  It is “early days” for consumers paying for digital content

•  Digital products heavily optimized to advertising revenue stream -- need to recalibrate

•  Publishers should seek to better understand their audience and act on that information

•  Eventually…

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CONTACT US EMEA: +421 233 046 928 North / South America: +1 212 332 6405 DACH: +43 603 269 782 MENA / Africa: +421 233 046 928 media@pianomedia.com

THANK YOU