Problem Statement
The newspaper demographic skews older, so digital newspapers have been increasingly trying to attract the next generation of users (Millennials) to ensure viability in the future. The younger generation relies on social media, not newspapers, as its main source of news content.
Users
College students at community colleges and universities and faculty who would use the newspaper articles as part of their course readings.
Role
As the corporate marketing lead, I engaged colleges and maintained student and faculty engagement throughout the program.
In 2015, I joined a new digital subscription marketing group at Tribune Publishing, which at the time owned the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and many other news properties. As the marketing and sales lead, I was tasked with creating a new brand and program to bring in the coveted Millennial readers. By increasing subscription numbers, this would make the products more attractive to advertisers.
Scope and constraints
My key objective was to build on the one college program that was established when I joined.
Faculty and administrators mused that college students were no longer reading daily newspapers. They noticed that the quality of the students’ writing and thought process deteriorated in recent years since students were more social media-dependent.
The college digital subscription collaboration would enable colleges to offer quality, informative news to students at no cost to the students. But since colleges would subsidize the subscription costs (at a discounted group rate), this would be a financial burden for school administration.
Process
In order to acquire more college subscriptions, it was imperative that I develop a marketing plan with building relationships as a key component. These were the key steps:
1) Consulted with the data team to get key metrics on current subscriber base and areas of opportunity.
2) Created a brand “News for the Course” for the program. Engaged visual designer to create marketing materials.
3) Partnered with subscription marketing partners in local markets. They knew the colleges and could inform my strategy with the local expertise.
4) Developed a marketing strategy for each newspaper market tailoring it for each college target. While targeting most colleges, I focused on community colleges because of their high number of students.
5) Met with college administrators to understand their needs and how my program could help them.
6) Created value-added incentives such as brown bag lunches with reporters, introductions to Book Festival events and subscription giveaways. I also formed corporate partnerships with advertisers such as Korean Air to sponsor college essay contests.
7) Once the college signed on as part of the program, I hosted subscription campaigns to engage students, including Apple Watch giveaways and contests. I encouraged student feedback directly to see how I could further incentivize the students to continue to read the newspapers.
Please wait while flipbook is loading. For more related info, FAQs and issues please refer to DearFlip WordPress Flipbook Plugin Help documentation.
Outcomes and lessons
Quantitative: In less than a year, I grew the program from one to 13 colleges. My subscribers comprised 25.9% of the LA Times’ and 13.6% of Tribune’s total number of digital subscribers.
Qualitative: The students largely embraced the spirit of the program and found the new content informative. Positive feedback from students and faculty were relayed to administrators. Faculty was happy that they had additional instructional material and resources to motivate students to improve their writing quality and comprehension.