Agenda
Thursday, November 30
10:00 a.m. - 10:05 a.m.
10:05 a.m. - 10:35 a.m.
(New York time)
Keynote interview: Digital transformation road map
Greg Piechota interviews Professor David Rogers of Columbia Business School in New York about his framework for mapping a digital roadmap for media companies: vision, prioritisation, experimentation, governance, and capabilities. Learn how the industry leaders such as The New York Times developed their roadmap to deliver a breakthrough in growing digital subscriptions. Prof. Rogers is a world-renowned expert and author of best-selling books Digital Transformation Playbook and recently published Digital Transformation Roadmap.
David Rogers, Author and Professor, Columbia Business School, New York, United States
10:35 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
(New York time)
Expert panel: Biggest opportunities for growing subscriptions in 2024
Top media executives from Belgium and Finland discuss strategies and priorities for the next 12 months, including their plans to capitalise on big news events in 2024, such as high-profile elections and sports events. We will also discuss the biggest lessons learned about growing subscriptions in the post-pandemic era — how they retained subscribers in 2023, and what it took to restart growth.
Kaisa Aalto, Subscription Business Owner, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland
Koen Meeusen, Sales Director, B2C, Mediahuis, Belgium
11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
(New York time)
Expert panel: Rethinking news subscriptions for the future model of publishing
As the news publishers undergo a business model transformation to digital, they need to adapt their digital subscription model to become the key growth driver. In this interactive session organised with Mather Economics, we will explore the latest strategies and best practices to maximise digital subscription volume and growth, including optimising pricing, products, developing skills and capabilities, and finding operational efficiencies, e.g., with print automation.
Pete Doucette, Global Consulting Lead and Senior Manager, Mather Economics, United States
Patrick Tornabene, Chief Consumer Officer, Newsday, United States
11:35 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.
(New York time)
Case studies: Best practices in growing audience and subscribers with data
Presentations from practitioners across newsroom, product, and marketing teams in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland on using analytics to increase digital audience, optimise conversion funnels, and reduce churn. Learn best practices from news organisations of different scope and size: the national and regional brands, and groups.
Andreas Ahlden, Head of Marketing and Paid Content, Nordwest Mediengruppe, Germany
Josua Diggelmann, Head of Subscription Management, Tamedia, Switzerland
Hanne Hendrikx, Manager, Customer Retention, Mediahuis, Belgium
Max Holscher, Member of the Chief Editors Board, Nordwest Mediengruppe, Germany
12:25 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.
(New York time)
Summary and closing remarks
We will distill the biggest lessons from today's town hall, as well as the INMA Readers First Initiative. This can be a kind of playbook
for the news media community in the year ahead.
Greg Piechota, Lead, Readers First Initiative, International News Media Association (INMA)
Supported by
