Consumer’s monetisation shift favours magazine and content publishers: Kerin O’Connor
Kerin O'Connor, Founder of The Atlas delivered a keynote address on how media businesses can transform into a subscription powerhouse at the Indian Magazine Congress by the Association of Indian Magazines. He began by saying, “When you are a magazine publisher, there is a temptation to treat your revenues like a hotel buffet- some days you want to pick this and some days that. This makes things go in and out of favour.” But the thing about subscriptions is that it is a long-term thing to do since they are very technical and allow you to not diversify your revenues, but go very very deep into it. In many ways, the pursuit of volume was a mistake for the magazine industry. The magazine industry is far more comfortable with communities, with specialisms and that is a joy for the subscription business, he said. But what is interesting is that publishers are becoming more technical in the way they understand their customers, increasingly understanding more about money and the way that subscriptions give them life. That’s where Atlas has been helping top magazine brands to navigate their way forward. The entire business model of subscriptions is really only about 11 words and that is, ‘Just execute it over and over again with a great product’, as per Connor. He said, “The size of the subscription market now is $2 trillion which is a sudden change and has been because the way people consume their goods and services has changed too.” “This is good news because, as media publishers, you can take advantage of the fact that there is a global shift in terms of the way that people are willing to engage with their content,” he added. The world’s biggest companies have turbocharged subscriptions and changed consumer expectations. Big businesses like Spotify, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Netflix have taken decades to turn their business around. Disney recently described their subscriptions as the future of the company in terms of how they seek to distribute information. But the larger question is, why do subscriptions matter to publishers? Connor explained via a presentation, “Subscriptions should matter to publishers because the monetization shift favours magazine and content publishers. This is because publishing has a simple aim which is to find customers and serve content to them. During this content exchange, publishers find ways to make money out of consumers.” Long-term subscription relationships allow profitable monetisation. Subscription income is more consistent than any other monetisation form. The key to a successful subscription-based business model should be structured differently from the traditional publishing ‘push’ model. The subscriber’s experience shall now be kept in the middle of all the things offered by a subscription business. “And you do this because this content is sustainable, is manageable and more importantly it can't be disrupted,” added Connor. But how to maximise your subscription strategy is where the main key lies. Connor suggests the best way is to take a deep breath and have patience since this process takes time. His presentation stressed the importance of understanding the customer needs, market size and the need for thorough research. Next, it's crucial to establish your audience and decide who will be the business target. Deciding how the business will position its offering is important as well. Another thing is to set realistic, timely and challenging objectives. As a marketing tactic, choosing the channels, products and opportunities to achieve growth is of key importance too
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