8 European publishers selected for Google News Initiative Subscriptions Academy 2022
The International News Media Association (INMA), Google, and FT Strategies kicked off the third edition of the Google News Initiative (GNI) Subscriptions Academy for Europe (previously Subscriptions Lab), an ambitious and intensive eight-month programme that will address every step of the digital subscriptions process, from discovery to conversion to retention.
The programme is designed to strengthen and accelerate growth of the subscription businesses and help publishers deliver customised plans such as optimising the sales funnel and developing new monetisation strategies.
Building on the success of last year’s edition, the 2022 programme attracted applicants from publishers in 22 European countries. The eight participants that have been selected following a rigorous selection process are:
- Handelszeitung (Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz), Switzerland
- Dziennik Gazeta Prawna (INFOR PL SA), Poland
- The Irish Times (Irish Times DAC), Ireland
- La Repubblica (GEDI Digital SRL) Italy
- Observador (Observador On Time), Portugal
- Der Spiegel (Spiegel-Verlag) Germany
- Hamburger Abendblatt (Funkemedien), Germany
- Jutarnji list (Hanza Media), Croatia
The selection panel focused on ensuring that the final cohort of eight publishers represented a broad cross-section of the industry: a mix of local, regional, and national focus; a range of sizes of publisher; and participants at different stages of their subscriptions journey.
This exciting cohort of publishers helps to spread the Academy’s benefits across the European publishing landscape. In Switzerland, Italy, and Croatia, the programme is working in three new countries it has not served before. Building on 2021, Subs Academy also welcomes another weekly publication and two specialist business titles.
Earl J. Wilkinson, Executive Director and CEO, INMA: “The Google News Initiative Subscriptions Academy is a valued contributor to European publishers’ evolution, and INMA is pleased to partner on this third annual class with GNI and FT Strategies. During the past three years of INMA’s Readers First Initiative, news media publishers who are INMA members, on average, doubled their subscription base. At the same time, some brands grew faster – the 25% best-performing brands grew their digital subscriber base 7.5 times and revenue 3.2 times faster than the bottom 50%. The fastest-growing brands have built an engine for growth. This includes culture, strategy, structure, and workflows. In this year’s academy, we will share the best practices from the INMA network aiming at accelerating the transformation of the selected companies.”
Sulina Connal, Director, News and Publishing Partnerships, EMEA, Google: “We are committed to supporting the future of news publishing and are so pleased to be extending our partnership with FT Strategies and INMA to bring you the third round of GNI Subscriptions Academy for Europe. The programme will enable participating publishers to learn the mechanisms to strengthen their digital subscriptions capabilities and grow reader revenue.”
This programme will engage the selected group of eight European publishers in a journey that will help them accelerate their reader revenue growth. The programme draws on the expertise of each of its delivery partners: expertise from INMA’s Readers First Initiative, the analytical tools developed by GNI, and FT Strategies consulting on the “North Star” methodology used by the Financial Times to acquire more than one million digital subscribers.
Tara Lajumoke, Managing Director, FT Strategies: “We’re proud that 16 publishers from 11 different countries have now participated in Subs Academy. All have consistently rated the experience very highly and enjoyed strong reader revenue results following the programme - including 31% subscriptions growth for our 2020 cohort one year on. Much has changed in the industry over the past two years, but the importance of capturing the reader revenue opportunity has remained a pressing constant. This programme remains a proven way to execute an in-depth diagnostic of subscriptions performance and lay the foundations for the organisational transformation required by news publishers to achieve meaningful change.”
www.ftstrategies.com/en-gb
www.newsinitiative.withgoogle.com
www.inma.org
