CASE STUDY
– IS &
PUBLISHING
BULL & BEAR
MARKETS
NEWSPAPER
CASE STUDY
Gavin Frontpager, the Chief Editor of Bull & Bear Markets newspaper, has one question on his mind – How do I
stay relevant in the news business every day? Bull & Bear Markets newspaper is the leading financial newspaper
worldwide, but readership and subscriptions can never be taken for granted.
The news industry has been facing data issues on multiple fronts – Readers now expect personalized content, and
customer data is scattered across multiple systems within the organization when it comes to trying to get a comprehensive
view on consumers. With growth and profitability trending downward, Mr. Frontpager assembles a cross-functional
team to evaluate the issues and devise a strategy in the current market. He understands that he needs a dual approach:
Introspect and evaluate their own challenges for customer acquisition and retention, and at the same time, increase their
investments in digital transformation to build better data and analytics capabilities for deeper customer insights. Initial
analysis reveals that the key areas where reengineering or optimization will be required to meet the desired objectives.
Laura Newsreader, VP, Marketing, suggests that to increase customer acquisition/retention, providing engaging and
personalized content is necessary. Steve Reporter, VP, IT, wants to focus on data ingestion, storage, management, and
analysis. Mr. Frontpager concurs with both Ms. Newsreader and Mr. Reporter – they need proper IT systems and analytics
engines to gain unprecedented insight into customer data to drive higher growth and retention.
The Case Challenge
Mr. Frontpager, Ms. Newsreader, and Mr. Reporter have asked for your help. As a consulting partner to Bull & Bear Markets
newspaper, you will assess their customer acquisition and retention process, along with the impact that utilizing data
appropriately can have on their growth and customer experience. You will prepare a recommendations report on these
topics. Furthermore, they have asked you for an implementation plan for the whole program. This plan should incorporate
the objectives, key activities, deliverables, assumptions, stakeholders involved, and so on, to assist Bull & Bear Markets
newspaper on their transformational journey for effective reach and relevance through content personalization and with
the end goal of increasing subscribers, especially “Young Readers,” and retention rate. Specifically, (a) provide a high-level
view for how they can serve customers with related, accurate content and based on known/unknown preferences; (b)
determine how they can gather data to get a 360-degree customer view for effective reach and relevance, with the end
goal of increasing subscription and retention rate; focus effectively targeting “Young Readers” (i.e. address the future
market to capture and retain these young subscribers at a young age, for a long time).
Background
Summary about Client:
A leading financial newspaper, Bull
& Bear Markets, has grown to be a
worldwide news and information
powerhouse, with prestigious brands
dealing with financial information/
newsletters. Having millions of
subscribers (digital & print) across
the globe, though mainly in United
States, they need to personalize and
tailor content to readers’ interests
and needs. The company’s core
purpose is to enhance society by
creating, collecting, and distributing
high-quality news and information.
• The focus is on increasing digital
subscribers, but print cannot be
ignored; those ages 40-65 prefer
print over digital, and they are most
loyal among all age groups.
• In addition, certain percentage of
patrons have both digital and print
subscriptions.
Information being scattered
across multiple systems within the
organization poses a great challenge
in getting a comprehensive view on
consumers. Competitors who have
targeted marketing using organic data
in addition to social interactions via
additional channels have an edge.
Volatility around the world warrants
a focused approach, accounting for
social/general and economic factors.
Some within the Bull & Bear Markets
think that the organization needs to
be introspective, analyzing its own
challenges in addition to industry
trends and successful competitors.
They believe that the company should
leverage the power of data and
analytics for a deeper understanding
of the customer and service – and
position products to them accordingly.
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Publishing Data - Worldwide
News
Market Size
2017($B)
Content
Market
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Non-Fiction/News
Insight/Analytics
Audio/Visual Story-telling
Diversity
Curated & Personalized
3
Rendering Devices Mobile, Ereaders, Wearables
Shift to Digital from Print
Subscription Models Amazon,Kindle Unlimited
Subscription Bundling Scribd+NYT
Business
Technology
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Decrease in Print Subscription & Ads
Drive to grow Digital subscriptions
Consolidations/Acquisitions
New Revenue Models
Focus on Audience Engagement
Addressable
Market ($B)
62
RPA & Congnitive Automation(Bots)
Platforms & Solutions prominence
Blockchain for DRM&Governance
Customer Experience Design
AR/VR & Voice Assistants
Digital News Publishing – State of the Industry 2019
Subscription fatigue favors entertainment than news
Content 45
7%
7%
News
News
45 or over
15%
News
News
Video
streaming
Music
streaming
Sport
Online
gaming
2/3s of who subscribe, do so for only one source
60%
High household
income
56
Digree
holders
55
Extremely
Interested in news
60%
45%
30%
30%
27
10
1
2
2 2
4
3 4 5 5+
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10
1
2 3
4 1
4 5
2
5+ 1
27
15%
15%
0%
USA
Also Canada,Australia
54
28
10
2
4
4
2 3 4 5 5+
Nothing
Online
dating
Mix and match all consuption channels
45%
26
Storage
0%
Direct
20
Search
25
Social
media
7
7
Social
media
Aggregator
9
Email
Trust is challenge
Mobile & Socal media is the leading channel for digital natives & millennials.
News over all
32%
32nd/38
Proportion that said each was their first contact
with news in the morning by Age-Selected Markets
50%
18-24
45
25-34
(-2)
35+
50%
News | use
39
30
News in search
25%
News in social
14%
25%
22
19
18
12
9
8
5
0%
Smartphone
4
Desktop
13
4
Print
Data: Details depicting the
landscape as of today
Radio
TV
annual decrease from $24.2 billion
in 2017 (Source: Freedonia)
Exhibit 1. Revenue forecasts
• US newspaper publishing revenues
were forecasted to total $21.3
billion by 2022, representing 2.6%
Advertising space
11
19
• ePublishing segment (ePaper,
eMagazine, eBooks) expected to
show a revenue growth of ~6.6%
by year 2021. Revenue is expected
to show an annual growth rate
(CAGR 2020-2024) of 4.9%, resulting
Subscription and sales
All other operating revenue
in a market volume of US$10,641m
by 2024 (Source: statista)
• Advertising revenues for US
newspaper publishers forecasted
to remain the largest revenue
source at $9.7 billion, despite falling
4.5% per annum by 2022 (Source:
Freedonia)
Printing services for others
Distribution services
40
35
Revenue in billion U.S. dollars
30
25
20
1.27
1.21
2.01
8.49
20.38
15
1.18
1.25
2.00
8.22
18.88
1.15
1.33
2.21
7.86
17.25
1.08
1.45
1.95
7.95
1.05
1.45
1.9
8.04
16.08
15.67
0.61
1.11
1.23
8.87
14.73
10
0.55
1.00
1.15
8.85
0.54
1.14
1.35
9.04
13.63
13.62
2016
2017
0.45
1.15
1.85
8.89
12.33
5
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2018
Source: Statista
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Print newspapers
Online newspapers
Other media newspapers
Revenue in billion U.S.
dollars
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
• Education publishing has seen growth in digital space, with publishers focusing on innovative ways of promoting digital
content especially to large student population. The digital education publishing market in the US is expected to post a CAGR
of nearly 12% during the forecast period 2019-2023 (Source: technavio
Exhibit 2: Data collection and
usage in given context
High-level details on how data is
collected and leveraged today.
• Demographics – Basic
information (age, name, address,
communication preference) related
to particular consumer while
creating his or her subscription for
digital or print access.
• Financial data – Enables an option
to have background on what
mode of payment was preferred by
customer (i.e., credit card, digital
pay).
• Historical data: Tracking interactions
across channels
1.
2.
3.
Access data - To extract what is
being accessed for finding out
preferences, relevancies, and
so on, in all interactions while
accessing the content.
Renewal/suspend/cancellation
– To understand in accordance
with timeline when a particular
consumer took those actions
and drawing a conclusion on
influencing factors.
Reading habits – To help
understand how regularly a
particular consumer is visiting the
content and how much time is
being spent on read articles.
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4.
Contact history for all modes of
communication pertaining to
SMS/email/customer support
so that we have details on what
sort of information a particular
consumer was seeking at various
touchpoints.
• Survey data – Optional surveys are
being pushed to collect additional
information which could be related
to article preferences, emerging
trends across applicable areas.
• Ads clicking – Tracking particular
consumer actions in digital
footprint to understand his or her
user journey and preferences so
that relevant advertisements can
be pushed while content is being
served.
• Analytics – Basic tracking of
all consumer actions to draw
conclusions for personal and other
groupings, which could be based on
age, access percentage, and so on.
As an example: Our client was able
to conclude, based on analytics, that
if a particular customer is accessing
content more than 12 days in given
month, then their probability of
renewing the subscription increases
by 75%, as opposed to 20% when they
access content less than 12 days in a
given month.
Exhibit 3. Supporting artifacts
for case study
Industry-level Challenges: The
newspaper industry almost out of ink
• Free news information available
online
• Decrease of spending on
advertisement
• Industry has been in decline for the
past five years
• Industry is seeking new ways to
generate revenues
Market segmentation
• Very broad - various customer
segments to deal with
• Audience, predominant age group
of 35-65, intellectual readers
Sociocultural subscribers
• Subscribers have several ways to get
their news/ entertainment
• Switching costs are low and they
control advertisers
Technological
• Established newspaper companies
in the print and online market
• Various innovative channels to
distribute news content
• Various other competitors in the
online market offering free news/
information
• Product differentiation and
innovation is key
Age
Groups
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85-89
90-94
95-99
7%
6%
6%
6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
10%
9%
8%
6%
4%
2%
1%
0%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
10%
9%
11%
% of Total Unique Users
Female
Male
Unknown
23.40%
76.02%
0.57%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
Exhibit 4. Supporting artifacts
for case study
Targeting younger audience:
Summary, background, and
objectives: How to target younger
generation
(ages 20-35), as their subscription
percentage is far from ideal and has lot
of potential:
Broadcasters and newspapers
are struggling to reach or build
relationships with under-35s. This is
an age group that tends to access the
news via social media, aggregators,
and other non-traditional media.
Younger audiences are different from
older groups not just in what they do,
but in their core attitudes in terms
of what they want from the news.
Young people are primarily driven by
progress and enjoyment in their lives,
and this translates into what they look
for in news.
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
Key insights on this audience below:
Role of News for Young Audiences
• The experience of news should feel
as easy and accessible as Facebook
and Netflix. This is partly about how
the content is presented, but also
about how it is surfaced.
This study was about audience
understanding and behaviors. It was
necessary to understand, at least at a
top level, who these people are and
what they are seeking from life before
it would be possible to analyze the role
news plays for them.
• News brands need to tell stories in
ways that fit the expectations of
young people and the moments
when they are open to news.
This means creating formats that
are native to mobile and social
platforms as well as incorporating
these ideas into their own websites.
• The way the news media covers
stories may need to change,
including addressing issues such
as negativity, stereotypes, and
diversity, and how news brands
present both themselves and their
content on third-party platforms.
The core role of news, that is, allowing
people to know what is going on
in the world, meets a fundamental
human need: to connect people’s
individual world with the wider world.
In this sense, it provides a basis to
the social side of humanity, playing
an important role in communication
and cooperation in a world where
increasingly large populations live and
work together.
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The World
In this sense, it provides a basis to
the social side of humanity, playing
an important role in communication
and cooperation in a world where
increasingly large populations live
and work together. Beyond this,
engagement with the news is driven
by a broader range of needs and roles
that it can fulfill in our lives.
My world
This research identified six core needs behind young people’s engagement with the news:
Reflecting the key themes in the younger audience’s goals and ambitions, some news needs pull more towards progress,
others toward enjoyment and fun.
Progress
News plays to a number of progress-related needs, focused both on the self as well as position in society:
1.Status
2.Identity
3.Learning
In different contexts, news relates to a
social standing. Knowledge is valued.
Being “in the know” gives you gravitas
and allows you to feel confident.
News helps you construct and
communicate your identity. The
news you engage with contributes to
defining and demonstrating who you
are, and your world view.
News meets our desire to better
ourselves through learning, to explore
and broaden our horizons. It allows
us to develop new skills and ways of
seeing the world, as well as to make
savvier decisions and stay ahead of the
curve.
Enjoyment
News plays to needs related to enjoyment, which can be inwardly focused as outwardly or socially focused
4.Connections
5.Entertainment
6.Passions
News is the ultimate source of small
(and sometimes “big”) talk that helps
lubricate daily conversations. It allows
you to confidently reach out and
connect with those who are unlike
you or have little in common, as well
as discuss with friends and family. It
delivers a wider sense of connection to
the world at large.
News, like media more widely, can be
fun. Being immersed in other worlds
for pleasure, feeling inspired, enjoying
creativity, or simply – but no less
importantly – just passing the time.
News also helps us fuel and pursue our
passions and interests, or to experience
things we wouldn’t usually in daily life.
We
Status
Progress
Identity
Learning
Connections
Entertinement
Passions
Me
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Enjoyment
Media and Platforms: How young
audiences are accessing the news:
Young people use a plethora of
different platforms and media to
engage with the news.
1.
2.
Each has its own role and relative
merit. Together they create a news
ecosystem that sits across all four
news moments.
Because of this complex media
environment, young people are
looking for content and platforms
that allow them to seamlessly
flow through the digital space
in an uninterrupted way. As
expected, social media therefore
dominates people’s phones; it is
convenient to have all one’s online
entertainment, information, and
connection in one space.
Direct
Dedicated
Updated
Time-Filter
Intercepted
Indirect
Podcast
Websites
Reddit&Twitter
Whatsapp
Youtube
Apps
Snapchat
Newspapers
TV
Radio
Aggregators
Instagram
Facebook
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