A detailed look into the metered, premium, free, hard paywall and hybrid models, analysing the pros and cons with examples.

The Schibsted case study will look at how the paper started with paid content, business model, implementation, the changes over the years, and the results. Bard Skaar Viken will share the key learnings his team have accummulated over the past 6 years.

The Straits Times: From Freemium to Metered to Freemium
Eariler this year on March 26, The Straits Times' digital subscription journey came full circle. The paywall model of Singapore's largest daily went from being a freemium to a metered paywall, then back to freemium within a span of two years. Eugene Leow, Head of Digital Strategy for Singapore Press Holdings' English/Malay/Tamil Media Group will share the rationale and initial experience of pivoting back to a freemium model.

Kompas.id: Offering Readers a Paid, Ad-less Option
Kompas Daily's digital subscription initiative, Kompas.id, was launched in February 2017. In its first year, Kompas.id saw encouraging audience and revenue growth. While it currently does not come close to its print paper's daily circulation of 420,000 - Southeast Asia's largest circulation for a newspaper - Kompas.id shows a lot of promise. Its product marketing manager, Eko Prabowo, will share what differentiates Kompas.id from its ad-supported sibling, Kompas.com, and how the paid site is leveraging creative partnerships, marketing automation and e-newsletters to recruit and retain subscribers. 

Say hello to COCO+: Launching a paywall to a millennial audience

In March 2018, Coconuts Media launched a subscription and membership program on its flagship news and lifestyle website Coconuts.co. Byron Perry shares his thoughts on why paying for content is good, subscription program implementation strategies, and early findings from the COCO+ story.

Subscriptions on Facebook
In this session, Andrew Hunter from Facebook’s News Partnerships team will outline the social network’s initiatives to help grow news publisher subscriptions. The session will focus on Facebook’s Instant Articles subscriptions pilot which includes the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, and La Repubblica, among others, and how this program is being expanded globally.

Subscribe with Google
If you’ve ever subscribed to a news site, you know that it can sometimes be an onerous task. This isn’t the publisher’s fault, it’s just the way websites work. You’ll have to type in your name, your email, maybe a username ("no, not that username; it’s taken") and then make up a new password.

Understanding your customer preferences using data and analytics. What are the tech and tools needed?

The deep involvement of the newsroom is critical to the success of any paid content implementation. How can you prepare the newsroom for this? What are the KPIs? What are the best practices?

Participants will form groups to discuss and analyse which models could work in Asia.

How much to charge or discount to partner's customers, how to identify potential market segments and how to formulate an acquisition strategy are some of the most immediate questions on product managers' minds. This session will also offer useful pointers on how to recruit and retain subscribers and keep them loyal to one's editorial brand.