In September, INMA awarded 30 young professionals around the world with its fifth “30 Under 30” award as part of its Young Professionals Initiative. This is the 20th in a series of 30 features about the impressive rising media stars who are shaping our industry.

Although she had spent her career in social media, when Catarina Mexia had an opportunity to join Público as a product manager, she “took the plunge.”

“I entered a world that is still a little unknown but where I have learned new functions and working techniques every day,” Catarina said. “The product manager position has taught me to look at the consumer and how we can improve usability and satisfaction with the product every day.”

Catarina’s view of the consumer journey has been pivotal in enhancing the subscription experience at Público. Recognising that publishers rely on subscriptions and support, she has made subscriber satisfaction her priority.

Catarina’s strategies aim to make subscribers feel part of a vital community for national journalism, highlighting the numerous benefits beyond just access to articles.

“Every day, I think about strategies and ways to increase the value of the subscription and the importance of the gesture that readers are making for the survival of our newspaper,” she said.

She implemented a system to organise customer support. Catarina also spearheaded the creation of a chatbot, which, despite initial user preference for human agents, has shown promising results in resolving queries.

As the bot learns, it is getting better at resolving customer problems, and each month Catarina gathers information to analyse the most common requests from readers and create a plan of action to resolve the problems or concerns.

“Catarina combines creative thinking with structured thoughts — indispensable qualities for all the work that we have developed regarding the reconceptualisation of our products,” said Leonr Soczka, subscriptions director at Público. “Catarina shows the ability to listen, integrate feedback, and translate that into new ideas and suggestions, balancing her natural autonomy with the need for inputs from senior leaders.

“Her relationship skills are a valuable asset to build bridges and handle projects with other stakeholders.”

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