Kicking off the INMA Media Subscriptons Summit in Amsterdam on Monday, 27 study tour attendees traipsed through the city to visit three local news companies, all competing to get the attention of the 17 million people who live in The Netherlands.

The day started with an executive briefing of the Dutch media, led by INMA Readers First Initiative Lead (and organiser of the summit) Greg Piechota, INMA Newsroom Transformation Initiative Lead Amalie Nash, and Assistant Professor Hannes Cools from the University of Amsterdam.

Here are a few key takeaways from Monday’s study tour stops:

DPG Media focuses on single log-in, individual brands

DPG’s growth strategy is driven by a long list of acquisitions. Taking full advantage its array of individual brands, the company has a single sign-on for digital subscribers, bringing it coveted first-party data.

“The strategy is very simple and very clear,” Bert Willemsen, chief marketing officer at DPG Media, told study tour attendees. “We are focusing on the size and impact. That’s our first main objective. We believe we need to scale to survive and make the digital transition.”

At some point this year, more than 50% of all subscribers will be digital. That will be a big moment, Willemsen said.

Roularta Media Group allows single-login uses to share

With 27  titles, Roularta is one of The Netherlands’ leading magazine publishers. The company bundled all of those titles, as well as its newspapers and TV station, into its MinjMagazines, one app with a single log-in with access to all of its brands.

“We can really increase personalisation and understand better the way people are reading our content,” Nele Baeyens, marketing director/digital brand innovation, told the group.

Sharing this mega subscription is a key part of the strategy. Research showed almost 63% of users wanted to expand their subscription (to the bundled option) and 28% wanted to share that subscription, mostly with family members.

“Sharing news draws in a new and younger audience,” Marketing Director Margot de Wijn said. “There’s 20 years difference between the one who is the member/subscriber [a parent] and the one who is reading with the subscription [their children].”

NRC uses audio to reach new audiences

NRC launched its first audio product in 2017, a daily news podcast. They were the first in the local market to do so. 

Now, the central-Amsterdam-based company has a newsroom audio department of 20 people — just shy of 10% of its total newsroom staff.

“All podcasts are free at the moment, but at some point, they’ll become part of subscriptions,” Deputy Editor-in-Chief Lucas Brouwers said.

Almost eight years in, Brouwers has these recommendations for the audio strategy of news companies:

• Focus on quality.

• Put your audience first.

“Who do you want to reach,” he recommended asking. “What would they want to listen to? What can you provide that’s unique?”

The study tour through Amsterdam continues on Tuesday, followed the rest of the week by summit sessions. 

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