Becoming a member of The Economist, a personal story

Today, I have officially become a subscriber of the economist. For those who want to send me congratulatory gifts, I’m taking donations at giftsforallen.org.

While you donate you’re children’s inheritance, I wanted to reflect on the journey I’ve been through - perhaps some insight and lessons can be gleaned for other companies looking to capture new customers, create subscription models and digitise their offering.

I remember the economist as a premium brand, that brings a critical lens to journalism, rather than flashy titles with little substance like other 98% of news sources of our day. That was my initial impression at least, having sat looking at one of their magazines at a podiatrist’s waiting room around the age of 15. To be honest, it could have easily also been Time magazine now that I think about it - red logo, similar brand association, i guess as I write this I don’t know where the relationship really started. Let’s just say I knew about them.

Fast forward many years later, I’m in Sydney, Australia - on my way to work, leaving the station at Martin place. A young girl hands me an energy bar made up of insects. Yuk you say? I too thought I would be picking fly wings out of the spaces between my teeth, but alas I found myself eating a delicious bar, made of inspect PROTEIN powder. In university, i did a presentation on the future of sustainable food, the core of the presentation was about the advantages of eating insects over meat for the environment and world hunger. It always made sense to me that we will end up accepting this fast breeding sustainable source of protein eventually. My point is, receiving this bar deepened my association with the Economist brand, as a forward thinking magazine, that is aligned to my values of critical thinking and futurist ideals.

But, this delicious bar was at the time no more than a means of luring people into subscribing. I was about 6 years away from taking action. Take that Ms. CMO! Good luck explaining your CFO the ROI, and why she should give you another $5M for insect bars next year.

The next time I remember really thinking about the economist, was years later. I was at my Friend’s house in Sydney (for the first time), preparing for my Interview with salesforce in Denmark. I got the role by the way, so if you want to drop some more money to my fund please visit giftsforallen.org. My friend and I speak about world issues and bigger picture topics, and during my visit I noticed she had economist issues on her shelves. This is the famous (word of mouth) moment no organisation is ever able to capture. I shared with her that my view on the news is that it’s bad for your mental health, and spreads fears with flashy titles. She agreed, and shared that the economist is where she goes, for world news and thought provoking points-of-view. We didn’t go into it much but it was a major seed re-planting moment. The thought of me in my new apartment in Denmark reading objective worldly columns, the thought of being more like my friend in this particular regard, was a warm and fuzzy visual fantasy.

It’s now 2021, I’m living in Denmark. I walk by houses in the evenings, and in Copenhagen people’s walls are filled with books on bookshelves. I continue to fantasise about expanding my worldliness, with the economist in my hands. For 4 months I visit the economist website here and there, look that their 50% off your first 3 month offer. I consider, can I just get these insights from google or McKinsey which are both free? I visit again around black Friday & Cyber Monday - now there is an offer for 50% off the first year...OK, now things are getting interesting. But still, no go.

Now we find ourselves today, It’s Saturday, I just finished reading a book with my morning coffee, where the author talks about the changing world order and China’s rise to becoming the dominant empire. And I want more information, my intellectual fantasy about a future relationship with the economist bubbles up yet again. This time, I pull out my credit card and I go for it. YOLO. The experience, is simple (Name, email, Password) - Login made, password rules weren’t so friggen complicated that I need to consult my doctor. Then, enter credit card info...and... congratulations!

I wanted to get the digital + paper package. It was the most expensive, but aligned with this sitting in my living room worldly man fantasy. However, the digital offer was 50% off, where as the other had no discount. There is no getting past me mr. economist, I know you are trying to drive me towards the most profitable package, aligned to your strategic goals. I may re-visit this one day, but for now, you win. I will save the planet & my wallet and view this on my ipad. By the way, thats why I bought the damn ipad...

Here is what came next, after congratulating me, the Economist suggested 10 possible newsletters I could opt in to, that were exclusive to intellectual members like me. This was a unique experience. I feel good about my purchase, and I look forward to expanding my mind further in the months that follow.

And now, we wait...Some big questions lay ahead of the Economist. The biggest one is around engagement. Will I use the app? Will I make a habit of reading their newsletters? Will I share great articles with friends and colleagues? And the biggest one that flows on from that, is will I renew on December 10/2022...No one knows :)

Conclusions:

This story, is not to illustrate best practise, though i think the insect bar and signup experience were delicious and smooth, respectively. I’ve shared this story to illustrate that our journey’s to signing up for something, or buy something is complex and often longer than organisations are willing to admit. and at the centre of that, is a human, with values and desires & certain expectations.

What the Economist did well:

• Consistent branding, that connects with values that sit behind their brand. Consistent, over long periods of time...
• Strong signup incentive for new customer with which they may have a lifelong relationship (worth the 50% off?)
• Smooth, minimal input during the sensitive signup process. Minimal fields, prescriptive get started guidance.
• Great value based newsletter, aligned once again to values I share with the brand - not offers and discounts who’s value I don’t yet know before potentially bombarding my inbox with spam.

What they could have done better:

• Know more about me...am I using this for work? if so, in what way? what other ways do I wanna use the information? This can guide their engagement and evolve our relationship. This can differentiate them from my engagement with McKinsey, HBR, TED etc.
• Incentivise me better when I first got that insect bar. 5 years of revenue gone...So sad. I believe a new model for capturing subscriptions, could be to give the the premium edition upfront for FREE in exchange for specific information to personalise my experience and chance of recapture. Slowly, over 30-60 days then weaning me off features until I need them so badly again that I sign up.
• When I logged into the app (which I had on my phone already) there was no celebration of our new relationship or change to the look or features now that i’m a member. I can now simply actually READ the article that before I could only see titles for. The initial feeling I have as a customer, is so important. It’s like a first date or that saying about first impressions.
• They could have added a 3rd option, where at the end of the year, I can receive 1 hard copy magazine which is curated annually by editors, with past “timeless articles”. This would give me something to look forward to, around my renewal anniversary. A key moment they should not neglect.

If you have any thoughts on this please type them below. This will be the first for a line of analyses I will do of brands I’m interacting with or working with. I hope to inspire leaders to think boldly, and not delay their ambition to connect with customers in an intimate way - because a lot can happen over 6+ years ;)?