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“Our latest strategy is what we call our essential subscription strategy. And the idea is that we're looking to offer people news and information for all their passion points. And so prior to that, we were looking at journalism worth paying for, which is still kind of the underlying idea, but now we're looking to make sure we're doing that in news and in other areas.”
— David Rubin
The New York Times has created a longstanding legacy over the past century as a company with its finger on the pulse of the public. Since the day David Rubin joined as the first CMO in 2016, NYT's subscriber base has shot up by more than seven million. What's the reason for this growth? Why did it take NYT well over one hundred years to add a Chief Marketing Officer?
In this episode of the Speed of Culture podcast, Suzy Founder and CEO Matt Britton sits down with David Rubin, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at The New York Times to discuss subscription-based marketing in news media. Together, they go into detail on David’s strategies for content marketing, acquisition and expansion, and connecting with customers.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in History at Yale, David went to work on Capitol Hill and at the Department of Treasury. Two years later, he decided to get an MBA from Wharton and start in brand marketing. As a brand and marketing specialist, he's been instrumental in the digital transformation and growth of some of the most innovative brands in the world, including Axe, Pinterest, and The New York Times.
- David Shares Career Advice - David summarizes lessons he learned early on in his career—know where you want to go in order to stay on the path, play to your strengths, be aware of your weaknesses, and companies with limited budgets can create a massive audience if they can connect emotionally with consumers.
- The Essential Subscription Strategy - David discusses the rationale behind his strategy. The ultimate goal is to “offer people news and information for all their passion points.” He details a few of the New York Times’ most successful products and acquisitions (i.e. Wordle, Serial, NYT All Access) to illustrate his point.
- Connecting With People - How do you communicate your core promise across different channels and demographics? David emphasizes that The New York Times' ethos is to “seek truth and help people understand the world.” It helps to frame the initial problem as, “What can we help them understand?” rather than “What do we need to do on this channel?”
- Subscription-Based Marketing vs Traditional Consumer Product Marketing - One of the biggest differences between the two marketing models comes down to measuring impact. Traditional products typically sell through third-party retail, while subscription-based products like NYT or print are sold direct-to-consumer. Real-time data from interactions with subscribers provides an instant feedback loop, which in turn, provides a speed-to-market.
