Value creation in interdependent digital and analogue markets

Figures & data

Table 1. Data sources per case.

	Subscription	Advertising
Print	NRC: 58 documents such as annual reports, webpages 88 front page articles print newspaper NRC 180 digital newsletter articles NRC 2 exploratory interviews 3 case interviews	METRO: 37 documents such as annual reports, articles, webpages 65 frontpage articles print newspaper Metro 1 exploratory interview 1 case interview
Online	DE CORRESPONDENT: 112 documents such as annual reports, articles, webpages, podcasts 88 digital newsletters De Correspondent 4 exploratory interviews 2 case interviews	NU.nl: 116 documents such as annual reports, articles, webpages 282 digital newsletter articles Nu.nl 2 exploratory interviews 2 case interviews

Figure 1. Data structure.

Table 2. Summary of results.

Case	De Correspondent	Nu.nl	NRC	Metro
Primary market	Online paying audience	Online advertising	Print paying audience	Print advertising
Network effect exploitation	Direct	Indirect	Direct & indirect	Indirect
Content protype	Long tail supply-driven	Blockbuster demand-driven	Long tail, blockbuster, demand- & supply- driven	Blockbuster demand-driven

Table 3. Elements advertising value proposition.

	Metro	NU	NRC	DC
Identity of customer demand-side	Mediabureaus and national advertisers	Mediabureaus, local and national advertisers	Advertisers AB1 target group niche	This side is not served
Problem solved for advertiser (demand-side)	Content solutions and plain reach to improve image advertiser. Via open programmatic and branded content, pay lip service to advertiser by writing about their products and services	Buckets: provide data lake for programmatic, banners, branded, video pre-rolls, data, enterprising partnerships, SME tool self-service ads	Reach 76% of AB1 target group with trust to increase sales	Not applicable
Data value proposition	Data profiles not sold to third parties, advertising is personalised via portfolio data, programmatic sales is 1% of revenue	Data profiles not sold to third parties, advertising is personalised via portfolio data, automated bidding of personalised banners is main source of revenue	Data profiles not sold to third parties, no re-targeting, no open exchange, only private automated trading, limited personalisation.	Delete user data if they do not serve editorial purpose, do not use Google analytics anymore to protect user privacy, do not push through ad-blocker
Portfolio titles VP Ads	Yes	Yes	No	No
Prices print banner	203,280 euro maximum	Not clear	248,000 maximum	Not applicable
Advertising prices	CPM = 9.45–12.60 euro Programmatic/automated buying ad space: 1.50–14 euro	CPM = 22.85 euro	CPM = 25–75 euro Programmatic/automated buying ad space: 2–7 euro	Not applicable
Print circulation daily	299,000 (2001) 516,000 (2007) 200,000 (2019)	x	257,000 (2000) 131,000 (2017)	x
Reach print	4.3 mln (2018)	x	3.3 mln (2018)	x
Number of subscribers/members	x	x	202,097 (2017) 265,000 (2018)	60,000 Netherlands (2019) 49000 international (2019)
Newsletter receivers	Not yet launched	69,000 (general) 157,000 (soccer) 4,100 (Formula 1)	225,000.	40,000.
Montly total unique visitors website	1.8 mln (2018) 1.5 mln (2019)	6.8 mln (2018) 7.5 mln (2019)	2.1 mln (2018)	300,000–400,000 (2019)
Unique visitors/day	1 mln	2.5 mln (2019)	350,000–450,000	50,000.
Active reading minutes/user/day	0.5	x	3	>7

Table 4. Elements audience-side value proposition.

	Metro	NU	NRC	DC
Identity of customer on supply-side	All travellers on Dutch public transport (millennial online)	All Dutch readers with internet	Highly educated, affluent Dutch readers	No target group defined: supporters press freedom, urban highly educated
Problem solved for user/subscriber (supply-side)	Something to read and leave behind while on the public transport	Accessibility, speed, applicability: fact-check news of today very quickly for news addicted user, entertainment, service (mix hard and soft news)	Separate fact from fiction, interpretation and explanation, independence, quality and expertise, digital first, reliability, opinion and debate	Ensure that user better understands the world focus by exposing underlying structures of hypes and find solutions together with other users
Content monetisation	Free content	Free content	Paywall, some free	Paywall, some free
VP product additional	None	Webshop	Events and webshop	Books and events
Total number of articles produced/day	15–16 print + some online	200–250 online	120 (weekend +20)	3–4 (except Sundays) − 1 minimum per day
Product	Paper 5 days per week print in public transport	Morning and lunch mail, themes newsletters and website/social	21 theme digital newsletters, online paper and print newspaper 1, 3 or 6 days per week	18 total newsletters of which: 2 daily and weekly, 15 personal newsletters, 1 test newsletter (for non-members)
Frequency	Daily print and online	24/7 online	Daily print and 24/7 online	Daily/weekly
Price subscription	Not applicable	Not applicable	27 euro per month print − 8 euro/month digital only	70 euro/year − 7 euro month

Table 5. Detail data structure.

Aggregate dimension	Second-order themes	First-order concepts & exemplary quotations
(No) network effect exploitation	Value proposition	Advertising free online/Take-off legacy media - If the member fees are not enough to make ends meet, we must either spend less, try harder to acquire more new members or stop. Traditionally ads are portrayed as indispensible for a profitable model for journalism, but I never understood that. You can also decide to spend less or find other ways to increase your budget. when you start advertisements are not necessary for journalism. It is however hard to get rid of them, when they have been part of your budget for years.
(No) network effect exploitation	Value proposition	Advertising free online/Take-off legacy media - So, when Rob [founder De Correspondent] left NRC [newspaper and his former employer], I think, he already saw what was later aggravated by geopolitical developments: that people just lose their trust in the media. And our approach ensures that the journalistic process is as transparent as possible. There are no ads, no target group thinking. Issues are not simplified in order to make you click, we do not make clickbait titles. This raises the bar, but also ensures that those who do follow you and who may even think it’s worth paying for that, trust you more.
Network effect exploitation	Value proposition	Subscription free online/big data - We are of course part of [name publishing group], so whe have all sorts of data that come not only from Nu.nl but also from [other publication titles]. We also have subscriber data, so we know hard facts and are pretty certain about people’s birthdays and their gender. We have a data partnership with Zalando in which we know: someone is looking for sports shoes, so you can start targeting that person. So we have that whole landscape of data, an extensive data lake, as it is called, in which we can show targeted ads to consumers.”
Network effect exploitation	Value proposition	Subscription free online/branded content - We offer al sorts of “buckets”, as we call it, so we have programmatic advertising, which are all displays that you see around Nu.nl. Also in the app and on all devices actually… Via programmatic advertising an offer is generated automatically by the system based on user data. That is our main source of income. Then we have video pre-rolls, which are video ads that you see before a video starts. Branded content are all the advertorials and all forms of distribution to boost it, via the podcast for instance. We now have brochures that we distribute for partners via the homepage: NuShop offers. We do not sell data profiles, but data is a very important driver for us, or at least an important sales argument, which allows us to have a better and more relevant offer for our ads.
Network effect exploitation	Value proposition	Subscription free print/branded content - Most advertisers come to us for editorial services, others just want plain reach, not the news. We are not asked to pay lip service but to help them improve their image. We had a [front/homepage?] takeover by Bristol. Everyone knows Bristol as the cheapest shoe store where it smells musty. So, we had to spice this up with a foto shoot. So they ask us: can you improve our image? If [name supermarket] wants plain reach for its special discount offers we offer the backpage of our newspaper and hope this will trigger people to go after the special bonus offer.
Content prototype	Blockbuster	Market demand selection criteria (print) - I think the profile of the reader of Metro or a free newspaper in general, is such that for this reader it is pretty clear that there are commercial stories in the paper and the reader accepts that. He can take the paper for free. It would really be different if he paid for the paper. The reader who does, does not want to wonder: did somebody sponsor this article?
Content prototype	Blockbuster	Market demand selection criteria (online) - In fact, we see, hear, check all the news for you, so that you do not have to do it yourself. You come to us for the best overview of the most important news of the moment… For everyone here [at Nu.nl] the primary customers are the visitors of our website. First of all, we are here so people are content. That we at least make something that make them happy or makes them feel it’s urgent, so that they return often, so that we can create value for advertisers.
Content prototype	Mix blockbuser long tail	Editorial selection criteria - Well, [we solve] the problem that they [readers] want to know more about a certain topic and with us they get the right interpretation and the right context concerning a particular topic. And we offer a profondity that other media, especially social media, are lacking. Sometimes the news goes too fast and people are not informed well enough. So, we do want to cover diverse topics in-depth. Sometimes we also give deepening that goes beyond current events…. We give critical, independent thinkers the means to form their own opinion about the world around them.
Content prototype	Long tail	Editorial selection criteria [concerning selection criteria topics for editors:] - The maxim rule is: follow your own interests, with the footnote that those interests must have a social relevance and are thus interesing for a greater audience. We do not keep diaries. So, if readers are not interested, that probably means something is wrong with the relevance of the topic. Traffic does not play a role here, because it is a very limited measure of social relevance.

Table 6. Elements content prototype value proposition.

	Metro	NU	NRC	DC
Branded content	Yes (10% content)	Yes (produced by newsroom)	Yes (produced outside newsroom)	None
Advertiser suggests topics	Yes (suggestions possible)	Yes (suggestions possible)	yes (suggestions, but separate production)	None
Banners in newsletter	x	No	Yes	No (only for own products)
Liveblog	No	Yes	Yes	No
Selection criteria topics/items	Attention capture traveler	Addictive news items for frequent return	Reliability – provide elements for reader to form opinion	Provision of new insight – reader must learn something
Personalised content pushing	Ad driven – automated programmatic	Ad driven − 1st blocks homepage = not personalised, rest is	User driven – not automated programmatice	None
Clickbait – traffic incentive	Yes	Yes	Some incentive	Little incentive
Verification	Lowest (not done when official sources)	High (even newspapers are checked)	High (more important than speed)	High (many peer reviews)
Press agency content	High % - often not checked and direct publishing online	Medium (faster than press agency) 10% direct publishing without verfication	Low %	None
Service content	Horoscopes, puzzle most attractive – also service pages (TV, cartoons, weather)	Yes	Yes	None
Framing	Politically neutral	Politically neutral – “opinion of Holland”	Towards liberal side	Towards progressive side
Content newsletter selected for traffic reasons	Not applicable	Yes – only reason to have newsletter	Only online	Not primarily – less so
Popular clickbait/best read	Bizarre, cheeky, entertainment, light themes	Sports, formula 1, tour de france, songfestival, Grand Prix (game), crime, puzzles	TV critics, Sudoku, 50 columnists, (breaking) big news items	Why-headlines
Not popular with advertiser	Analysis, politics, economics	Terrorist acts, bad news about advertiser	Brand unsafe topics, kittens and sex	x
Research	No profound research, but superficial reporting	Verification of todays news, no analysis and context	For context and analysis	Researched analysis

Figure 2. Overview value propositions (VPs).