One thing that comes up again and again in the media industry is the question of bundling media subscriptions. Is this a good idea? Does it work? Does it get people to subscribe more ... or less? Does it create problems?
In this 22-page Plus article, we are going to take a deep-dive into this question and explore why this topic is so incredibly difficult to figure out.
Why are we even talking about bundling?
There are generally two reasons why publishers start to talk about bundling, and both of them (obviously) have to do with growth.
The first reason is a sad one. This is when publishers have been trying to grow directly, meaning they have been trying to get people to subscribe just to them, but it isn't working. People don't convert, there is no real growth, and so the publishers get desperate.
The solution, they think, is to then bundle their publication with something else, in the hopes that the combined volume will convince all these non-subscribers to convert anyway.
There are variations within this, of course, but this is the core of it. Publishers not being able to sell subscriptions directly.