Join us Dec. 1-3 in Nashville for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit
Paul Ross, president of The Economist, joined Digiday editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey for a discussion at Digiday Publishing Summit Japan in February. Some highlights:
For The Economist, the election of Donald Trump has been good for its subscription business. The Economist saw its daily subscription rate go up five times.
“We might not agree with the content coming out of Washington, but it’s a fantastic time to be writing.”
Rossi is a staunch believer in being clear-eyed with it comes to platforms like Facebook. For the Economist, Facebook and Google are a way to drive subscriptions, often through providing samples of their content to a new audience.
“If [platforms] are an extension of your advertising business, then beware because that’s not in my mind a long-term, viable position.”
“These platforms have no moral obligation to support good media. They don’t care.”
Reality check for content studios. Publishers are getting into content studios, but they’re finding that the margins for the agency business are not as good as media.
“What we’re seeing is media businesses are winning business based on the quality of their idea, not on their audience. Ultimately with programmatic and data, you can find audiences wherever they are.”
More in Media
Creators see promise in Instagram’s long-form push, but question whether exposure is enough
Instagram wants to pull long-form creators away from YouTube, but is it offering enough? Experts weigh in on the platform’s pivot.
By the numbers: Ad tech’s widening divide, as AppLovin surges and rivals struggle in Q3
Ad tech’s winners and losers emerge as CTV growth masks open-web struggles.
Media Briefing: Publishers’ revenue growth defies traffic declines, but tougher comparisons loom
The New York Times, People Inc., News Corp and Reuters report revenue growth despite AI disruption, but face tougher comparisons ahead.