Home The ultimate case study database

The ultimate case study database

Every case study we’ve ever published, in one place. Filter by topic to see how publishers around the world are approaching engagement, conversion and retention.

🇺🇸 SFGATE

Why SFGATE launched an app instead of a paywall, and called it “Friends”

🇬🇧 The Economist

The Economist’s push to get closer to readers with audio- and video-only subscription

🇺🇸 Foreign Policy

3 acquisition tactics from Foreign Policy, a publication offering near-to-zero free articles

🇩🇪 Funke Media

From opinion to evidence: how we built a data-led product framework for news apps at Funke

🇬🇧 The Observer

Inside The Observer’s first digital subscription: one tier, one price and a lot of self-discipline

🇬🇧 The Guardian

Why 1.4 million people pay The Guardian for something they could read for free

🇺🇸 The Washington Post

The Washington Post tests flexible access models, addressing the gap between willingness to pay and willingness to commit

🇫🇷 Le Monde

Inside Le Monde in English: Four Years in and already profitable

🇬🇧🇦🇺 Broadsheet

Broadsheet’s path from reader to subscriber: The registration flywheel in action

🇨🇭 Ringier

Knowing the value of our users: Ringier combines revenue from readers and advertising to calculate holistic Customer Lifetime Value

🇬🇧 The Sun

Sun Club at One: what The Sun learned from a year of freemium

🇬🇧🇦🇺 Broadsheet

From Melbourne to London: how Broadsheet is scaling culture and reader revenue

🇳🇴 Amedia

Amedia ignored older subscribers to attract younger ones

🇨🇦 Radio-Canada

Obligatory registration at Radio-Canada: a successful gamble

🇩🇪 Stern

Stern+: How one of Germany’s biggest magazine brands rebuilt a subscription business from scratch

🇲🇽 Milenio

Owning the community and gamifying loyalty: Inside Milenio’s engagement strategies

🇨🇦 Les Coops de L'information

Les Coops de l’information “Pay What You Can” Campaign

🇩🇪 Spektrum

Spektrum’s evolution of audience segmentation and testing

🇧🇪 Mediahuis

The essential subscription: how Mediahuis is bundling beyond journalism

🇺🇦 The Kyiv Independent

How The Kyiv Independent is growing membership through relationship-building

🇸🇪 NTM

Winning the young ones: how NTM grew its under-25 subscriber base by 500%

🇺🇸 Forum Communications

Minor tweaks make all the difference: lessons on breaking the subscription plateau from Forum Communications

🇫🇷 Le Monde

Profitable by 2026: the business logic behind Le Monde in English

🇬🇧 The Mill Media

The Mill Media’s Simple Bet: Readers Pay for Quality

🇩🇪 Republik

Leveraging editorial products for growth at Republik

🇺🇸 Netflix

Subscription Lock-In: Deconstructing Netflix’s “Stranger Things” Strategy

🇺🇸 Condé Nast

When is a subscriber more than a subscriber? How Condé Nast is evolving its audience strategy with membership

🇺🇸 The New Yorker

The power of puzzles: How The New Yorker approached a games paywall

🇺🇸 Wirecutter

How NYT Wirecutter shipped a personalized newsletter in 4 weeks

🌍 Nat Geo Kids

Easy cancellation is the new retention strategy: How Nat Geo Kids uses transparency to win beyond save rates

🇺🇸 The Washington Post

The Washington Post: how and why we built “Ask The Post AI”

🌍 Donation models

Funding public interest: 8 common misconceptions about donations, debunked

🇺🇸 Connecticut Today Insider

Launching a weekday audio news briefing with AI at CT Insider

🇩🇪 Der Spiegel

How DER SPIEGEL uses its engagement score: our key use cases

🇬🇧 The Economist

The Economist’s Substack experiment: building a newsletter product off-platform

🇫🇷 L'Équipe

L’Équipe: 12 projects to retain subscribers following the Paris Olympics

🇬🇧 The Telegraph

The Telegraph: retaining subscribers with a killer mobile strategy

🇫🇷 Telerama

3,360 new subscribers in a month: Télérama’s new streaming guide product pays off

🌍 IAM Expat

IamExpat: Keeping users at the center when diversifying revenue

🇬🇧 The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Doing User Needs right: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism share their secrets

🇬🇧 Irish News

Digital by design: How Irish News is growing from a strong print legacy

🇦🇷 Clarin

Integrating AI into daily editorial workflows at Clarín

🇬🇧 Financial Times

Smarter discussions thanks to AI-generated talking points at FT

🇧🇪 Mediahuis

Building a subscription product for young readers at Mediahuis Belgium

🇬🇧 The Guardian

Relaunching The Guardian app: changing reader habits means we must also evolve

🇮🇳 Newslaudry

Ask Birubala: Inside Newslaundry’s AI tool that frees up time and unlocks team growth

🌍 Aktuality, Il Messaggero & Financial Times

AI and the subscriber funnel: How 3 newsrooms are using AI to grow, engage and retain audiences

🇳🇱 De Correspondent

The move to paid podcasts: Lessons from De Correspondent

🌍 Toronto Star, BBC & Reuters

Newsletters in the fight for sustainability, with Toronto Star, BBC & Reuters

🇬🇧 Nursing Times

Ask Nursing Times: Robin Booth on how they’re creating premium experiences with AI

🇿🇦 Daily Maverick

Boosting membership conversion at Maverick Insider with FAQs

🌍 The Atlantic, Le Monde & Onenet

Pricing strategies from The Atlantic, Le Monde and Onet

🇨🇭 NZZ

Alban Mazrekaj: bridging newsroom and product at NZZ

🇦🇷 0221

From Idea to Implementation: Lessons Learned from the First AI Integration Process in a Local Argentine Newsroom

🇬🇧🇺🇸 Financial Times & The City

Building and serving communities with Ryan Y. Kellett, Financial Times and THECITY

🇫🇷 Le Monde

From €10M in losses to €25M in EBITDA: How Le Monde built a sustainable model

🇩🇪 Handelsblatt

Handelsblatt Circles: 6 lessons on community from Chief Growth Officer Jan Kleibrink

🇫🇷 Le Figaro

Le Figaro halves the time to take out a subscription with their “AMEX” project

🇦🇷 Clarin

How Clarin is Redefining News Consumption with AI-Powered Audio

🇫🇷 Contexte

More clarity, more value: how Contexte overhauled their subscription offer