On my recent trip to New York, Condé Nast shared how they’ve developed a multi-layered membership ecosystem designed to drive loyalty, connection and higher lifetime value. Of course, I was hooked. So I followed up with Director of Global Consumer Revenue, Holly Johnson, to find out more about this shift from a volume-based model towards deep engagement and loyalty.
Catch up quickly:
- Condé Nast is one of the world's most renowned media companies covering a wide variety of genres, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, WIRED, GQ, Architectural Digest (AD), and more
- To build belonging amongst their most loyal audiences, the team have created a "Membership" tier that sits above subscription
- The value exchange here is two-way: Members are active participants contributing data, feedback, and engagement. They expect to belong to a community.
- This strategy is paying off: a member has an LTV (Lifetime Value) up to 50 times higher than a subscriber, amongst other benefits listed below
A holistic, inter-connected ecosystem
Condé Nast views its portfolio of brands not just as publications, but as Intellectual Properties (IPs). The fundamental strategic question guiding all development is: “Where does this brand have permission to play?”
The team aims to leverage the brand’s authority across the entire consumer lifecycle, tapping into different value exchanges (and thus revenue streams) to build an inter-connected eco-system. A consumer may start as a commerce customer, then event attendee, subscriber and eventually a member. This breadth not only builds a consumer’s affinity to the brand, but also ensures sustainability and flexibility in a challenging market.
Moving to a Membership Mindset
What’s particularly interesting about Condé Nast’s model is the development of membership as a premium tier above subscription. For Holly, this represents a fundamental pivot from serving passive recipients to active participants.
- Unknown -> Known: The process starts by moving an unknown user, who may be engaging with limited content sampling, into a known audience. This conversion, often via a simple newsletter sign-up, allows the brand to deliver personalized targeting and experiences.
- Known -> Subscriber: Based on engagement signals (visit frequency, content affinity), the reader is eventually converted into a paying subscriber.
- Subscriber -> Member (The Strategic Upsell): Once purchase intent is clear, the focus shifts to upselling the subscriber into a membership. This key step capitalizes on proven loyalty. A remarkable 35% of AD PRO acquisitions originate from a post-purchase upsell directly after a user buys a standard AD digital subscription, demonstrating the power of timing and contextual offers.
While they initially drew a clear distinction between subscriptions and membership, having the proposition in the market for several years provided a deeper understanding of how to grow a smaller, but highly engaged audience that could be converted into a layer above subscriptions.
The traditional subscription represents a scale/volume tier.
- Audience: Broadly focused on volume
- Value Exchange: One-way (passive recipient absorbing content)
- Goal: Volume and scale-based value – content for scale
Membership is the niche, high-value tier
- Audience: Caters to a very specific segment of the audience.
- Value Exchange: Two-way. Members are active participants contributing data, feedback, and engagement. They expect to belong to a community.
- Goal: Engagement and high retention, not volume – content is focused on the funnel.
“Membership caters to a niche segment of the audience. The ultimate goal is to create a sense of belonging, where members feel they are contributing to the ecosystem and are part of a recognized community or tribe.” – Holly
Membership is built on three pillars: Access, utility, and belonging
- Access: Access to our team of editors and leading industry experts for guidance and networking opportunities, along with exclusive experiences such as first-look showroom previews, intimate panel discussions, and hosted tours—offering entry to spaces and events that typically would not be available elsewhere
- Utility: This includes in-depth reporting, access to the archive, and tools. For example, the AD Pro Directory provides tools to help design professionals grow their business, priced at $1,500 yearly for the directory tier.
- Belonging: High-value experiences like Vogue Business‘ industry dinners – intimate gatherings of 20 or so passionate professionals to discuss the front of mind topics of today, forward-looking insights, exclusive virtual and IRL event access, community channels, and Community Seals (e.g., the AD Pro Directory 2025 badge).
Delivering belonging
The success of their high-tier membership hinges on delivering real value and reinforcing the sense of belonging, metrics that are far more challenging to quantify than simple conversion rates.
- Measuring connection not just conversion: Condé Nast’s Membership Mindset means tracking metrics around loyalty and engagement over volume. The most critical metrics include ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), Renewal Rate, Recency (how recently they engaged), and Feature Engagement (which features are “stickiest”).
- Niche focus, premium price: The most successful memberships, such as the AD PRO Directory (priced at up to $1,500 annually), lean into a specific, high-value niche. People are willing to pay a premium if the value proposition is highly specific and delivers a genuine tool or resource.
- The power of asking: The audience often tells the brand exactly what they want. The AD PRO Directory concept, for example, originated because the brand’s editors were consistently asked by design enthusiasts to recommend interior designers to recommend interior designers. The value was created by formally addressing this need.
- Elevated experience: For high-value tiers, Condé Nast commits to a “white-glove treatment.” This involves building dedicated membership teams trained to provide high-touch service. At industry events, these teams are equipped with “face sheets” to know members by name and be aware of their recent professional achievements, fostering genuine, human-to-human relationships instead of brand-to-consumer transactions.
And this model is paying off:
- A member has an LTV (Lifetime Value) up to 50 times higher than a subscriber.
- Members are 1.5x more likely to stay than a subscriber.
- AD PRO Directory experienced 71% YoY Revenue Growth and a solid retention rate of 85% by focusing on accreditation, community, and premium value
- The annual retention rate at AD PRO Directory is upwards of +80%.
- Focus on member programming such as events increased marketing performance by +70% compared to running discounted pricing.
What’s next?
The team is using AI and predictive data to personalize offers and create real-time, one-to-one membership experiences.
- AI Integration: The next major focus is leveraging AI to drive personalized, predictive, and real-time membership experiences. This includes channel affinity messaging and personalized content recommendations
- Expansion: Expanding the successful membership model to new revenue lines and new markets (starting with successful implementation in the US, now looking globally)
- New revenue lines: Continuously looking at the consumer lifecycle to identify the “next step” (e.g., AD PRO delivers inspiration and search, the next step could be delivering the actual service).
- Brand-appropriate engagement: Applying membership lessons across the portfolio, ensuring the execution is true to the brand’s DNA
- Operating model: Continuously ensuring editorial & business are operating as a single unit, and prioritizing testing and learning.
