Digital subscriptions: Are bundles the future?

Are Bundles the Future of Digital Subscriptions?

A publishing director recently put this question to me, and it is an interesting one in many respects. There are many different perspectives from which to answer it.

Bundle offers (bundles) combine multiple products or services into a package that is usually cheaper than buying them individually. Typically, this relates to marketing and sales strategies, as well as the actual or perceived added value for the customer. In practice, bundles often consist of similar or complementary products.

Bundles have been around in the media for quite some time—for example, the various channels on US cable TV since the 1980s, or Amazon Prime in its current form in Germany for nearly twelve years now. In case of digital subscriptions offered by German publishers, however, the concept is still quite new.

The association alles.plus was established by several publishers to facilitate combined offers. For a while, there was little to be heard from them, but for about six months now, Der Spiegel from Hamburg and the Weser-Kurier from Bremen have been offering precisely such bundles. Subscribers to one publication can ‘add on’ the other’s offer at a discounted price, thus gaining information from national/international and local perspectives.

Unfortunately, these offers are not available on the subscription pages or in the subscription shops of the two publishers, as they are only offered to existing customers under certain circumstances. Technically, the offers are handled via coupons.

Does this reticence in communication suggest that it might not be particularly successful? I would argue that this isn’t the key question. Firstly, credit is due for taking the risk. After all, bundles involve resolving a multitude of process and technical issues: marketing strategy, customer segmentation, the exchange of reading recommendations, flexible paywalls, flexible purchase paths and subscription shops, billing, reporting, customer service and much more.

Yet the solutions developed and the knowledge gained in the process are critical factors for the future. After all, who can say that digital subscriptions will remain as we know them today (one product – one brand)?

Why not think further? For instance, a local publisher’s digital offering bundled with a monthly ticket for the local transport network or a sports club. Such a future might not be all that bad.

Andreas Demuth is founder and CEO of Upscore.