Crowning glory: How RBA grows reach and impact to lead in print and digital
The June issue of National Geographic this year was something special. To celebrate the completion of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona it took readers behind the scenes of building works at the church with compelling content in the print magazine and jaw-dropping footage shot by drone across digital channels. It was a combination of human creativity and cutting-edge tech that underlines the approach Spanish publisher RBA takes to using technology in its vast operations.
“Our vision is very clear: technology doesn’t create the story,” said Alex Poderoso, Digital Director at RBA Revistas, talking at the FIPP World Media Congress. “The story is not made by technology. Technology helps us to increase the reach, to get to more people and to get to people in the best way.
“No matter how sophisticated an algorithm or an AI model is, the real engine of our business – what builds the value, the brand, the trust – are names and surnames, our people.
“It’s our editors, journalists, photographers, designers, illustrators, even developers that work in our team. That is human talent that will remain and be the heart of everything we do.”
The leading magazine publisher group in Spain, RBA reaches a total audience of about 108 million people through print, digital, websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts and subscribers.
In addition to popular local titles like Lecturas and Revista Clara it also has major international partnerships with the likes of National Geographic, Time Out and InStyle.
With such a large audience to reach, technology will always play a big role at RBA.
“We are not against innovation,” Poderoso pointed out. “At RBA, technology is completely integrated in our daily work and helps us in the content production, in workflow optimisation, and data analysis.
“It helps us to understand what audience wants, what audience likes. It allows us also to segment our campaigns to get new subscribers and to distribute the content across multiple channels. AI and technology are our best ally to reach more users in new ways and to work faster.”
Not only does it help RBA’s journalists to work faster, but also smarter. “Our creators can focus on what they do best, that is, research, create, and at the end create emotionally links with our readers.”
The Sagrada Familia story certainly connected with readers, with drone footage showing the church being “crowned” – a moment 144 years in the making.
“There are no algorithms in there. There are people, passionate journalists specialised in history, photographers and videographers, taking risks at great heights, demanding editors and expert illustrators, working and drawing every detail of the tower,” said Poderoso after sharing some of the remarkable footage with delegates.
“So that journalistic rigor, the ability to connect with the experts, and that aesthetical sensitivity that the people have to capture that moment is something that only came from the human mind and heart. Without people, there is simply no story.”
RBA’s initial objective with story was clear – create a print report that was truly memorable, a special issue that transmitted all the emotion, scale and importance of the Sagrada Familia crowning.
National Geographic designed several covers. The print edition has three internal covers, spectacular photographs and an impressive infographic. The team at the magazine knew, however, that the crowning could not only be placed in a print edition.
“We designed a really 360-degree editorial project from the very first minute,” said Poderoso. “We created a strategy that integrated all our digital channels with exclusive audiovisual material and high-value content designed specifically for our subscriber community.
“And to capture this masterpiece of modern architecture we use state-of-the-art drones. We obtain aerial angles and perspectives of the Sagrada Familia never seen before. Technology allows us to expand our journalistic experience, transforming our report into an immersive visual journey that takes the user directly to the sky of Barcelona.”
Thanks to the combination of journalists and tech, RBA achieved everything it set out to do. “We exceeded print sales expectations of the physical issue, we recorded historic traffic peaks on the website with the content, and we gained more newsletter subscribers,” Poderoso revealed.
“We also significantly increased the advertising revenue thanks to the brands that were interested in associating with this milestone.”
“We also recorded a huge number of new paid subscribers attracted by exclusive multimedia content that we have. And beyond the numbers, we think that we reinforced the prestige of the National Geographic.”
RBA achieved another remarkable feat – for the first time in more than 130 years of National Geographic history, a story produced entirely by a local team was adopted and published by all the international editions of the magazine in the world. It again showed the power of human and tech working in harmony.
