Latvia’s Žurnāls Santa on Google Digital Immersion Week
At the end of last month, FIPP hosted the latest Google Digital Immersion Week for magazine media professionals, in partnership with FT Strategies – the subscriptions consultancy arm of the Financial Times. The course provides an immersive, weeklong insight into transitioning towards reader revenue models. It’s free to attend and is proving to be increasingly popular amongst industry professionals around the world.
We caught up with Daiga Romanovska, Digital Marketing Manager for Žurnāls Santa Ltd in Latvia, who attended the most recent convening, to find out more…
“I’ve only actually been working at Žurnāls Santa for a few months now,” says Romanovska. “As a digital marketing specialist, I focus on creating content ads, promotional material for social media, promotions and competitions, as well as more traditional advertising campaigns. So everything from website banners to email strategies would probably be a good way of putting it!”
“Our Finance Director, Janis Lecinskis, also participated in the course, and it was him who introduced me to it. Santa is currently undergoing significant changes as a company, as we like many continue the process of digital transition. So we both attended, as we knew what was on offer was going to be great knowledge that will certainly be useful to us in the future.”
For Lecinskis, attending the course was a no-brainer, representing ideal timing in Santa’s digital journey.
“We received an email about the course from FIPP and immediately decided that we would like to participate,” he told us. “It meets the current needs that we have as a company, in terms of being new in digital, and we know that there is a lot of new information and insights out there in this area that can be of use.”
“The structure is particularly useful… because it’s not only about watching presentations, but also participating in daily exercises and one on one sessions. Additionally, there were around ten other representatives from other media from other countries, and that again was added value because we could meet other people who face similar challenges.”
That the course itself is becoming an increasingly popular way of gaining insights into the subscriptions side of the industry is no secret. Just two weeks ago, Google and FT Strategies announced that they are to significantly expand the joint industry training programme, which aims to support publishers with digital transformation.
Over the next three years, the pair will work with 500+ publishers across 50 countries to help them deliver growth, with the next round of courses due to be delivered across Europe, the US, Canada, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. And of course, as The Global Media Network, FIPP will be on hand to bring you news of all the latest opportunities, wherever you may be in the world, as they arise!
As the pandemic showed, subscriptions can play an important part in the overall media monetisation mix. As the industry enters the next wave of digital transition, embracing revenue diversification will be crucial not only in achieving commercial success, but also in supporting the free press and quality journalism that this pays for.
It’s an approach to sustaining the future of premium content environments that Google takes extremely seriously:
“The Google News Initiative is focused on empowering publishers to drive sustainable change in news,” says Olivia Ma, Google Managing Director for Global News Programmes and Ecosystem. “Our partnership with FT Strategies is one of the ways we continue to deliver inspiring programmes that help establish a solid foundation for digital transformation and support the future of news.”
For Žurnāls Santa’s Romanovska, it’s a format that brings a more modern approach to industry learning:
“I really liked that every day there were practical lessons, during which I was already thinking about how we could physical implement them in our company! These were not simply lectures that you listen to, as if you learn something, no. We gained a lot, and the trainings also had a very individual approach, which I also liked. I would definitely recommend this course to others who are thinking about how to develop in the digital environment.”
We’ll be releasing further information on upcoming courses as soon as we have them, and in the meantime you can find out further information on Google Digital Immersion Week here.
