Making users pay: BILDplus case study presented at Digital Innovators’ Summit
Donata Hopfen, CEO of Axel Springer’s BILD Digital, Germany, presented a case study of the company’s new BILDplus portal today at FIPP’s Digital Innovators’ Summit in Berlin.
Based on the philosophy “purchase once, use anywhere,” BILDplus offers users three different subscription models, varying in price and content. Other add-ons, such as BILD’s Bundesliga (German football league) supplement, lets subscribers watch exclusive content after matches, is available.
In a nutshell, BILDplus’ packages consist of the following:
Bildplus: articles which are offered for free on the website, plus some exclusive apps
Bildplus Premium: a digital replica of BILD newspaper, plus more
Bildplus Complete: a newsstand subscription, exclusive content, and everything that BILDplus and BILD Premium customers are offered
“Bildplus supports Bild’s circulation and combines the online and offline worlds,” said Hopfen. “And it’s not only about gaining paid subscribers – it’s also about getting advertising revenue,” she added. BILDplus has partnered with brands to exclusively sponsor the Bundesliga supplement, which gives BILD another revenue stream from this model.
Although a new venture, BILDplus appears to be working. Hopfen said the portal had more than 152,000 fully-paid subscribers as of December 2013 – a number which is “continuously growing,” according to her.
