How to Grow Your Subscriber Network
AMA with Piper Rosenshein, VP, A+E Network
PIPER ROSENSHEIN, A+E NETWORKS
“The world around us is changing every day...We need to be nimble and give ourselves optionality so that we can evolve our businesses based on the world around us and what our viewers need.”
Full Transcript
*Questions submitted by community members
Transcript and highlights from our Ask Me Anything.
Okay, we have a bunch of great questions submitted by our community...so let's get started.
Question: Your LinkedIn profile has a timeline that shows varied roles across many leading brands across the fashion, retail, finance, publishing, and now entertainment industries. Is there a common thread that drives you across this professional journey?
I am attracted to brands that are focused on the customer and building a direct relationship. And I’m also personally a customer of these brands and I appreciate the value they provide and want to contribute to that and drive customer loyalty. I left American Express over 10 years ago and still use my Gold card almost exclusively. I left the New York Times 5 years ago but still read my morning briefing (almost!) every day. When I consider new opportunities, I look for roles with brands that I know and respect, brands that focus on customer loyalty and products that I can relate to, even if indirectly. I wish I could say that my wardrobe is all high fashion like Saks sells – that’s sadly not the case! – but I do love to shop, and that indirect connection was good enough for me.
Cheers for turning a love of shopping into a fantastic career!
Off 5th is the best I could do myself
Question: Can you give a few examples of how you have leveraged key learnings from retail, membership, etc to drive success at A+E?
When I joined A+E, 2 of our 3 SVOD services were live, but in very early phases. As a multi-platform programming company that partners with cable distributors to reach end users, we did not have expertise in direct-to-consumer, which is why my role was created and I was hired. So all of the learnings around acquisition and retention, driving repeat purchases (or in our case, views), and developing a long-term customer relationship have been applied to our business. One specific example is around onboarding – this was a key focus when I was NYT and we learned that driving customers to create a habit very early on was correlated with longer-term retention, so one of my first activities at A+E was to develop an onboarding email program to encourage immediate viewing which would ultimately drive conversion from free trial to paid subscriber. Another is around holidays – entertainment isn’t necessarily seasonal the way retail is – but we have experimented with and seen success around holiday gifting offers, including around Mother’s and Father’s Day. Final example is customer service – it’s not the “sexiest” part of a subscription business but SO incredibly important. My experience running CS at NYT made this an immediate area of focus for me at A+E.
totally agree...customer service is key for retention.
We had a previous speaker quote that “customer service is the first real opportunity to drive higher than average LTV with your subscribers”
It is key - but often viewed as a cost center vs a customer opportunity.
WSJ ran an interesting experiment where they directed some customer center calls to their sales team to test retention impact and for sure it was much higher. The key takeaway was that cust service folks need to be dual players....services and sales experts
Love that you focused on an onboarding email program to help develop habits early on! Was there any onsite efforts you tested as well to help users create these habits more quickly?
We did extensive onboarding work at Audible too. It works wonders when it works well
Agreed, onboarding is key for retention and much like customer service....often overlooked, undervalued, and under-funded.
Question: Where do you see the differences and similarities between subscription and membership companies? What can they learn from each other?
Subscription implies paid, whereas membership does not. That is not always the case – at Barnes and Noble I managed a paid “membership” program – but I would argue it was really a subscription business. The biggest difference, to me, is that willingness to pay and getting customers over the hurdle and keeping them. But beyond that, there are so many similarities. Ultimately you want people to use your service/product and that will keep them engaged and retained. So in my business today, we want people watching content because we know that will more likely keep them with us longer. In a membership or loyalty program, you want people using their benefits otherwise they may leave the program. Ultimately, membership programs drive revenue back to the company, even if indirectly. For example, I’m a member of the Macy’s Star Rewards program. I don’t pay anything to be a member, but I get discounts and other benefits that encourage me to spend more with them.
One of our great clients is AARP and they have one of the largest membership organizations in the US (maybe the world). A small group has emerged over the years to focus them on Subscription best practices. We have loved working with them and blending best-in-breed membership wins with subscription.
Question: Same question for retail…what are the differences and similarities? What can they learn from each other?
I’ve used this metaphor before – in my experience – retail is a series of sprints from one holiday or season to the next. The tactics you employ for Christmas may or may not be the same as Valentine’s Day. Subscription businesses are a marathon, it’s not about coming out of the gate fast per se, it’s a long run and you need to pace yourself. You need that subscriber to renew every month to keep your business running. While there may be some seasonality (in my world today, this could mean a new premiere), it’s more consistent over time vs the world of retail and the tactics can be more evergreen. And it’s less about whether or not we met our revenue goal for a given season or event, it’s looking at the business over time.
Your background in both is a perfect fit for A+E.
I love this way of looking at subscription vs retail Piper, makes total sense!
Thank you, Dave! I really do feel like I found a great fit here.
Totally agree, Piper - great businesses really need to master all 3 (retail, membership, subscription) ...perhaps 4 if we add in loyalty.
Question: What do you see working in terms of content, i.e., release frequency, original v. license, etc.?
We have learned – both from viewing behavior and customer feedback – that our viewers want a consistent flow of content into the product. They also want variety. So we aim to give them both – new content is added every Friday and we give them a blend of older / newer titles and different types of content within the relevant genre. We also know from actual data that our viewers tend to watch more over the weekend, so our release and email marketing schedules lean into that behavior.
Do you think most of your viewers are aware that Friday is the big day for updates?
Are you communicating all of these releases and highlighting the variety through email or within the product experience?
We run a survey every year where we ask questions about what they want / need / expect from us - and from that feedback, yes they are aware and look forward to it.
Both! We send emails and push notifications and also feature new content on the main screen in the apps.
Nice! great way to remind users of the value they are receiving.
So easy to forget the value of email reminders.
Question: How do you balance efforts between acquiring new customers and getting repeat customers?
Acquisition and retention are both important areas of focus that we try to balance, but we view the activities a bit differently. Acquisition is primarily marketing and it’s the same channels that I’m sure you all employ – search, paid media, owned media, etc. Retention – at least in our view – is certainly marketing but even more product. The features that we are adding and iterating within our apps are meant to provide a better content discovery and viewing experience, which we believe will retain our customers longer. So part of the way we balance the efforts is by spreading that work across teams and prioritizing accordingly.
In my business today, we look at conversion from the initial free trial to paid subscription.
Question: When are "one-time" customers worth it?
That depends on how you define “worth it.” In our business, there is no physical good that we are producing or shipping. Once we acquire a piece of content and upload it to our service, there is no cost impact if 10 people watch it or 10,000 people watch it. So on one hand, even if a customer cancels after 1 month, you could argue that is $4-$5 in revenue that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. But that is not the business we are in; we are looking to build a long-term direct relationship with the customer. Additionally, unless that person found us organically, we paid some acquisition cost which is likely more than that $4-$5. Our goal is to minimize the “one-time” customers to not only recover that acquisition cost, but to cultivate that long-term relationship which drives not only revenue but valuable customer data and insights.
Always a chance to win them back later as well!
True, win-backs are a great prospect pool.
Question: Not worthy of a tangent, but I wonder if there's a percentage of customers in the OTT / SVOD realm who try to 'act' as though it's a Pay Per View / Retail model and quickly consume and cancel. I'm sure there are mechanisms for this.
I bet that is the intent with some folks but they get hooked on the release calendar when it is done well.
Disney+ does a great job of this!
Yes, there are definitely people who take advantage of the free trial. Ours is a 7-day offer, and any longer than that could very well encourage that behavior
7-14 day seems to be the average free trial length for SVOD companies.
Question: How do you handle pricing/promotions strategies for new vs repeat customers, specifically as customers become more and more deal savvy and expectant?
As a relatively young business, we are still experimenting and learning here. To date, most of our promos have been for new subscribers or around gifting. We do have a save offer in our cancellation flow and are testing into win-back offers. We have put in place business rules – you will only be served the save offer once, You are only eligible for win-back after a period of time. But really, we are still testing and learning here, so happy to hear any insights that you may all have to share too!
"'Testing and learning' - love it!
Question: Is there a strategy around which content gets removed and how often that happens?
Yes, and it varies for us by product. Movies tend to rotate in and out mostly due to inventory and rights. Series have a different set of considerations which allow us to keep most of them up longer.
Question: What's your take on the lower-price-with-ads model from Peacock and Disney+?
Personally, as a consumer, I think it makes sense. Some people have a higher tolerance for ads than others and would be happy to save $2 per month and watch ads. Others are willing to pay more for an ad-free experience. Either option is a revenue benefit to the company and it’s giving customers more options to find what works for them. That said, it doesn’t make sense for all companies, including A+E Networks, which leads into the next question…
Agree 100%....ad supported content is best when given as a choice vs forced.
"Wow, let's take a minute to breathe. This has been such an insight rich event. Thank you, Piper! We have a few more questions and I am happy to say that Piper has agreed to push on until 1:45pm. Let's go!
Question: A&E Networks has gone from a world of complete linear viewing to a match of viewing options (linear. pause. SVOD, OTT, etc.). Within this fractured content, how do you find your best customers, heavier users, best LTV, etc....? Do you ever try to 'direct' them to a certain platform?
Our philosophy is that we want to meet our viewers wherever they are and have our content reach as many people as possible. This is why we have a strong presence across multiple, emerging digital platforms. And we aim for each channel to have its own unique value proposition both to serve the needs of all customers, but also to funnel people through all of the options. For example, we have our TV Everywhere apps, which are ad-supported and feature more current content from our linear programming. We use a portion of the ad inventory to promote our SVOD products because it’s a qualified audience within our owned ecosystem (minimal cost). We don’t have an ad-supported tier because we already have another ad-supported business, which is not only a revenue driver unto itself, but a marketing channel for our higher-LTV SVOD business.
I understand and applaud you getting your content in front of the audience however they choose to consume it. However, this probably poses some challenges around profiling those consumers as some distribution partners may not be as forthcoming with data
How have you dealt with that?.
Data availability does vary by platform -- we take whatever is available to us and analyze it as best we can. But this is also why direct to consumer via our owned & operated apps is an important focus for us, we have the most data and insights about our customers on our own platforms.
Question: How do you integrate the content pipeline with your marketing strategy? Loaded question that we can save until the end if there is time.
Content pipeline is a KEY component of our marketing strategy. We aim to align our content release schedules with our linear programming to maximize relevance and then amp-up our marketing efforts around those key events. This helps us reach our super-fans who are tuning into our linear networks with contextual and relevant messaging.
Question: Does the content budget ever compete with the marketing budget?
No, they are separate budgets and funding for each is requested separately based on ROI.
Question: “Peak subscription" is a term we're hearing a lot recently, and SVOD seems to be at the center of that conversation -- how are you looking at this challenge?
In the 5 years I have been in this role, the question has changed from “do you stream” to “what do you stream.” SVOD is now a part of our lives. I believe there is a limit of how many SVOD services any individual or household will pay for at a given time. I have read many articles on this topic, and while this is the general sense in the industry, there are varied opinions on how many services is the limit. Even I subscribe to more content than I can possibly watch. We know that people come and go, SVOD subscriptions are not all long-term from a viewer’s point-of-view. Once a season is over or they have watched a whole series, they may be ready to move onto another service. This is one of the unintended consequences of the proliferation of SVOD services – there is more content than ever before and it’s fractured, so we have created an environment where people may feel they need to bounce around to consume the content they want. The SVOD services that I manage are designed for and target the superfans of our brands, many of whom also watch our networks on linear TV. We know our content better than anyone and can provide this viewer the content and experience they are looking for. So rather than accepting churn as an inevitable outcome in a crowded landscape, we are working hard to keep people with compelling content and a great product experience.
Question: By focusing on Super Fans are you trying to filter out the casual viewer in your acquisition efforts?
It's not about filtering them out - it's more about targeting our efforts towards the viewers who already know and love our brands and content. If we find casual viewers along the way, we are happy to have them!
Question: What has been the most impactful learning over the last 12 months?
The world around us is changing every day. Between the pandemic, the proliferation of SVOD services, mergers in the industry around us, the world of streaming has changed dramatically in just a few years. We need to be nimble and give ourselves optionality (a term our President uses often) so that we can evolve our businesses based on the world around us and what our viewers need. One example, though it’s more than 12 months, is when lockdown started in March 2020. Almost overnight we pivoted our free trial offering from 7 days to 30 days to give people another content option while stuck at home. We didn’t know how long we would run the offer – we said maybe 2 weeks (oh, hindsight) – but we adjusted along the way and ran it for over a month. We saw a surge in trials and very healthy conversion.
But to my point earlier, I would not go to a 30 day free trial on a business-as-usual basis. March 2020 was far from usual.
“Optionality,” thank you for adding a new term to my vocab.
Question: We have a few minutes left so I will point you to a question posed earlier today by a member: My news feed is full of a recent BBC article lamenting the decline and rising churn intent of OTT/SVOD services. Has everyone seen this? Would love to get your thoughts, Piper?
I haven't seen that article yet - will check it out. But as I said before, we know that churn is an issue in OTT/SVOD. We try to mitigate it by giving people reasons to stay with us and making it easy for them come back if they do leave.
Happy to start the discussion now and continue it onward in the channel!
Love to keep this conversation going in the Channel post AMA!
Someone else in this forum (I believe) pointed out that OTT/SVOD also has a very high 'reconnect' rate so that high churn can also be paired with high reconnect rates, thus creating a more reasonable 'net churn' ratio. Not defending high churn, but the ease of the transaction in this case may also contribute. High Churn + High Return rates. Piper's retail DNA might understand this concept better as well.
And for our last official question...
Question: Besides your own, what is a subscription that you value highly and why?
Spotify. I have been a subscriber for years, more than I can even remember. I was that person walking around NYC with a discman back in the early 2000s before we had iPods and iPhones, I’ve always loved listening to music while I’m out and about. So I was an early subscriber and have built playlists that I would hate to lose if I left. And their recommendations are spot-on. They have even figured out that I have a child now – one of my Daily Mixes is all kids’ music! But the others are still for me.
Ah the discman....I do NOT miss the skipping
And it didn't fit in your pocket!
If only they could get my kids music separated from my lists! Although I do love Encanto.
“Sleep” is my playlist of the year, but other than that I love spotify!
We are at the 45 min mark and I want to thank Piper for her amazing contributions today.
Thank you, Piper!
Thank you!
My turn for a question! Anyone else here in the OTT/SVOD space? If so, would love to connect further to compare notes.
We definitely have a few...I will work to connect you with them directly!
Talis and I are old NYT colleagues!
Your insights were so eye-opening and your answers were extremely well thought out.
Thank you all for your questions and interaction today, looking forward to keeping in touch in this community.