Taking Pulse: Subscriptions
Taking Pulse: Subscriptions
Thursday, May 16; Wednesday May 29
11-11:45 AM EDT
These are free event for DCN members.
These virtual events will bring together DCN members to discuss the most pressing issues impacting their subscription strategy: From audience development, to interplay with advertising, to encouraging maximum engagement and more – these closed-door, members-only discussions are the best place to share insights with your senior executive peers that will shape and grow your business.
Completed Sessions
Reema Rao
VP, Marketing Strategy
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, May 16 11:00 - 11:45 AM EDT
Leveraging streaming war strategies for news subscription growth
As the news industry navigates the digital landscape and transformation, understanding the core pillars driving subscription growth is paramount. Drawing inspiration from the intense competition witnessed in the Streaming Wars, we’ll delve into how News organizations can harness the successful strategies of streaming giants and also uncover how WSJ is leveraging these pillars to hypercharge subscription growth.
Reema Rao is a seasoned marketing and media executive with 15+ years of expertise in consumer products, brand management and digital subscription services. Reema joined Dow Jones in 2023 to lead and operationalize strategic plans to drive The Wall Street Journal’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) digital subscription and revenue growth. She oversees cross-functional workstreams that execute end-to-end strategies across brand, acquisition, engagement and retention.
Prior to Dow Jones, Reema spent much of her career in entertainment media at HBO/WarnerMedia, contributing as a launch team leader for the HBO Max streaming service and the Game of Thrones franchise, as well as playing a critical role in the company’s digital transformation. Reema’s multifaceted career also includes stints in tech, financial services and fashion, where she made significant contributions, including growing the Apple Services subscriber base, marketing new card products and loyalty programs for American Express and launching a new fashion brand for GAP.
Sarah Ebner
Executive editor,
Head of newsletters
Financial Times
Wednesday, May 29 11:00 - 11:45 AM EDT
Using newsletters to enhance the value of subscriptions
Leveraging newsletters to maximize engagement and value of your subscriptions.
Sarah Ebner is an award-winning journalist who is currently executive editor and head of newsletters at the FT, which she joined in April 2021. She is an expert in newsletters and digital journalism and was the first ever head of newsletters at The Telegraph, where subscriptions from newsletters went up from 5,000 in 2018 to over 30,000 in 2020. Sarah is a former deputy editor of the Jewish Chronicle where she had special responsibility for digital and launched a new website in 2016. It garnered record traffic.
Sarah spent eight years at the Times, where she was the sole female editor on the Times digital sports desk and also set up and ran Times Woman, a weekly email bulletin which showcased the best of the female writers at The Times and Sunday Times. Before that she wrote and edited The Times's hugely successful School Gate blog for five years, winning two awards including the prestigious "best commentary" prize at the Online Media Awards.
Sarah has been a national newspaper news reporter and feature writer, as well as a producer on the BBC television news and current affairs programme, Newsnight. She has launched a number of successful newsletter while at the FT, including award-winners Unhedged, Inside Politics and Fashion Matters.