Subscription business turn-around for finnish-swedish media house KSF Media

KSF Media is a finnish-swedish media house based in Helsinki owned by Konstsamfundet. KSF manages three newspapers for the Swedish speaking population: Hufvudstadsbladet (HBL), Västra Nyland och Östnyland. HBL was founded in 1864.

KSF and HBL in particular have a long history of quality journalism for the Swedish-speaking population of Finland. Traditionally heavy in print and in advertising, their digital subscription growth was lacking momentum. This was due both to external market circumstances and partly due to internal focus.

Our solution was focused on helping KSF to build and structure the subscription team. This cross-functional team involved members from editorial, analytics, marketing and tech. The team started using agile marketing methodologies while closely following the subscription data in newly created dashboards. Using Recuro’s best practices, the right priorities were made from the start, fueling the growth.

The outcomes for KSF included

• Direct increase in subscription sales of +50% on monthly basis, three months from initial build-up of the team. 
• A functioning cross-functional team focused solely on subscription growth for KSF. 
• Kickstart of knowledge build-up in the internal team, through knowledge sharing with Recuro’s consultants. 
• Strategic advice on CEO/board level on pricing, long-term business planning, recruitment, and more. 
• Managed to turn the negative trend and increase the total number of subscriptions for HBL for the first time in years.

Find other examples of how we have helped other  Media companies grow sustainable here (Breakit) or here (Kvartal).