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Anyway They Want It, That’s The Way They Read it!
Living the Albuquerque Journal Customer-Focused Experience
BACKGROUND
Founded in 1880, the Albuquerque Journal is New Mexico’s
leading newspaper, delivered in print, online and on mobile
apps, 365 days a year.
Known for being a forward-thinking publisher, Albuquerque
Journal was one of the first newspapers to put up a hard
paywall in 2001 when others were giving away their content
for free, and paying the price for it. As technology evolved, so
did the publisher’s paywall.
Today its high-value content is behind a simple Google
Survey that only requires the visitor to answer a simple
question; Google pays Albuquerque Journal for every answer.
No registration or payment is required by the visitor, making
it easy for them to access the content they want. Subscribers
can choose to login to skip the surveys and get instant access
to the content.
More recently, Albuquerque Journal introduced a subscriberretention initiative called Journal Rewards -- a smartphonebased loyalty program that offers members deals from
merchants across the U.S. state of New Mexico. All subscribers
automatically become members.
This “sticky” program has been a win-win-win for the
publisher, its merchants and most of all, its members. In the
first month more than 4,300 people joined the program and
the numbers keep growing.
Along with the traditional printed product, members receive
exclusive benefits such as the eJournal (PressReader Replica),
Journal Rewards’ offers and discounts, newsletters, and much
more. Each of these perks are called engagement points. The
more members engage with the brand the more value to
receive, which leads to better retention for the publisher.
IHOP Customers Hopped onto
Journal Rewards
THE PLAN
To reach readers wherever they were, 9 years ago Albuquerque
Journal started offering current-day issues of its newspaper:
As a merchant in Albuquerque Journal’s
“Journal Rewards” program, IHOP published
ads, featuring Journal Rewards discounts, in
the Dec 2014 and Jan 15 printed editions of
the newspaper.
»» On PressReader’s (previously NewspaperDirect) Print-OnDemand network with 900 print locations in more than
100 countries.
»» On PressReader.com (previously PressDisplay.com) which
offered readers full access to (at the time) 350 newspapers
on their computers and first generation eReaders with
just one subscription.
Soon, IHOP customers started calling asking
how they could take advantage of the
rewards.
This joint promotion cultivated a very strong
partnership. The restaurant received so
many complements from their patrons, they
allowed the Albuquerque Journal to move
their outside coin racks to an inside custom
display. This move tripled the paper’s Sunday
sales!
In addition to being recognized as an innovator in terms
of audience retention and revenue, the publisher has also
received numerous awards and accolades over its lifetime.
The most recent in 2014 where it received multiple Press
Association awards including two 1st place finishes for
breaking news and best mobile app.
THE OPPORTUNITY
In 2006, while the newspaper industry was struggling to stop
the bleeding caused by the digital revolution, a study was
undertaken by McKinsey to understand what consumers
wanted from online news.
The results clearly showed that reading behaviors were
dramatically changing and brand promiscuity was becoming
the norm. Readers were consuming news from 12-16
different brands on a regular basis, looking for convenience,
comprehensiveness and “multiple perspectives” on current
events.
Albuquerque Journal, a step ahead of other publishers, saw
opportunity in these new consumption trends and embarked
on an aggressive digital program to profit from them.
It started to look for new ways to expand its distribution
beyond its website and grow audience and revenues through
multiple platform solutions and vertical channels.
Today PressReader has a growing list of over 4,000 newspapers
and magazines and reaches 250+ million readers at 15,000
libraries, hotels, cruise ships, airlines and Cafés around the
world that sponsor access to the service.
In 2011, Albuquerque Journal expanded its reach even further
by launching its digital replica edition, eJournal, followed by
branded apps for iOS, Android and Windows.
In order to focus on its core competency of producing high
quality content, the publisher looked to industry experts to
develop eJournal and branded apps for them. It shortlisted
two industry players (PressReader and Olive) and ran
their software in parallel to analyze the digital replica and
companies in terms of product quality, technical innovation
and support.
After evaluating the results, Albuquerque Journal chose
PressReader as its digital publishing partner and has been
collaborating with the company ever since to continually
innovate its digital properties to grow revenues and
readership.
THE RESULTS
Through its close partnership with PressReader, Albuquerque
Journal enjoys all the benefits of being a fully cross-platform,
multi-channel publication, reaching millions of readers
wherever they are, on whatever device they choose.
Average daily eJournal downloads have grown by 620%
since 2011, with little to no promotion of the digital replica’s
availability!
According to Joseph Leong, VP of Circulation at Albuquerque
Journal, “2015 will be our year for promoting the value
of a newspaper subscription (beyond home delivery).
PressReader (the eJournal) is a huge part of the value mix for
our members.”
The eJournal News in Education (NIE) program has also
grown exponentially.
eJournal NIE
Program
2011
2014
Average Daily
Copies
202
7,276
Average Sunday
Copies
470
7,180
Through its 7-day integrated print and digital programs
(ABQjournal.com, eJournal digital edition, branded apps),
the Albuquerque Journal’s newspaper audience continues
to grow, recently enjoying an increase of 7 percent yearover-year.
COMING SOON
But the publisher isn’t finished innovating yet!
»» Albuquerque Journal will be the first newspaper (out of
thousands of PressReader publications in the world)
to convert its branded digital edition into an HTML5powered website, profiting from all the advantages that
come with bringing the app experience to the web.
The publisher is looking to PressReader to help them
capitalize on those benefits through new and creative
advertising campaigns to promote the all-new eJournal in
2015.
»» The Journal, PressReader and Mather Economics are
partnering together to maximize each company’s
expertise as part of the launch for the HTML5 new site.
This collaborative partnership provides the ability to
transparently share information, develop integrated, datadriven strategies, and ultimately create a customer-centric
journey for eJournal readers.
»» The Journal also plans to offer and promote free 30-day
trials to introduce eJournal to new readers, reinforce the
product to existing members and collect data from nonmembers to find effective ways to entice them to join.
»» Albuquerque Journal is planning to reach hard-to-reach
readers in New Mexico by offering eJournal to other
newspapers in the state. Bundling a digital subscription
to the eJournal in other publishers’ printed products not
only increases the value for their subscribers, it helps
expand Albuquerque Journal’s audience. Another winwin!
THE FUTURE
Because of PressReader’s commitment to its publishers and
continually driving innovation in the industry, Albuquerque
Journal sees a bright future for the partnership.
“I have worked with PressReader at both the Honolulu StarAdvertiser and here at the Albuquerque Journal for the past 10
years. It continues to be a great experience; everyone there is
fantastic to work with,” shared Leong. “They are evolving with
us; as our industry grows and changes, so do their products
and services.”