10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

About today's module

How should publishers rethink retention when acquisition becomes more expensive and less predictable? This module explores how retention increasingly begins before the renewal moment itself: through pricing, trial design, onboarding, and habit-building systems that shape long-term subscriber value from day one.

10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. (New York time)
Welcome and introductions

INMA’s Readers First initiative lead welcomes us into this 3 module masterclass and introduces us to today’s speakers.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom



10:10 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. (New York time)
Crisis-proofing subscriptions: How best to prepare for the 2026 churn cycle

In a year of discovery disruption, rising inflation, and potential consumer pullback, your 2026 budget is at risk. Drawing on cross-industry subscription work, Jonathan Gupta-Buckley, formerly with Dow Jones and founder at Twenty One, shows how to “crisis-proof” growth by adapting the entire funnel, not just downstream retention tactics. That includes opening the top of the funnel for deliberate sampling, aggressively growing a registered “war chest,” and reallocating marketing spend and effort toward engagement that predicts both conversion and retention.

Jonathan Gupta-Buckley, Founder, The Twenty One, United States



10:50 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (New York time)
Cyclone to retention engine: How Grupo RBS turns discounted trials into long-term value

Grupo RBS shows how deeply discounted, long trials (the so-called “subscription cyclone”) can scale acquisition without destroying economics, if paired with a disciplined retention system from day one. They combine structured onboarding and activation journeys, engagement segmentation, and churn prediction models that trigger targeted interventions across product, marketing, and customer service. A dynamic retention pricing engine further calibrates save offers based on risk, tenure, and product tier, protecting both retention and ARPU. The result is a controlled funnel in which high-volume acquisition converts into durable habits, relatively low churn, and sustained LTV growth.

Alan Streck, Senior Executive Manager, B2C, Grupo RBS, Brazil



11:30 a.m. - 11:40 a.m. (New York time)
Benchmarking break: The new pricing playbook for subscription growth

A short briefing of the latest data and insights from INMA Subscription Benchmarks: News publishers continue to fight aggressively for market share with discounted “cyclone” trials: 88% of the top 50 subscription brands now offer discounted trials, with average entry discounts reaching 72%. At the same time, many publishers are quietly raising post-trial prices above inflation, betting that stronger engagement and habit formation justify higher long-term pricing. This session explores the leaders’ economics of subscriber acquisition and retention, and why they optimise for lifetime value rather than short-term ARPU.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom



11:40 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. (New York time)
Reach vs. loyalty: How Iltalehti uses AI to preserve broad appeal while super serving its subscribers

The next generation of subscription growth will be defined by understanding that scale and loyalty are not opposites, but structurally connected. Publishers gain their share of deeply loyal, high-value users by gaining their share of users overall. For Finland’s leading news site Iltalehti, where digital advertising still accounts for more than 60% of revenue, this means preserving broad reach while using AI to identify which audience relationships are most likely to deepen into paid engagement. In this session, its editor shares insights from analysing super user behaviours, and adapted its content mix to sustain growth in both advertising and subscriptions.

Perttu Kauppinen, Editor-in-Chief, Iltalehti, Alma Media, Finland



12:20 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. (New York time)
Takeaways and conclusions

To close the module, Greg Piechota of INMA brings together the big ideas and practical tactics shared across the sessions, and connects the dots.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom

10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

About today's module

Retention is often won or lost in moments of friction, disengagement, or uncertainty. These are your moments of truth. This module explores how publishers are redesigning critical subscriber interactions – from declining engagement and value perception to cancellation flows and customer support - using AI, personalisation, and consultative retention approaches.

10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. (New York time)
Welcome and introductions

INMA’s Readers First initiative lead welcomes us into this 3 module masterclass and introduces us to today’s speakers.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom



10:10 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. (New York time)
From churn prediction to drift detection: How AI agents can spot disengagement earlier

Traditional churn models often react too late, after meaningful declines in engagement and habit have already taken hold. Drawing on work across streaming, telecoms, gaming, fitness, and recurring-revenue media, author Tom Burrell explores how AI-powered behavioral “drift detection” can identify subtle changes in engagement patterns, weakening habits, and fading perceived value before they appear in conventional churn metrics. Instead of relying on static rules or discounts that erode margin, publishers can use AI agents to trigger lightweight, contextual interventions, such as onboarding guidance, content personalisation, value reinforcement, or renewal framing, helping move retention from reactive churn management toward proactive, real-time relationship management.

Tom Burrell, Author, The Retention Blueprint, United Kingdom



10:50 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (New York time)
From reactive to proactive cancellation handling: How The Philadelphia Inquirer redesigned high-risk subscriber moments

The Philadelphia Inquirer recognised that cancellation requests are not just service interactions, but some of the most important moments in the subscriber relationship. Working with specialised retention teams, live chat, and a generative AI-powered chatbot, the publisher redesigned high-intent cancellation journeys around consultative, personalised engagement rather than transactional save offers. The result was more than 60% save rates, strong retention gains, and a major expansion of digital engagement channels, showing how retention can become a proactive, experience-led capability rather than a reactive customer service function.

Rachel Ciampaglia, Senior Director of Subscriber Service & Retention, The Philadelphia Inquirer, United States



11:30 a.m. - 11:40 a.m. (New York time)
Benchmarking break: The hidden churn curve and the rise of sleeper subscribers

A short briefing of the latest data and insights from INMA Subscription Benchmarks: Subscribers rarely churn suddenly. Engagement weakens first. This session explores how rising “sleeper” ratios signal churn risk before cancellation occurs. Drawing on benchmarks from hundreds of news brands worldwide, the briefing examines what good engagement for subscribers looks like when compared to non-subscribers.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom



11:40 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. (New York time)
New research: Not all auto-renewals retain better

Conventional wisdom says auto-renewals strengthen retention by reducing friction and exploiting consumer inertia. New research suggests the reality is more complicated. Drawing on large-scale field experiments with a major European publisher, Professor Klaus Miller explores how auto-renewal affects subscriber acquisition, retention, engagement, and long-term customer value. The findings show that while auto-renewal can improve short-term retention, it may also suppress trial uptake, attract lower-quality “zombie” subscribers, and weaken long-term brand relationships.

Klaus Miller, Assistant Professor of Marketing, HEC Paris, France



12:20 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. (New York time)
Takeaways and conclusions

To close the module, Greg Piechota of INMA brings together the big ideas and practical tactics shared across the sessions, and connects the dots.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom

10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
(New York time)

About today's module

As audience attention fragments, publishers need stronger emotional connection, cultural relevance, and community participation to sustain loyalty. This module explores how publishers are building deeper audience relationships beyond transactional subscriptions through audience-first storytelling, engagement, and identity-driven experiences.

10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. (New York time)
Welcome and introductions

INMA’s Readers First initiative lead welcomes us into this 3 module masterclass and introduces us to today’s speakers.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom



10:10 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. (New York time)
Beyond demographics: How The Wall Street Journal turns personas into subscriber engagement strategy

The Wall Street Journal is rethinking how its newsroom understands and engage subscribers. Audience and content strategy teams help the newsroom think beyond age, gender, or geography toward reader motivations, needs, and life stages, and how those audience personas are now mapped directly into newsroom dashboards and editorial decision-making. The session also explores the practical realities of building influential audience teams inside a newsroom: how they collaborate across editorial, product, and marketing; how they shape story framing and formats; and what skills, structures, and workflows help audience specialists become trusted strategic partners.

Vivyan Tran, Director of Content Strategy, The Wall Street Journal, United States



10:50 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (New York time)
Beyond first click: How The Guardian redesigns onboarding for retention

The number one retention topic publishers ask INMA AI about is onboarding, and for good reason. Early-life engagement increasingly determines whether subscribers build lasting habits or quietly drift away. In this session, The Guardian shares how it is redesigning onboarding across Web, app, and newsletters to guide supporters toward the behaviors most strongly linked to long-term retention, and how onboarding journeys can be personalized by engagement patterns, lifecycle stage, region, and content interests.

Aislinn Mallon, Head of CRM, The Guardian, United Kingdom
Yvienne Ribao, Senior CRM Manager, The Guardian, United Kingdom



11:30 a.m. - 11:40 a.m. (New York time)
Benchmarking break: Super users and the new economics of loyalty

A short briefing of the latest data and insights from INMA Subscription Benchmarks: A relatively small group of deeply engaged users increasingly drives subscription businesses. Across INMA benchmarks, roughly 1% of users generate at least 26% of all pageviews, and far more at the strongest-performing brands. But how do publishers grow more super users? This session explores why reach and loyalty are connected, and why behaviors such as commenting, sharing, or gifting increasingly shape the economics of subscriber loyalty and long-term growth.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom



11:40 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. (New York time)
Beyond newsletters: How Die Welt uses onboarding and community to strengthen relationships

Many publishers know that highly engaged subscribers retain better, but how do you systematically guide people toward those habits? This session shares how Die Welt and other Axel Springer’s Premium Group brands approach subscriber onboarding across Web, app, and e-mail, using targeted onboarding journeys to drive high-value actions. The session also explores the role of subscriber-only community features, including a subscriber-exclusive commenting environment. Together, these initiatives show how retention is built not through a single silver bullet, but through a series of engagement habits that deepen the relationship over time.

Violetta Michel, Senior CRM Marketing Manager, Axel Springer, Germany
Nikias Thißen, Director, Paid Content, Premium Group, Axel Springer, Germany



12:20 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. (New York time)
Takeaways and conclusions

To close the module, Greg Piechota of INMA brings together the big ideas and practical tactics shared across the sessions, and connects the dots.

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence, INMA, United Kingdom