Case Study Analysis: The Economist

Ralitsa Boteva

1. Introduction
This case study analysis will explore The Economist`s Group new business models and
strategies that transformed and led to: 1. how the The Economist is distributed and read; 2. how
the magazine transformed itself in order to follow the future of media; 4. the emergence of
promising and brand new mix of audience Mass Intelligence.
Founded in 1843, The Economist is the leading source of analysis on world current affairs,
business, finance, science and technology, culture, society, media and the arts. In its long history,
the magazine had couple of hard economic problems due to periods of recessions. The last
difficult environmental problem was in 2008/2009. The economic crisis had made the chief
executive Rashbass to develop new business models which helped the circulation and profit to
skyrocket by 6.4% and respectively by 26% (in 2008), while the worldwide market for magazines
had been shrunk considerably.
2. Content, Distribution and Readership Strategy
The issue has very strong politics for its content. It has its reputation (see SWOT analysis in
Appendix 1) of impartial media, independent of commercial, political and proprietorial
influences. No matter that almost all of the content is same in every part of the globe, where the
newsweekly is distributed, in every region the magazine has some differences regarding the order
of articles, cover and regionally relevant stories. This content re-ordering of sections helps to
keep the interest of the audience and to inspire a sense of personalization. The Economist
marketing campaigns are mainly focused on the self-image of its readers and as Sean Brierley1
comments: It is a badge brand. This is one reason to believe that the long-term success
behind the magazine is mainly because of its reputation and valuable content. Generating quality
materials is not an easy process of organization. The perfect structure of team work is a key in the
publication process. The editor-in-chief of The Economist magazine has understood this and
made the working operations effective by setting weekly team meetings.

The Economist Case Study by Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Bharat Anand, Lizzie Gomez, 9-710-441; rev: July 14,2010; p. 4

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Case Study Analysis: The Economist

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3. Following the new media trends strategies or how the magazine found a way of
repackaging itself for the online environment.
In The Economist Case Study by Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Bharat Anand and Lizzie Gomez, we
can find two main strategies explaining how the magazine successfully followed the fast
changing media trends back in 2008 and 2009. When the evidence of reader's moving from print
to digital was a fact, The Economist already had its solutions to keep its audience contented and
to benefit from this trend an incredibly successful subscription and online and digital models.

One strategy which increased the magazine's revenues was the depending on
subscriptions business model. While competing magazines had usually lower subscription
prices, The Economist does not discount of their content. This is another proof of the content
quality, I mentioned in the second point of my analysis. Alan Press, senior vice president for
marketing in the Americas at the Economist Group states: We get more money out of our
readers than advertisers2. In terms of global economic crisis (2008-2009), when advertising
budgets are the first expenses that companies cut, I dare to say that this model has given a very
large lead over the competitors.
For the past several years, the web disrupting the traditional model of print advertising
causing losses of the major publishing houses. Today publishers have to contend with a
multiplicity of platforms, such as mobiles and tablets in order to be able to keep their audience.
Consumer attitudes are different online and The Economist management had perfectly
understood how to adapt the magazine in this new rapidly changing environment. A common
mistake that could be observed, when print issues goes digital, is that most of them d not adapt
their content properly for the very different online audience. The Economist digital model is
based on distinguishing the print version of the magazine from the digital version, but not just by
providing some additional content. The experience of reading hard copy and on-screen materials
is so different. When developing its strategy, The Economist used the lean-back leanforward3 media concept which explains how differently people consume media. While reading a

The Economist Case Study by Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Bharat Anand, Lizzie Gomez, 9-710-441; rev: July 14,2010; p. 6

3 Katz, Helen E.; The media handbook / Helen Katz. 2nd ed.

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Case Study Analysis: The Economist

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magazine people tends to be more passive, lean-back experience, in contrast to the active
involvement required of the lean-forward computer, mobile, and tablet activity. In short words
what The Economist had done was to move from a single platform world of print to a multiplatform world. Today, The Economist distributes its content by hard-copy, website, mobile
phone application, tablet application, kindle application and it has no intention to stop giving its
readers new proposals in line with their needs (see how the options are promoted in Appendix 2).
4. E-readers and Mass Intelligence audience
The web offers an interactive, snacking, lean-forward and, increasingly, a social and shared
experience. Those facts has taken The Economist to behave completely differently online, where
the focus is on giving the readers the opportunity not just to read their content but also to engage
with their journalists and with each other. This model of consuming sophisticated media, such as
the reputation of The Economist, sounds a little bit more complicated than simply sitting in a
cozy chair reading the press. As a result of the more affordable education and the easily
accessible information, thanks to the technologies developed in the last decade, the nature of the
intellectuals (who are the core readers of the magazine) has changed dramatically. The new mix
of intelligent readers could be called new-era media audience or as The Economist define
them Mass Intelligence audience. For an interview, The Economist CEO Andrew Rashbass
states: There are no longer elite media and mass media.4 Basically, a completely new nature
of present and potential readers has emerged. When a new target audience appears, the first move
to attract it should be to create personalized message, to establish a mission in which the audience
recognizes itself and to position the brand in a way which could help to reach its target. By new
advertising campaign, different from its traditional model, The Economist had succeeded to gain
Mass Intelligence readers, an audience which is growing and could be profitable. A great
example how a simple step like new advertising creative concept could play crucial role in the
companys future corporate strategy and economic results.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/nov/27/andrew-rashbass-economist-group-interview

Universit della Svizzera Italiana, 2014

Case Study Analysis: The Economist

Ralitsa Boteva
5. Suggestions

o continue the development of digital platforms;

o pay great attention to the prevention of cannibalization (Print vs. Digital platforms);

To maintain the activities and research the competitive strategies in order to serve the best
to the customers and stay attractive medium for the advertisers;

To evolve new quality content without departing from the established norms.

Universit della Svizzera Italiana, 2014

Case Study Analysis: The Economist

Ralitsa Boteva
APPENDIX 1
SWOT Analysis: The Economist

Opportunities
SO
Digital platforms: Enrich the
content in line with younger
audience

Hard-copy
magazine:
To

include more topics such as

technology, science, books and
arts for widening its potential
readership

Threats
ST
High direct completion: TIME,
Newsweek,
Businessweek,

local issues
High Indirect competition:
global news channels such as
BBC and CNN
High cost

Strengths
Strong tradition
Worldwide coverage with
high circulation
Respected content; high
trust among the readers
Innovative models for
gaining new audience

Weaknesses

Not available everywhere in

the world

WO

Increasing its readership

Developing new platforms
in line with rapidly
changing
digital
environment

Reach every place in the

world by social platforms
such as Twitter, FB etc.

WT
Defending
and
maintaining the already
conquered audience and
attract new one.

Maintain
presence
platforms.

competitive
on
social

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Case Study Analysis: The Economist

Ralitsa Boteva
APPENDIX 2
Examples of banner ads on www.economist.com. Different formats are used to promote
different subscription offers.

Universit della Svizzera Italiana, 2014