Case Study

Digital Subscriptions Replatform

In 2017 with consumer preferences increasingly shifting toward the subscription economy, for many publishers this presented both an opportunity and a challenge: to adapt to changing market demands by delivering more personalised, flexible subscription experiences while modernising legacy technology systems that had grown cumbersome and inefficient. As the Platform Product Leader, I spearheaded a multi-year digital subscriptions replatforming initiative to transform our infrastructure, streamline customer experiences, and position our business to thrive in an era defined by dynamic content consumption and heightened user expectations. This case study outlines the strategic steps taken to align the technology with the vision, leveraging new platforms, partnerships, and a revitalised culture to drive growth, enhance customer engagement, and reduce operational costs.

Situation

In 2017, the subscription economy was rapidly evolving, requiring businesses to adapt to new models like unbundling, cross-sell, and up-sell propositions. As customers expected more personalised and flexible experiences, traditional platforms struggled with rigid technology stacks, hindering agility and innovation. For large-scale publishers, these challenges were amplified by outdated platforms that provided generic content and inflexible customer journeys, while market demand shifted towards more dynamic and personalised offerings.

Task

As a Platform Product Leader overseeing shared services like Identity, Content Access, Payments, and Customer Services, I was tasked with transforming the existing technology infrastructure to align with emerging commercial demands. The goal was to enable rapid time-to-market, offer more flexible product propositions, and create personalised experiences for individual customers. Additionally, improving customer service interactions and leveraging automation were key objectives.

Action

The transformation began with setting a clear platform vision, driven by comprehensive engagement with all business units to align on future needs. A detailed audit of existing services followed, along with a rigorous build-vs-buy assessment to determine where proprietary solutions offered competitive advantages versus where it made sense to procure external solutions.

A multi-year replatforming programme was designed to modernise aged internal systems, supporting the entire customer lifecycle. Roadmaps were developed to reduce dependencies and deliver incremental progress, with a focus on minimising customer disruption during migration. Strategic partnerships were formed, and new technology choices were made to deliver more targeted, granular propositions, supported by advanced identity and content access solutions.

Result

The replatforming initiative enabled the business to offer personalised, early-life experiences, increasing customer lifetime value (LTV). The project delivered a suite of enhanced tools for customer service, improving both call centre efficiency and online self-service options. It also reduced transaction costs with frictionless subscription payments and recurring billing.

Incremental benefits in customer experience, cost-to-serve, and cost-of-sale were unlocked, ensuring a clear return on investment over subsequent years. The transformation fostered a refreshed product and technology culture, positioning the business to compete effectively in the evolving digital content market.

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