Jomo Shimbun is a Japanese regional newspaper with a local readership based in Gunma Prefecture. Publishing the first issue in 1887, Jomo Shimbun has been an essential media in the prefecture with a population of about 200 million today. To adjust to a changing landscape in the market, Jomo Shimbun launched the paywall in 2021.

Jomo Shimbun joined the Digital Revenue Lab Japan 2023 as it was seeking an opportunity to learn about digital revenue models and how they can best harness audience data. The core team was also exploring ways to address challenges around organizational alignment behind their subscription target.

The core team at Jomo Shimbun went through the 3-month program, segmented into three phases, aimed at identifying opportunities, refining their subscription goal, and devising a strategic pathway to achieve their goal and desired outcomes.

During the Discovery phase, the core team, in collaboration with FT Strategies, conducted a comprehensive reader survey and analyzed reader behavior through Google Analytics. The deep dive into data helped the team understand key reader segments’ needs and preferences. The insights gained directed their focus on critical data points to collect and analyze, informing internal data-sharing strategies.

With these insights, the team moved on to the North Star phase where they not only refined their subscription goal but defined key business outcomes for reaching their goal. Jomo Shimbun set an ambitious sales target to achieve by the end of FY2026 as their North Star goal and defined business outcomes on reader engagement, acquisitions, monetization, and organizational alignment.

The Test & Learn phase was a valuable opportunity to evaluate the impacts of their strategies. During this phase, the core team also assessed capability gaps and defined a governance structure. The core team conducted three experiments to validate their strategic hypotheses, leading to significant learnings. These insights have prompted the formation of an internal forum, fostering regular cross-functional discussions to monitor and steer the progress towards their North Star strategy.

A small group of editors and journalists within the digital team used to primarily handle the editing of online articles at Jomo Shimbun. Recognizing the untapped potential, the digital team hypothesizes that by sharing the strategic importance of their digital subscription goals—and insights on crafting effective online content with the wider editorial and newsroom teams—they can boost participation in digital initiatives.

This initiative began with two impactful sessions attended by 20 journalists and editors, designed to share expertise and insights into digital content creation. The results were significant; The post-session survey indicated attendees’ interest from attendees in tracking reader reactions and their willingness to contribute online content both increased by over 30%. In addition to these survey results, the digital team has observed significant changes in behavior that were not evident before the sessions. For instance, editors now proactively communicate with the digital team, sharing articles and topics before they are published in print.

Building on these insights, the digital team plans to conduct these sessions more frequently and extend them beyond the newsroom. This strategy aims to broaden awareness of their North Star subscription goal, a critical move to align the entire organization with this objective and effectively mobilize internal resources.