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Premium Content Business Evaluation&
Insider Marketing Plan + Strategy
December 2005
2
Table of Contents
Situation Overview and Analysis Challenges Possible Future Models
2006 Goals and Objectives Target Market Defined Marketing Strategy and Plan
Short and Long-term
Appendix
3
$312.9
$115.1
$96.5
$88.8
$87.9
$70.5
$52.8
$43.4
$27.1
$108.6
$90.7
$72.9
$87.5
$86.9
$38.2
$40.6
$36.6
$413.5
$469.6
$217.6
$449.5
$334.1
Personals/Dating
Entertainment/Lifestyles
Business/Investment
Research
Personal Grow th
Games
General New s
Community-Made Directories
Sports
Greeting Cards
Credit Help
2004 2003
Paid Sports Content Shows Strong Growth +38%
2004 Overall paid spend totaled $1.8 billion, +14%VYAG Entertainment (music downloads) led growth
Online Content Spending by Category of Content
($ in millions)
Based on Online Publishers Association/comScore Networks researchCopyright © 2005 Online Publishers Association (OPA)
+90% VYAG
4
Sports Content Model Yet to Be Proven
Online content models apply best to communities, digital distribution, and decision based information such as financial news and consumer product information (Consumer Reports)
Speed/Convenience
Long Tail
VitalCommunityiTunes/
Entertainment
WSJ.com/
Biz/Financial
DatingConsumer
Reports
Greeting Cards
Lifestyle Narrow Retail/Content
Research
Games
General News
Personal Growth
Sports**Note: Sports includes Fantasy Games
Red = Growing
Black = Flat to down
5
2005 Insider Annual Growth +35%
Peak sign up periods are during key times in the sporting world calendar - March Madness, MLB Season, and NFL (Fantasy) season
TOTAL Subs (Monthly & Annual)
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52
Week
Su
bs
2004 2005
6
Inside Information Drives Insider Trials
Analysis as well as rumors and breaking news are top choices
28%
25%
15%
12%
3%
22%
24%
14%
13%
11%
19%
17%
14%
14%
13%
6%
9%
2%
6%
4%
4%
7%
7%
8% 20%
69%
67%
44%
39%
33%
14%
13%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Analysis and insights
Rumors and breaking news
In-depth coverage of specific sports events
Fantasy and scouting information
Articles from ESPN personalities
Customized coverage of my local teams (ESPNLocal)
Real time scores
Comes with my ESPN The Magazine subscription
First Choice Second Choice Third Choice
Source: Insider Survey Insights: Audience Profiler, April 2005
Competitive Advantage
7
Sub-segments Drive Majority Of Signups
Content Buckets Driving Signup
41,855
34,443
28,808
18,922
15,904
13,884
9,885 9,816 8,8437,387
4,977 4,8433,725
627 325
0
3,000
6,000
9,000
12,000
15,000
18,000
21,000
24,000
27,000
30,000
33,000
36,000
39,000
42,000
General NFL NBA Rumors MLB College Rtime Fantasy Blogs Local Chats Recruit Misc. Mag Radio
Source: May ’04- December ’05 Hitbox Data
8
Context, Time Of Year, Single Article/Writer Power
Top 75 Articles Driving Signup Top 25 Account for 80% of sign ups
Topic Total % of Top 751. Insider Index 30,101 15%2. Chad Ford 19,028 9%3. Rumor Central 18,822 9%4. Scouts Inc. 16,992 8%5. Benefits Page 11,754 6%6. RealTime Scores 9,885 5%7. Fantasy Sports 8,389 4%8. Mel Kiper Jr. 8,136 4%9. ESPN Local 7,387 4%10. Chat Transcripts 4,977 2%11. Recruiting 4,843 2%12. Rob Neyer 4,113 2%13. Coll. Notebooks 3,772 2%14. Jerry Crasnick 3,388 2%15. Peter Gammons 3,348 2%16. Chris Sheridan 3,260 2%17. John Hollinger 2,702 1%18. Blog: Karabell 2,677 1%19. NFL Insider 2,461 1%20. Blue Ribbon 2,456 1%21. MLB Insider 2,005 1%22. Chris Mortensen 1,958 1%23. Blog: Olney 1,909 1%24. PFW Football 1,805 1%25. Bill Simmons 1,616 1%
Topic Total26. NBA Insider 1,58327. Steve Phillips 1,45928. Jay Bilas 1,17829. College Insider 1,17230. TCMen Insider 1,15931. Blog: Clayton 1,08032. Randy Mueller 1,06633. Tristan Cockcroft 1,02234. Bracketology 1,00635. Rich Podolsky 98436. Blog: Fowler 87237. PTI 85338. NBA Draft Index 80939. Blog: Feldman 80740. Craig James 77341. College Webcast 74742. ESPN Magazine 62743. BB America 61844. Beano Cook 56145. Len Pasquarelli 44246. Joe Theismann 44047. Gary Gillette 33548. Blog: Katz 42949. Scott Engel 40450. Brian James 337
Topic Total51. Elias Says 33552. Radio Insider 32553. Terry Brown 31054. Blog: Broussard 27755. Jeremy Green 22156. Blog: Wickersham 25557. Trev Albers 24958. Joe Morgan 23459. Tim Legler 22160. Fran Fraschilla 21861. Tim Keown 17462. Rod Gilmore 15663. Bill Walton 13564. Blog: EJ Hradek 13065. Merril Hoge 12666. Greg Anthony 12367. Sean Salisbury 11468. KC Joyner 11269. Ron Jaworski 10870. Blog: Joe Schad 10771. Michele Tafoya 10472. John Kruk 10373. Rick Spielman 10374. George Karl 10075. Inside Edge 100
9
Insider Strengths and Weaknesses
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
15 20 25 30 35
Satisfaction (Top Box %)
Imp
ort
ance
(T
op
Bo
x %
)
Key Vulnerabilities
Strategic Advantages
Price/Value
Ease of Use / Navigation
Fantasy Information
Quality of Articles
Uniqueness of Articles
Amount of Articles
Appearance of Insider Area
Potential Vulnerabilities
Advantages/ Differentiators
What value does ESPN Insider have to potential fans for its price?
10
Top User Identified Reasons For Cancellations
Insider Cancellations
Short-term Usage 6%
Free Trial Only 8%
Time & Interest 58%
Content Available Elsewhere 7%
Other 21%
Source: Stream Call Logs 7/05 – 10/05
Definitions
Time & Interest Not enough time to use Don’t use enough Lost interest Not satisfied with content and features
Free Trial Only Short-term Usage
Seasonal purchase Signed up for one article
Content Available Elsewhere Perception content is on ESPN.com or
other sites
11
Challenges to Insider Success
Brand value unclear and undefined to users Perception Insider content can be found elsewhere (ESPN or Other)
Price point to value (real and perceived) Overall market adoption of paying for content online Consumer motivations remain unclear Consumer awareness of key Insider attributes remain low Magazine subscribers slow to convert to “FREE Insider” Monthly retention low - 32% after 13 months Annual retention low – 69% after 13 months Conversion within sign up process is low
November 200,000 visits to sign up page with 5% conversion to free trial
12
A Business Shared by Two BU’s Has Two Goals
Reaching maximum effectiveness for one goal causes a decrease in effectiveness for achieving the second goal
New Media Revenue Magazine Circulation
13
ABC Rules for Insider and ESPN the Magazine
Currently, ABC accepts Insider as a component to the purchase of ESPN the Magazine with no monetary value and views it as an editorial extension and therefore not a premium with purchase
The purchase price must be about $15.08 The duration must be include a minimum of one issue Insider can not be sold without the Magazine Any premium offers to Insiders must be deducted from the
purchase price of the subscription The digital issue of the magazine may not substitute for print
delivery
14
Other ABC Rules for Consideration
Premium sold with subscription Premiums are anything offered to a subscriber at time of solicitation, in addition to regular issues
of the publication itself, and shall be reported in Bureau reports as a premium, regardless of whether said extraneous thing be given with or without additional payment above the subscription price and whether or not such extraneous thing is given only to new subscribers or to all subscribers. In addition, any presentation to current subscribers which, in the opinion of the managing director, implies future receipt of such extraneous things in conjunction with continued (or future) subscriptions will cause renewal subscriptions to be judged as premium induced. The number of subscriptions, whether new or renewal, involving such premiums taken during any period for which Publisher's Statement is filed shall be reported in the paragraph designated for that purpose and the nature of the premium and the provisions of the offer and the distribution thereof shall be described in Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports.Premiums are anything except:
(1) Complete issues of newspapers or periodicals sent to all subscribers for the period included in the offer.
Partnership Sales All copies served to individuals and tied to a partnership agreement (e.g. subscription to a
magazine partnered with the purchase of season tickets to sporting or cultural events) shall be classified as "Partnership" subscriptions or single copy sales and shall be reported in Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports except as otherwise permitted or prohibited
Club/Membership sales All copies served to individuals as a result of membership in a club or similar organization shall be
classified as "club/membership" subscriptions and shall be reported in Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports except as otherwise permitted or prohibited
Sponsored Sales All copies or subscriptions purchased in quantities of 11 or more, which in the opinion of the
managing director promote the professional or business interests of the purchaser, shall be considered "Sponsored" subscriptions or single copy sales and shall be reported in Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports per the provisions
For More Detail visit: http://www.accessabc.com/bylaws/bylaw2426.htm
15
The Big Question?
Do We Change the Business?
16
Premium Content Considerations
INSIDER
Magazine NFL NBA MLB College Scouts Recruiting Fantasy Radio
ESPN Local
Blogs
Realtime Alerts
Wireless
Rumor Central
Vertical Content with Access To Tools That Cut Across
Other Considerations
• Role and position of video
• Development of multimedia/interactive content and “shows”
• Providing content and information that informs gambling
17
Possible Payment Models
Range of prices based on value and demand Multi-subscription discounts Day or week(s) pass - ie Super Bowl, Draft, March Madness A la carte article/video purchases (iTunes)
18
Key Consideration To Be Determined
How and when do we transition current Insiders to any new plan to maintain circulation?
19
Next Steps
Outline product considerations and pricing Evaluate options to include Magazine participation in all steps
Do we need to present and discuss with ABC? ESPN should partner with ABC as an innovative leader in
multimedia for the magazine industry
Research what the consumer wants Better define and understand the target market What products appeal to them Validate product concepts What is the market potential What are the pricing scenarios that maximize the market
20
Table of Contents
Situation Overview and Analysis Challenges
2006 Goals and Objectives – Status Quo Insider Target Market Defined Marketing Strategy and Plan
Short and Long-term
Appendix
21
2006 Insider Goals
FY 2006 Goal FY 2005 Actual %CHG
Total Paid Subscriptions 342,000 260,040 +32%
Revenue $14,455,400 $11,776,720 +23%
Subscriber Acquisition 81,960 58,353 +41%
22
2006 Objectives
Identify Insider target audience Clearly define Insider brand and value Support Magazine Circulation and ABC requirements Launch a comprehensive on and offline acquisition plan that is
targeted and relevant based on time and place Test: price, trial length, messaging, sign up process
Address questions of proper business model for magazine and paid content
Launch retention plan that includes communication to Insiders throughout the lifecycle and targets key moments of attrition
Build additional on and offline product features and values
23
Table of Contents
Situation Overview and Analysis Challenges
2006 Goals and Objectives Target Market Defined – Online Paid Sports Content Marketing Strategy and Plan
Short and Long-term
Appendix
24
Core Consumer Insight – Key Segments Drive Usage
Online 3+ per week with a broadband connection, have a credit card, and watched sports tv programming in the past 7 days and:
Fantasy Avid (1.8 million) participated yesterday fantasy game
Fantasy Moderate (3.6 million) participated past 30 days fantasy game
Gambler (3.1 million) Games online casino gambling past 30 days
Sports Fanatic (2.7 million) News sports yesterday, any sports magazine read last 30 days, sports newspaper last 7 days, any sports radio last 7 days
Digital Lifestyle (1.3 million) Home banking online, newspaper reading primary online, any online purchase past 30 days
ESPN Fanatic (1.7 million) ESPN tv last 7 days, ESPN the Magazine last 30 days
League Fanatics Heavy users of league specific sites
Source: @plan Winter 2005
25
Table of Contents
Situation Overview and Analysis Challenges
2006 Goals and Objectives Target Market Defined – Online Paid Sports Content Marketing Strategy and Plan
Short and Long-term
Appendix
26
Move Insider Forward While Evaluating Long-term
Short-term Better define communication of brand value when building
awarenessTest promotional initiatives
Focus on contextual optimization and targeting 89% of 2005 trials came from content linksReplicate principals of context and targeting within ad serving
Optimize sign-up process Trial duration and price Test search engine marketing
Long-term Research to better understand consumer needs Launch Lifecycle communication plan Product modifications and enhancements
27
Insider Brand Architecture: Focus Acquisition Marketing on Vertical Interests and Brand Name Contributors – Demonstrate How the Insider Knows
InsiderO
rig
ina
l Co
nte
nt
Te
chn
olo
gy
Fir
st S
ou
rce
for
Kn
ow
led
ge
ES
PN
the
Ma
gazi
ne
ES
PN
Inc,
Acc
ess
to th
e B
rand
USP: The first to know
28
Drive Reach Awareness When Interest Is Peaked
Consistent building of brand awareness and higher R&F around key events on the calendar
Key Events: March Madness, MLB season, Football/Fantasy Promotional Tests Q1 – Q2
Open House - Basketball contentSweepstakes – waiting confirmation of advertiser supportPremium with purchase - fleecePricing promotions - $19.95
2 6 16 23 30 6 13 20 27 6 13 20 27 3 10 17 24 1 8 15 22 29 5 12 19 26Seasonal Themes
Primary
Secondary
JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE
NBA Playoffs
NBA Lottery
NFL DraftBaseball Season
Spring Training
March MaddnessNBA All-Star
Game
Winter Olympics
NFL Playoffs
NFL Free Agency
First Half Communication Themes
29
Contextual Optimization
With 89% of trials coming from editorial links, this is a key area to focus and measure
Improved reporting and analyses of what is working:Content type Writer Headline language Placement
30
Insider Prospect Target Cookie
Conversion focus by targeting qualified audience with impact units and frequency goal of 12-15 impressions per month
Factors and actions to consider for cookie Frequent visitors to ESPN.com, 4+ days per week Non-Insiders frequent visits to Insider Visitors to Insider sign up page Visitors to “Today’s Line” Visitors to Injury Reports Fantasy Sports Players ESPN.com commerce transactors (Gameplan, FullCourt, Fantasy) ESPN the Magazine readers on database Lapsed users – trial & paid
Targeted Acquisition Communication to TwinTops We will need to monitor this activity for the first 90 days to understand
the activities of the converted and optimal frequency Minimum to convert, maximum before ineffective Targets that convert
31
Optimization of Sign Up Process is Vital
Determine proper entry points to deliver right amount of information with least amount of clicks needed to convert
Minimize loss from additional clicks
Offline mediaOnline media
Editorial
Content Sample Benefits Sell Page
Signup Form
Testing of embedded form in Benefits page is being designed
We are currently evaluating multivariate testing firms to help us measure and optimize this process
32
Trial Duration and Price Tests
Determine optimal price, trial and duration mix to maximize sign up, retention, and revenue
Price/Offer Test Reasoning Concerns
2 year offer for $59.95 Increase retention due to longer subscription length.
Make sure there is no drop in signups due to too many options on sign up page. Could impact revenue if a large number of users sign up for this instead of annual offer.
No trial on Monthly Subscriptions Drive users towards annual subscription, where there is still a trial.
Will need to monitor the affect on Monthly signups and Annual retention. Make sure we're not losing users.
Seasonal 3-6 month offer. Gain users who are only interested in content during a specific season (i.e. Football).
Need to find the right length/price, so the annual offer is still the best deal.
Raise Monthly Price to $8.95 Drive users towards annual subscription, increase revenue from those who do choose monthly offer..
Could have negative impact on subscribers and revenue if monthly users declines drastically, and they do not convert to Annual.
Targeted Pricing (i.e. $14.95 for FF users)
Give users on the margin an incentive to sign up.
Need to target efficiently to avoid decrease in overall pricing power
33
Search Engine Recommendation
SEM takes a great deal of time, focus, and knowledge to maximize the media investment
Partner with top SEM firm such as iProspect, iCrossing etc Bundle ESPN New Media search into the effort to create
efficiencies Current learning from past ESPN SEM efforts:
Most targeted words deliver greatest ROI Need to understand balance between reach keywords and
targeted words in search process Not enough knowledge of frequency before conversion Need to customize landing page to keyword
Develop RFP for SEM firms Work with SEM firms to understand proper level of investment
required to get comprehensive learning
34
Retention Strategy: Maintain Engagement
Lifecycle communication plan Trial Retention: Drive product engagement in first 45 days Benefits and values communication Renewal Engagement: reinforce value of product with
communication on and offline benefits prior to expiration Monitor inactivity Up sell monthly users at key attrition points
Cancellation saves Total Cancels 142,490 Total Saves 8,519 Work with West to train staff on key save triggers
Identify pricing and pay options that may increase save percentage
Credit Card Failures (FY ’05 66,997) Optimize all technical capabilities to limit CC failure
35
60 Day Non-Renewal60 days to RenewalFirst 45 Days
Communication To Existing Subscribers
Lifecycle communication to inform, develop engagement, and prove need state to subscribers so that by the time subscribers get to renewal, they can’t imagine being a fan without Insider
There are sports fans and there are Insiders
Continuously Monitor of 45 days of inactivity: Deliver customized email with offer and relevant content
1. Discount Pricing Offer
2. Satisfaction Survey
3. Second discount offer
• Passive login
1. Discount Pricing Offer banner
• Active login
2. Discount Pricing Offer Page: We Want You Back with relevant content
3. Satisfaction Survey
1. Key Event/Offer
2. Satisfaction SurveyBi-monthly event invite or special Insider Only offer,
New Feature announcements
Monthly Newsletter
• Special Insider Only offers
• New Feature announcements
• Seasonal content reminders: Free agency rumors, drafts, season previews, playoffs, etc
• “Big” article highlights
RENEWAL PROCESS
1. Update Info Request
2. CC Failure notification
3. Retry
36
First 45 Days
Email Insider only offer
with highlight of key benefit
Customized E-newsletter
ActivationInsider
Promotional Inventory to
Highlight Features
Setup Wizard
Customized Welcome
Engagement past 45 days,
move to lifecycle plan
Highlighting key features and link to relevant article based on indicated
team/sport interest
Upon Completion of sign up and payment, extend the
multimedia tour into a guided “setup” of how to get the most
from Insider
Highlighting key features and link to relevant article based
on indicated team/sport interest
Develop a communication plan that sequentially gets
Trial users to adopt usage of more features
37
Monthly to Annual Up Sell
Monthly subscribers stay on for an average of 6-8 months By that time they have spent $42-56
Targeted, proactive annual offers will engender greater loyalty expanding lifetime value
Event/Special Offer Invitation
First 45 Days Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 7+Month 6Month 2 60 Day Non-Renewal
Invitation for Annual offer at $19.95Satisfaction Survey
Invitation for Annual offer at
$29.95
38
Saves Consideration Set for Testing
Better train call center reps on connection between cancellation reason and benefits of Insider components
Maintain better dialogue of up coming features reps can highlight to callers
Identify pricing options and scenarios “Seasonal buyers”
Bridge to next season pricing gap
Monthly buyers to annual Pricing scale for number of months already paid
Too “expensive” What does the user think a fair price is – last offer pricing bands
39
Credit Card Improvement Actions & Plans
Email Renewal Notification email sent out 10 days prior to renewal (Annual subs Only, about 100 updated CC far) Email Notification sent each month to users whose Credit Card tied to Insider Account is expired (started in September,
1,200 users updated CC) Email Notification sent to users once renewal fails due to bad CC (4,700 users updated CC so far in 2005)
On-Site User is asked to update credit card before they can access Insider content during retry period (8,500 users updated CC
so far in 2005) Users can now pay with PayPal, which should have a higher success rate.
Back-end Processes Paymentech auto updater. We send CC info to Paymentech and see if they have any updates to the record. We see a
3-4% match rate, but need to dig into how successful transactions are for those accounts. Settlement Retry Period: We retry the users credit card 5 times before canceling the subscription (Period currently set
to 15 days. Working with Mag on feasibility of extending). In October 3.44% of all renewals occurred after the first renewal attempt failed (4,400 subs).
Set up as a Recurring Biller at Paymentech, should ease some restrictions on allowing CC's to go through even if expired.
Other Met with WSJ.com and other ESPN contacts to discuss what they do to combat this problem. Seems we do the
majority that everyone else is doing. Working on a test with Chase to determine exactly why some of these transactions fail. The codes we get back from
Paymentech are too general, so hopefully this will give us some better information.
40
Internal Partnerships
Editorial: identify Insider contributors with in logo across channels including TV, radio, and print
Extending the recognition of top name talent contributing to Insider further builds the radnd’s value and justifies the premium
Commerce partnership: up sells, inclusions, and free trials ESPNShop, PPV, and Fantasy Upsell and free trial opt-in check box in shopping cart check out Promotional value and incentive for inclusion with purchase
Ie. ESPNShop – spend $100 and get 6 months of Insider where ESPNShop contributes the value of 6 months back to Insider for ABC purposes
ESPNZone – trial passes and up sells Sign up for Insider by adding it to your bill and get a food item free Develop sales incentive plan for waiters/bartenders Give one day trial passes
41
External Partnerships
Local newspapers: ESPN local is already driving traffic to these sites, many require registration
Develop co-registration plan within their sports sections Pay local papers a bounty per paid Insider Need to identify top papers in top markets to target efforts towards
May be able to leverage some corporate newspaper ownership structures
Retail and Advertiser Partnerships Option 1 – included with purchase of product or price point is Insider.
Partner buys Insider from ESPN at negotiated rate. Partner gets additional communication to this audience through email and onsite promotion to their group during the year
Option 2 – Sponsored trials and “Open House” offers Example Targets:
Consumer electronics around big events – Super Bowl, Playoffs, March Madness etc.: Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, iTunes Sporting Goods retailers: Dick’s Sports, Sports Authority, Modell’s Automotive –Test drive incentive, best customer reward Financial Services – reward redemption, best customer reward, consultation premium
42
Insider Enhancement Suggestions
Develop additional benefits and features both edit and non-edit that bring the Brand Essence to life
Greatest Access to Sports Access to ESPN Inc.
Preview of new .com and fantasy features/games EOE premiers online for Insiders only (Yahoo/NBC) Invitation to Insider only Editorial Panels w/Q&A at the Zone Participation in exclusive research panel helping guide the next
generation of ESPN products Insider only Bristol tour VIP treatment at ESPNZone – call ahead reservation privilege Advance ticket access to ESPN events Access to buy tickets to sporting events, personalized list of events
(including active.com content) for their location – MySports Calendar Presale of ESPN Enterprise products
Free shipping from ESPNShop
43
Insider Enhancement Suggestions
Editorially driven features Enhanced Fantasy section
Fantasy information is the #2 most desired feature with 72% of Insiders interested/very interested Only 53% are aware of Insider Fantasy Features Fantasy content is Top 4 reason for sign up
Insiders only message board and chat (SportsNation) VIP call-in/email for radio and interactive TV More video – ie Game Plan and Full Court highlights Personalized Index page Stats and tools enhancements Past issue magazine archive
44
Develop Interactive Multimedia Insider Tour
Rationale: Video and multimedia allows the product to come to life while demonstrating the brand value
Utilizing top name talent that contribute to Insider, develop a multimedia, interactive tour of the features and benefits of being an Insider
To the extent possible, we show our “sources” as representation of the access contributors have and bring to the Insider editorial product (SportsCenter concept)
If space and budget allow, this could be tied to television advertising
45
Appendix
46
ABC and ESPN Insider Guidelines
ABC MAGAZINE RULING In October of 2002, the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) approved ESPN Insider as an editorial extension of
ESPN The Magazine. Therefore, ESPN Insider is a subset of ESPN The Magazine and does not exist without The Magazine.
Since ESPN Insider is now an editorial extension of ESPN The Magazine as determined by ABC, this product has no monetary value. The monetary value is associated with the subscription to The Magazine only. Any sales that are generated are for subscriptions to The Magazine, which includes access to ESPN Insider. ESPN Insider CANNOT be sold as a stand-alone product.
ESPN Insider also cannot be separated from ESPN The Magazine. Anytime ESPN Insider is offered to a consumer so must an accompanying subscription for the same duration. ESPN Insider can be compared to a section of ESPN The Magazine, such as The Jump. In this example ESPN The Magazine can exist without The Jump section but The Jump cannot exist without ESPN The Magazine.
ESPN Insider is not consider a premium to an ESPN The Magazine subscription and cannot be compared to the marketing tactics and ABC guidelines of other premium sold subs, such as the fleece.
FREE OFFERS ESPN The Magazine’s circulation department must approve any free offer over 2 months. The free offer
must have a continued option of a paid subscription term. Free offers that do not continue as a paid subscription cannot be counted in The Magazine’s rate base and become a pure expense in fulfilling the issues ($1 per issue), which will not be carried by The Magazine and must be paid by the requesting party.
PRICE Subscription price must not be below .58 cents per issue or .58 cents for two weeks of Insider. TERM Subscription term must include at least one issue of the magazine. ESPN The Magazine comes out every
two weeks with 26 issues in one year. PREMIUM OFFERS Any time a premium is offered with the sale of an Insider subscription, the retail cost of that product or service
must be deducted from the total price of the subscription and be reported as the sale price to ABC. Example offer: Get ESPN The Magazine Insider for one year for $39.95 and get a Fleece. The cost of the fleece is $7, so the reported price of the subscription to ABC is $32.95. The above price guidelines should be taken into consideration when offering premiums.
ESPN THE MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION ESPN The Magazine Digital is an added value to the subscriber and must never be used as a
substitute to delivering the print edition.
47
Monthly Slide Continuous While Annual Occurs At Key Moments in Lifecycle
Insider Retention
0.00%
20.00%
40.00%
60.00%
80.00%
100.00%
120.00%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Month
Per
cen
t S
till
Su
bsc
rib
ed
Monthly Retention
Annual Retention
48
Leverage Brand Essence to Develop Creative that Speaks to the Product and Measure Value of New Attributes
ATTRIBUTES Rumors & Breaking News RealTime Scoreboards ESPN Radio Podcasts Local Sports Aggregation Wireless Alerts Customization Biggest Names in Sports
Journalism with insider access Fantasy Tools College/Pro Recruiting – Scouts,
Inc ESPN The Magazine Blogs 365/24/7 coverage of sports Brand Power
BENEFITS Know News before it hits the
headlines Magazine Previews and Next Insider Access/Perspective of
contributors Integration across .com -
FANTASY Technology
Presentation to user User convenience
• Brings everything together, customizable and convenient
PERSONALITY Connected Authoritative Trusted (WWLIS) ESPN brand voice Bold Knowledgeable Omnipresent Experienced
VALUE Convenience In The Know Knowledge Mobility Bragging rights Behind the scenes with
more than one perspective (GM, player, coach)
Access
InsiderBrand
Essence
Greatest Access to Sports
49
User Interest vs. Awareness
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Customized local content Fantasy Content ESPN The Magazine Wireless Alerts Radio Insider
desired Very Desired Awareness
Source: Insider Survey Insights: Audience Profiler, April 2005
50
Perception of Insider as Fantasy Source
Reason for sign-up Top 3 Choices (Net)
Rumors and breaking news 67.6%
Analysis and Insights 64.6%
Fantasy and scouting information 58.1%
In-depth coverage of specific sports events 37.7%
Articles from ESPN personalities 29.2%
Real time scores 14.4%
Customized coverage of my local teams 14.1%
Comes with my ESPN The Magazine subscription 11.1%
Among those who pay to participate in fantasy games and own Insider:
Source: Insider Survey Insights: Audience Profiler, April 2005
