The Fear of Paywalls and the Newspaper Industry’s Need to Change

  by Tien Tzuo The Wall Street Journal’s Papers Put Faith in Firewalls perfectly encapsulates what’s wrong with the publishing industry right now. Instead of celebrating innovation and seeking new ways to adapt to a rapidly-changing media dynamic, the WSJ Russell Adams’ voices the skepticism of the industry, the very same skepticism which has led […]

Subscriptions & Weird Cat Ladies

by Megan Golden, Marketing   I would not peg myself as a cat person, per say. Maybe it’s that I’m afraid I’d wake up one day and be 45, single, with nothing to my name but a wardrobe of sweatpants, a rainbow of fabric headbands, and 15 cats in my tiny 600sq ft apartment while […]

K-Cup Coffee As Subscription Service

Chris Holt, Marketing   In college, I lived with a friend who was a coffee addict. The guy simply couldn’t function unless he had his morning cup ‘o joe, and then needed another pickup by early afternoon. He was very specific and brand loyal too: he’d always journey to the same coffee shop by the […]

Washington Post Misses Link Between Sharing, Subscriptions, and Services

Tien Tzuo, CEO   The Washington Post’s Lifestyle section published a piece on Sunday highlighting many subscription-based companies that have challenged the conventional single-transaction business model. While the Post’s analysis is mainly on retail-products-as-services like Zipcar, Rent our Boxes, Netflix, and Tie Society, the simple fact that subscription businesses have penetrated into the lifestyle section […]

Adele Tells Spotify: I’ll Find “Someone Like You”

by Chris Holt, Marketing Adele Adkins brought home an armful of Grammy Awards for her smash hit album “21.” Yet, despite millions of sales, the album “21” is notably absent from streaming music service Spotify’s content catalog. According to FastCompany.com, Adele was surprisingly fine with having the content on the site, but wanted it be […]