How Condé Nast Experiments, Bundles, and Wins — Michael Ribero, Condé Nast

Put up a registration wall for certain Pitchfork visitors. A big editorial announcement the next day drew backlash about the new wall, so the team removed it entirely, paused, and planned to re-monetize after fixing the editorial product. Guest says walking it back earned goodwill.

When relaunching the Vogue app and paywalling content that was free before, the team debated approaches (including using AI to decide), then went with Anna Wintour's call on the most important content to charge for.

At a TV provider, tested many messages and packages built around the 6-8 channels most people watched against messaging of 'get over 100 channels'. The big-number offer won every test, against the research. Guest generalizes: at the point of purchase, more for less money always works.

In the Wired subscription relaunch, editor AMAs that were already happening (not charged for) became subscription-only and part of the offer. Guest frames it as internal bundling: low-lift assets you already have.

Built partnerships around the occasion 'coffee and newspaper': Washington Post access in certain cafes and Washington Post-branded coffee beans included with a subscription.

Research showed readers felt overwhelmed by the news, so The Washington Post bundled with Headspace to offer a moment of calm. Guest's advice: decide up front who is the big fish; equal-size partners fight over whose stack and customer relationship it is.

Immediately after a consumer buys an Architectural Digest subscription (when it's unknown whether they're aspirational or in the trade), show one pop-up offering the business membership. Same pattern used to upsell another title, a premium product, sell the slot to a partner, or ask for an action, since the customer is most engaged at purchase.

'Starter pack': 4 stories a month for $2/month, then an upgrade wall. Not advertised to everyone; shown behind the scenes only to visitors predicted to be low propensity (based largely on referral source), to lower the hurdle into the payment ecosystem and upgrade later.

Meditation app in a crowded category added online intensives, one-on-one coaching, monthly four-hour meditation events and week-long retreats, sold to its thousands of subscribers and tens of thousands of engaged email subscribers.

Previously launched new products and premium tiers to capture higher willingness to pay. Now the default answer to editors' premium ideas is no unless they prove a cohort bigger than 1-2%; instead invest in core subscription value, retention and pricing, or IRL and merch.

Use the brands' platform to host in-person community events, then keep people engaged in the app between events so they're ready for the next one.

Vogue monetizes across the demand curve via membership and community rather than app tiers: very high-priced, select, white-glove IRL products at the top down to freemium in the app.