Corporate Member Benefit Product at The Kingstonist

As an intern at the Kingstonist, I will be helping a local journalism website based in Kingston, Ontario to pivot from an advertising-based business model to a subscription-based business model. The reason for a pivot is due to increased competition in the geographical area as well as insufficient revenue from advertisements. Technically, this transition will be achieved by turning on a paywall to Kingstonist.com in November/December of 2020. However, my role specifically consists of creating a Corporate Member Benefit Product and communicating a Kingstonist offering to corporations to make available to their employees. Our value proposition must be exceptionally communicated and executed to retain loyal customers while attracting new ones. I can expect to engage in competitor analyses, reach out to companies, adapt to customer requests, and manage the product’s overall success. By the end of 2020, we hope the research project changes yields at least 1000 paying members from the 1.3 million monthly visitors.

Currently, Kingston’s news market is an oligopoly where there are only a small number of sellers. I believe that this project’s contributions will allow The Kingstonist to expand their platform and change the local news market into a monopoly by eliminating competitors such as YGK. Through transitioning to a subscription-based business model, the company will connect with local businesses and create a mutually beneficial relationship with the Kingston community. This rapport will increase business opportunities through the pooling of resources and gain a competitive advantage over other news sources.

Faculty Supervisor:

Yolande Chan

Student:

Partner:

Kingstonist News

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

Queen's University

Program: