Lucinda Southern of Digiday looks at how Quartz is expanding its revenue opportunities.
Southern writes, “Quartz is a defender of the ad-supported model but will be launching a paid-for product in the next couple of months. Exactly how this will look, whether it’s a regular subscription or one-off products, is still to be determined, but it will be around artificial intelligence. Quartz recently acquired independent AI research firm Intelligentsia and its two research analysts, one of whom is a former Morgan Stanley analyst under venture capitalist Mary Meeker.
“‘We think AI is one of the most important macro developments for business and executives are really struggling with the impact who they should work with what the technology is,’ said Delaney. As the information is niche, the business model will be paid for rather than ad-funded. While it’s offering a separate product, the research will also be filtered into Quartz’s journalism.
“‘Newsletters play to our strengths,’ said Delaney, adding that Quartz Daily Brief, its first newsletter, has grown to 270,000 subscribers, with a open rate of 40 percent. Part of its appeal is it’s written so time-poor C-suite execs can glean a summary without clicking out of the email.
“According to the publisher’s own research of 1,700 respondents, nine out of 10 executives subscribe to an email newsletter, but they’re selective about their consumption. They are also twice as likely to get news from email than video. Unlike other publishers, Quartz hasn’t found measurement to be a problem.”
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