Inside the Economist’s relaunch of its subscription mobile app

Sara Guaglione of Digiday writes about how The Economist quietly relaunched its subscription mobile app in March.

Guaglione writes, “The core mission of the app hasn’t changed with this redesign, Cohn said. ‘It’s a daily digital briefing that complements the core subscription with short bits of news and analysis aimed at readers on the go,’ he said.

“But the changes to Espresso do signal a shift in the target audience for the app, falling into several categories: people who are younger, more female and more global than The Economist’s core audience (which skews male and concentrated in North America and Europe), as well as existing subscribers who find The Economist’s full subscription too expensive and are at risk of churn, or canceling their recurring payments. Publishers are increasingly investing in product innovation to strengthen the retention of subscribers, noted Matt Lindsay, president of consulting firm Mather Economics.

“‘We think it’s important that we have a better gender balance and a younger reader as we plan for the future,’ Cohn said.”

Read more here.