Readers of marketing websites Campaign, Marketing, MediaWeek, PR Week and Brand Republic will no longer get unlimited free access to the sites from this summer, after business publisher Haymarket revealed it will be implementing a “metered” charging model.
The publisher has shied away from introducing a complete “pay wall” as it says readers will be able to access a set number of articles each month (for free) before being asked to subscribe.
However, the company has refused to confirm exactly how many articles will be free to view, suggesting it may be still be putting the finishing touches to the exact level. The strategy will be closely monitored as, although it will no doubt raise money, reader numbers will inevitably fall. At the moment, the set of sites claims 700,000 unique monthly visitors.
But there will be three variants…
• “Premium Access, for full online access to all titles, plus a printed edition of one print magazine”
• “Online Access, for full access to all digital resources and archived materials, including all Brand Republic Group titles”
• “Print Access, an option to simply buy a subscription to a single print magazine”
The move is being led by Brand Republic, the online-only aggregator for content from each magazine site.
Haymarket’s Brand Media division is being renamed the Brand Republic division for the task, run by editor-in-chief Danny Rogers.
Rogers said: “This move will allow us to invest in the journalism and product development to maintain our leadership position in the digital age and deliver improved services to our readers. It is also a big step on the path to establishing our reputation as the ‘BBC of Brands’ – an unrivalled and indispensable resource for all marketing and communications professionals.”
