After three successful years on the market, The New York Times’ experiment in commercial content monetization has gone from start-up to scale-up. Times Journeys, an immersive travel program, creates unique travel itineraries with Times-readers in mind. Where some companies (See Revenue Lab Review: Gone) remain small scale in terms of revenue, Times Journeys has developed an entirely new platform by harnessing content, creating experiences, and monetizing on them.
Times Journeys destinations are as typical as Italy or France, while others explore more unusual regions such as Cuba, Sri Lanka, and Iran. The hook is that each exclusive travel experience is inspired by Times original content and attended by either a New York Times journalist or Times-selected expert. Ultimately, this new enterprise serves as both an interactive and educational travel experience, connecting readers with Times journalists while they explore the brand's perspectives on relevant issues.
As companies begin to churn out content and act as publisher, publishers are right there with them driving business opportunities and ultimately, revenue. The Times has definitely upped its game, not only offering insightful travel and lifestyle think pieces, but also allowing readers the opportunity to experience them firsthand.
Special thanks to Ricardo Bilton, of Digiday, for his article on “New York Times Joins Other Publishers in the Tour Business,” and Samantha Shankman, of Skift, for her article entitled “The Tour Businesses Built Out of Legacy Media Brands.”
Overall Rating: 7.5
Revenue Potential: 7 Times Journeys has established itself as a way to offset the troubling print declines with a potentially profitable revenue stream. It's an exciting idea, replete with revenue opportunities (co-marketing revenue, shared fees with travel companies, subscriber revenue from the Times' tony travel readership), that is getting more real by the day.
User Experience: 9 What is not to love about NYT caliber photography and an ingenious configurator. Article pages are adorned with location specific maps, itineraries, full-frame photographs, and of course, links to travel partners.
Value To Brand: 7 While the program may not exactly be re-inventing the wheel (media companies such as National Geographic have established similar programs) Times Journeys is certainly leveraging on the long-time cultivated expertise, credibility, and venerability of The New York Times organization and it’s journalists. Times Journeys is definitely an investment for the media giant, but will no doubt expand. While they could potentially do more in the way of social media, marketing, and digital initiatives, the program may be able to attract consumers based purely on its reputation and influence.
Published by The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/times-journeys/