Communication and media
Transform CN2i's Reading Experience Through a Reimagined Digital Approach
In a context where free access to information, the rise of misinformation, and rapidly changing consumption habits are undermining traditional media models, Les Coops de l'information must continually reinvent themselves. Their objective: to preserve high-quality local news, while ensuring their economic sustainability.
Our mandate: to support them across a digital transformation focused on subscriber acquisition, conversion, and retention.
Reinventing the Media Experience in a Fully Digital Era
For several years, our agency has supported C2Ni in its drive to increase the number of digital subscriptions on the platforms (websites and mobile applications) of its six newspapers. This collaboration also supported their transition to phase-out all paper versions, which became official on December 31, 2024. By reducing costs associated with print and distribution, the structural shift was designed to ensure the sustainability of the business model. To facilitate this transition, we deployed a comprehensive subscriber conversion strategy, focusing on three aspects: acquisition, conversion and retention of digital subscribers. A major effort was made to maximize the visibility of acquisition tools, newsletters, user accounts, paywall strategy, all while deploying targeted advertising initiatives on social networks.
Understanding the Audience to Better Serve It
To support CN2i's strategic decisions and refine user journeys across all digital platforms, we carried out an extensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of the readership. This began with the deployment of a comprehensive survey sent to existing subscribers, aimed at getting deeper insight into their reading habits, digital preferences, content expectations and perception of subscription value. We then consolidated this data with internal statistics (audience metrics, click-through rates, retention rates) and industry benchmarks. A focus group was set up to validate and enrich the findings, ensuring that audience personas accurately reflected the distinct regional realities of each of CN2i’s six newspapers. These detailed personas were presented to senior leadership, helping to inform the next phases of optimization across content strategy, campaigns, and digital products.
Transforming the Reader Relationship Through Automation and Marketing Intelligence
To support the growth of digital subscriptions and strengthen its relationship with readers, CN2i undertook a comprehensive overhaul of its newsletter strategy. Working closely with internal teams, we developed an agile and personalized approach aligned with business objectives, user journeys, and the various types of editorial content to be highlighted.
A central component of this transformation was the automation of communications. Multiple campaigns were deployed to support each stage of the customer lifecycle, from discovery to retention. At the same time, we contributed to the implementation of a content aggregation system designed to streamline newsletter production using daily editorial output.
Governance frameworks, distribution rules, templates, and audience targeting were reviewed to ensure efficient, consistent, and measurable communication across all segments. This strategic work enabled CN2i to transform large-scale email distributions into a structured relationship-driven engagement model focused on long-term subscriber retention.
Anticipating the Crisis, Preserving Audiences, and Boosting Subscriptions
In August 2023, when Meta blocked access to Canadian news on its platforms, the shock was immediate. CN2i saw its traffic drop drastically, which had a direct impact on its advertising revenues and conversion capabilities. Anticipating the effects of this boycott, our team had already prepared a series of initiatives that could be quickly activated. In the space of a few weeks, a major multi-channel campaign was launched in order to encourage readers to obtain their information directly from the source, i.e. from media sites and apps, while also putting forward strong messages against misinformation.
Our intervention covered a wide range of actions: adaptive changes brought to automated email campaigns, creation of new advertising visuals, production of explanatory videos featuring the media's General Managers, development of retargeting tactics, and implementation of a unified discourse across all channels. Personalized messages on the paywall notice were also deployed to reinforce subscription incentives while also encouraging newsletter subscriptions, which became key levers in the strategy to win back traffic.
The results demonstrated the soundness of our approach: despite Meta's decision, we limited the overall drop in traffic while maintaining a nearly intact level of engagement. What's more, newsletters grew at an unprecedented rate, reaching an all-time high in the Group's history.
Beyond the more than satisfactory results, this crisis accelerated the modernization of CN2i's practices. By demonstrating that performance can be maintained, and even improved, through channel diversification and increased message customization, we helped in establishing a sustainable digital culture.
Creating Added-Value Digital Experiences
In an effort to enhance the subscriber experience and diversify the content offering, our team developed Jeux d'esprit (Mind Games), an interactive online games platform available exclusively to subscribers of CN2i's media outlets. Our mandate covered the entire project, from the creation of the brand identity to website design. The image we developed is playful, credible, and user-friendly, with a distinctive visual signature in line with the cooperative's values.
"We thank the deRabane team for its strategic support and daily assistance in deploying, modernizing and activating our digital practices for our six media outlets, enabling us to adapt to new trends and ensure the sustainability of community media."
