Every week, we bring you the top stories and analyses from the global Subscription Economy.
BMW’s Offering Subscription-Based Speed Trap Warnings
Excerpt from an article by Mack Hogan on Road and Traffic
BMW is offering yet another subscription service. This time, the company is allowing you to subscribe to speed trap warnings.
Using the car’s infotainment system, a network of radar detectors, and a database of fixed speed cameras, BMW’s ConnectedDrive system will notify you if you’re approaching a speed trap in its database. It’s sort of like Waze, but rather than relying on users to report every speed trap the system will reportedly be largely automated.
This [type of subscription model] is already popular in countries throughout Europe and Asia where fixed, camera-based speed enforcement is the norm, but BMW is bringing it to America and apparently including radar and laser detector integration.
For more, read the full article on Road and Traffic and read Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo’s thoughts on how transportation is becoming a personalized experience.
Spotify is thinking about launching a podcast subscription service
Excerpt from an article by Matt Binder on Mashable
Spotify already has a massively popular music subscription service… so why wouldn’t it start a podcast subscription service next?
That may very well be what’s in the works according to a recent survey being sent to Spotify’s users.
Variety’s Andrew Wallenstein recently shared screenshots of a Spotify survey he was presented with when opening the music app. The survey floats four different podcast subscription options ranging from $2.99 to $7.99 per month. Each plan would provide different levels of access to exclusive podcast content on Spotify — lower-priced plans would provide bonus interviews, higher-tier plans would give paying subscribers entire exclusive episodes without ads.
Most notable, however, is that the survey was asking strictly about podcast subscriptions, completely unconnected to Spotify’s music service. The streaming music plans would not be included in these podcast subscriptions.
For more, read the full article on Mashable
How to transform your business model for a post-COVID future
Excerpt from an article by Carsten Linz on The World Economic Forum
COVID-19 has caused the largest and fastest shift in human behavior change at scale, ever. As digitalization is already underway in almost every organization, this shift has accelerated the adaptation of digital technologies.
A business model is the distinctive logic of how to create value in the back-end, deliver value in the front-end to customers and other stakeholders, and capture value via the monetization mechanics for the organization.
The COVID-19 crisis will widen the gap between the winners and the losers. Reactionary management is not strategic leadership and hope is not a business model. It is time to reinvent.
Every organization needs to become digital in the sense of being software and data-driven. But not everything will be digital. It is not about either/or. Effective new business models strike the right balance and integrate the digital, physical, and human world.
For more, read the full article on The World Economic Forum and read Zuora’s Amy Konary and BCG’s John Pineda’s perspective on the resilience of subscription business models during economic downturns.
Fortnite could be getting a monthly paid subscription plan
Excerpt from an article by Jack Webb on TechRadar
Fortnite could be getting a monthly subscription option according to a new survey shared by Epic Games.
Developer Epic Games is asking players how much they would consider paying for a rolling monthly subscription to its free-to-play battle royale game, with the two options being between $5 and $18 each month.
Buying into this subscription would potentially give you 1,000 V-Bucks each month, access to each season’s battle pass (typically 950 V-Bucks) and exclusive early access to brand-new cosmetics.
People don’t seem too turned off to the idea of buying a monthly subscription for these extra bonuses.
For more, read the full article on TechRadar and hear what Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo has to say about the evolution of gaming.
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