A Swiss publisher now has hard data showing that direct user engagement pays off. Ringier’s new approach combines ad and reader revenue to measure true customer value. See how this changes monetization strategy.
Media companies seeking to maximize both advertising and subscription revenue often face internal conflicts over how to treat their audiences. Ringier Media Switzerland has now produced concrete data showing that building direct, loyal user relationships delivers far greater value than treating readers as separate ad or subscription targets.
At the Audiencers’ Festival in London 2026, Patrick Rademacher, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at Ringier Media Switzerland, explained how the company broke down internal silos to calculate a holistic Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). By combining revenue from both advertising and subscriptions, Ringier can now measure the total value each user brings over time.
Historically, advertising teams pushed for maximum reach, while subscription teams favored exclusivity and paywalls. This created a perceived conflict, but Ringier’s analysis found that a single user can generate both types of revenue simultaneously. Registered and logged-in users, in particular, proved to be far more valuable than anonymous visitors.
To quantify this, Ringier calculated Reader Revenue CLV by multiplying average revenue per user by subscription lifetime, and Advertising CLV by multiplying average revenue per user by readership lifetime. The team first tested this approach on Blick.ch, their digital-only German-language brand in Switzerland, analyzing users by funnel depth and loyalty.
Results showed that moving users deeper into the funnel—such as from anonymous to consented, then to logged-in, and finally to subscribers—unlocked exponential increases in lifetime value. For example, users who gave consent were worth five times more than those who did not. Logged-in users had a CLV forty times higher than consent-only users, and yearly subscribers reached values up to five times greater than monthly subscribers.
Importantly, Ringier found that subscribers continued to generate strong advertising revenue due to their high engagement. This challenged the long-held belief that paywalls and ad revenue are in direct conflict. Data from other publishers, such as Bonnier Media, supported this finding, with subscribers delivering both high subscription and advertising ARPU.
Loyalty also played a critical role. Brand Lovers—users visiting three or more times daily—had an eighty-fold higher total CLV than casual or one-time readers. When Ringier mapped these dimensions, the value gap became clear: a casual, non-consented reader was worth about CHF 1, while a registered, loyal yearly subscriber could reach CHF 1,500.
Despite these high-value segments, most of Blick.ch’s audience remained in the low-monetization “Consent Only” bucket. Rademacher said this data provides a clear financial incentive to encourage registration and guide users deeper into the funnel. However, he noted that the real value comes not from the act of logging in, but from increased engagement and longer user lifetimes, which drive both ad impressions and subscription conversions.
To put these insights into practice, Ringier shifted from simply gating content to building features that deepen user relationships. For example, Blick.ch launched “Follow My Team,” allowing sports fans to personalize their experience by following favorite clubs or sports. Saving these preferences requires registration, naturally moving users into the logged-in ecosystem.
Rademacher also pointed out that with the rise of AI-driven search and browsing, publishers risk losing anonymous, low-loyalty traffic. Building a base of logged-in, loyal users is now essential for both revenue and survival.
Ringier’s new CLV-driven strategy has already delivered results, with the company doubling its number of daily logged-in users over the past year. For publishers looking to balance ad and subscription revenue, Ringier’s data-backed approach offers a compelling model. For more on how local publishers are rethinking audience growth and monetization, see this story on sustainable newsletter strategies in Edinburgh.
