Luis Sangil

This study investigates the application of the strategy-as-practice framework in digital journalism, analyzing two decades of transformation. Focusing on Elmundo.es, a prominent Spanish news site owned by Italian conglomerate RCS MediaGroup, from its beginnings to November 2022, through 45 interviews with 34 industry experts. It highlights the significance of incremental changes in strategy adaptation within the media industry. These gradual shifts, fueled by a culture of strategic agility and knowledge sharing, are essential for lasting organizational evolution, and offer vital managerial insights. The research underlines the importance of combining innovative efforts with subtle adjustments to navigate digital disruptions effectively, enhancing media resilience and adaptability. This approach provides a nuanced understanding of media management and strategy, contributing to the discourse on achieving enduring success in the digital landscape.

With digitization, journalistic companies tested out different ways of creating value through the capabilities that technology provides. Online newspapers applied the experience they had with their print versions to brand extensions, aiming to build revenue models that went beyond the classic models for advertising and charging for content. Their goal was to leverage brand value by expanding their name to a new product. This study focuses on Unidad Editorial, which undertook various initiatives testing the power of the digital brand elmundo.es and expanding the boundaries of the business. We use information obtained from 23 semistructured in-depth interviews with executives from the early days of their online business to the present, providing a comprehensive picture. Elmundo.es’s experimentation with brand extensions and other non-advertising revenue sources helps us understand digital media’s shift towards charging for content –which the Covid-19 pandemic provided a favorable environment for– in their search for alternatives to compensate for the decline in advertising revenue. New brand extension projects, for which brand strength and consistency with the original product are determinative, remain open. In addition, these new practices will be subject to the journalistic companies’ investment capabilities.

This article explores the relationship between the transformation of the digital culture of legacy newspapers and the implementation of paywalls. Its premise is the relevance of an organizational culture based on risk adoption and adaptability, as well as the correlation between the success of payment models and market conditions. This article aims to contribute to the understanding of management decisions in the stages of digital transformation. The leading Spanish newspaper in the digital market, El Mundo, serves as a case study. Findings suggest that charging for content is a factor that decisively contributes to changing the digital culture of executives.

Este trabajo aborda cómo ha entendido Unidad Editorial, empresa editora del diario El Mundo, el negocio digital y la función que ha concedido a elmundo.es dentro de la estrategia a lo largo de los años. Se describen las etapas de evolución en los veinticinco años transcurridos desde su inicio y sus condicionamientos externos e internos. Entre los externos tienen especial importancia la “burbuja” de las puntocom, la crisis económica de 2008 y la explotación económica por el manejo de grandes volúmenes de datos o big data. Respecto a los internos, el de mayor trascendencia fue la fusión con la empresa de medios Recoletos y la gestión por marcas que heredó.