South Africa’s Daily Maverick is a rare testament to the power of innovative monetisation in news media, charting a path of sustainability using a multi-faceted, diversified revenue approach. Ahead of Revenue Europe in Berlin on October 1st, Styli Charalambous, Co-Founder and CEO, explains more…[tickets are strictly limited but can be purchased here].
Founded in 2009, South Africa’s Daily Maverick has transformed public interest journalism through a multifaceted commercial approach, combining reader revenue, advertising, and philanthropy. At its helm, Co-Founder and CEO Styli Charalambous, an accountant-turned-media visionary, has been pivotal in steering the platform to impressive heights, reaching millions monthly and nurturing a solid membership base.
In our exclusive Q&A, Styli illuminates the importance of diversified revenue streams—a strategy that has helped the Maverick thrive amid numerous global crises. The conversation extends beyond the financial, delving into the Daily Maverick’s advocacy for policy changes crucial for the survival of journalism.
Styli will join us in Berlin on 1st October for Revenue Europe, the summit dedicated to monetisation strategies for media at the intersection of product, data and technology. Styli will speak in a panel conversation titled Data, advertising and DTC: Building a diversified revenue model.
Revenue Europe takes place on 1st October in Berlin. Our three headline partners are Chartbeat, Lineup and Tubular Labs. See the draft agenda, speakers, and secure your tickets here!
Ahead of Revenue Europe in Berlin, we asked Styli five quick-fire questions to introduce himself, Daily Maverick, and his views on monetisation strategies.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and your company?
I am the co-founder and CEO of Daily Maverick, a South African independent news publisher focused on public interest journalism. We’re best known for investigations that have helped shape the political landscape alongside a unique business model. I’m a reformed accountant turned media leader passionate about leadership, innovation, and growing people and revenue.
Regarding monetisation, the only way for media to survive commercially in the modern media landscape is through building diversified revenue models. Please briefly explain to what extent you agree/disagree with that statement and why.
We’ve seen several studies that confirm this; around four revenue streams are ideal for mid-large publishers. We’ve also experienced this first-hand with three revenue categories and two types of streams in each category, which was critical to navigating the pandemic. So, we agree 100% with the statement that revenue diversity is crucial but this should also align with the vision, mission, and skillsets the organisation has at its disposal.
Can you share more about your core revenue streams and the challenges you had to overcome to implement them successfully?
Our reader revenue comes from voluntary memberships, commercial advertising and sponsorships (including events), and philanthropy, including grants and donations.
It takes a clear vision and plan to pivot and grow each of these revenue streams from scratch, not least because we found a single one wasn’t enough. We also either had to upskill or recruit new skills to gain traction, as well as needing to keep adding resources as each revenue stream grew successfully.
Membership also has its challenges as it’s relatively rare to see the successful implementation of membership at scale, so we often found ourselves having to be pioneers in the space, especially in Africa, which lags the reader revenue practices we see in the US and Europe.
Looking at the future, how do you see Revenue Technologies shaping revenue growth and profitability in the media sector?
Data and tech are critical to sustained growth in reader revenue. The more we can personalise messages/offers and improve targeting, the better the chance of growth. It requires buy-in from leadership to continue investing in these areas and for managers to continuously look to improve and keep up to date with developments.
AI will be baked into so many tools, if not already, which opens up previously available tech to much more organisations. We have a lot of hope that we can continue our already impressive growth rate as we improve our offering with the aid of data and technology.
You will speak at Revenue Europe in Berlin. Off-stage, what are some of the conversations you’d be keen to have with fellow attendees?
While some news publishers excel nationally and internationally, we only see a few winners as local news crumbles. Overall, the market for journalism is failing, and the economics no longer work, but valuable journalism is still being created. We need policy and regulatory reform to address this market failure – this is something not being discussed enough nor campaigned for.
Meet Styli and your peers tasked with monetising media at our Revenue Europe summit in Berlin on 1st October. Find more information and sign up here. We hope to see you there!
