To capture so-called iUsers, many of whom are unaffiliated with an institution and lack subscription access, publishers can learn from the experiences of many web 2.0 companies who attract customers with free but limited benefits, then upsell additional products and services. See how Zynga, an online gaming company, has grown to over 100M users and $500M in sales in just 2 & 1/2 years – all this from games which are free to use … initially. Mr. Park will discuss how STM publishers could offer lower-cost, perhaps even free, access to their offerings and still make money without disrupting their core subscription business model.
