Collaboration as a Driver of Change: The Legacy of the Digital Revenue Accelerator

“One of the most enriching experiences, beyond the project each outlet carried out, is not only having access to other colleagues to expand our network, but also understanding how ideas are generated in other countries to solve the problems we all share,” said Gabriela Vivanco, editorial director of La Hora in Ecuador, who chairs IAPA’s Executive Committee.

Developed by Marktube Group, the Accelerator served more than 40 outlets through group sessions and personalized mentoring; in addition, 50 percent of participants received funding for strategic projects. The program was divided into two cohorts (Central America and the Caribbean, and South America) and brought together newsroom, product, technology, and commercial teams.

“This program confirmed that when we work together—with data, product focus, and operational discipline—we can indeed build a more innovative and resilient ecosystem. We’re excited to see concrete results and, above all, capabilities that remain embedded in newsrooms and commercial teams,” said Ezequiel Arbusti, CEO of Marktube Group.

Product innovation for audiences

The Accelerator spurred the creation of new digital products and experiences. In Paraguay, for example, ABC Color focused on “solving a real, everyday problem for a large share of our readers,” explained Ariel Duarte, head of Digital Products (Commercial). The result was ABC Beneficios, a platform that allows readers to compare bank discounts and promotions. The project exceeded its initial launch goals: it achieved more than one thousand active promotions and secured partnerships with seven financial institutions instead of the three originally targeted.

“We want this to be the starting point for creating more digital businesses that help our outlet’s sustainability and allow us to keep doing what defines us: quality journalism,” Duarte concluded.

The creation of newsletters was a key trend for building audience loyalty. In Uruguay, Búsqueda focused on author-driven journalism and launched four new newsletters with a specific subscription flow to strengthen its direct relationship with its community. “We created an unprecedented two-way dialogue with our readers, and this new vertical began to help strengthen that bond and facilitate the arrival of new audiences,” explained Mandy Barrios, audience and subscriptions editor at Búsqueda.

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s El Regional del Zulia used strategic bulletins to activate an underutilized user database, not only increasing subscribers but also creating a new revenue channel by attracting new commercial clients. “This project has shown us that regional outlets can not only innovate, but also create sustainable value with the right tools, proper knowledge, and a strategic vision,” said Guillermo Mendoza, representing El Regional del Zulia.

New commercial and product capabilities

In branded content, results were notable. Honduras’s Estrategia & Negocios magazine relaunched its Brand Lab unit with a new digital portfolio, doubling the division’s sales compared with the previous year. “Participating in this project was an enriching experience both personally and professionally. [...] These kinds of projects are essential for adapting to and meeting market demand,” said Patricia Muñoz, the magazine’s regional commercial lead.

Ecuador’s El Universo restructured its Branded Content department to foster communication among commercial, editorial, and audience teams. This integration resulted in double-digit revenue growth from branded content.

In Venezuela, Meridiano also focused its project on this area to cut through “advertising noise” and generate “authentic connection and credibility” with its audience. Its strategy centered on creating content that integrates naturally into the user experience—one of the program’s key learnings. “We have a solution that, in this case, is much more than traditional advertising. It creates a clear differentiator that doesn’t just sell; it connects with audiences,” said Óscar Morales, Meridiano’s commercial director.

The program also fostered new capabilities that make outlets more resilient and adaptable. In El Salvador, La Prensa Gráfica trained its commercial staff to better understand client needs and offer solutions aligned to their businesses. “This allowed us to rethink our structure, our commercial vision, and to build a shared product vision,” said Liliana Flamenco, the outlet’s cooperation coordinator. The impact was reflected, for example, in a 22 percent increase in revenue from its Women in Power event compared with the previous year.

El Heraldo in Honduras tackled a key operational challenge: its advertising sales process relied on manual steps and multiple non-standard templates. To fix this, the outlet introduced a tool to automate, customize, and speed up the creation of commercial proposals. It enables sales executives to generate quotes in real time in front of clients using a smartphone or tablet—and had a direct impact on team efficiency and performance: the average time to produce a quote was drastically reduced from 2–3 hours to a maximum of 20 minutes, which allowed the average number of proposals generated per sales executive to increase by 80 percent during the pilot phases.

Building a direct relationship with the audience

Developing registration and subscription models that create a direct relationship with audiences was a key strategy for several outlets, each with a particular approach to diversifying revenue and building loyalty. Among the outlets that developed reader-revenue proposals were Listín Diario and El Nuevo Diario in the Dominican Republic, La Hora in Ecuador, and Impacto Venezuela.

The latter combined a migration to a specialized CMS with the development of a non-paid subscription module, focused on gaining better control over audience data. “Thanks to the support of programs like this, today we can say the outlet can catch its breath—a necessary breath to keep operating, informing, and growing,” said Rogers Fernandez, from the product team.

This program drove targeted initiatives and laid the groundwork for capabilities and relationships that create value across the region.

The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.