We are busy preparing for our big Subscription Show next month, but that didn’t stop us from preparing a feature-filled Five on Friday for you. This week, Delta Airlines gets into the subscription business, Scribe launches a subscription greeting card service with the help of artists, EU regulators have concerns about Apple Pay’s possible anticompetitive behavior, Hulu adds like and dislike buttons to personalize suggestions and, everyone’s favorite feature, LinkedIn shares top subscription jobs.

Delta Launches SkyMiles Select to Travelers for $59 a Year 

Tired of slow boarding, paying for beverages during your flight, or checking a bag because there isn’t enough overhead bin space? Delta Air Lines understands – and is capitalizing on an opportunity to ease those frustrations. Delta has launched SkyMiles Select to help ease the annoyances of travel. For $59 a year, SkyMiles Select customers in the U.S. get extras, including:

• Main Cabin 1 Boarding – earlier boarding to “find the perfect overhead bin space”
• 8 drink vouchers (beer, wine or spirits, must be 21 or older), non-transferrable
• Limited edition bag tag

Delta estimates the value of this package at approximately $100. The drinks alone are likely to cost you more than $59 a year, but the main cabin boarding and available overhead bin space seem a bit misleading. Main cabin boarding occurs after other special groups – active military, disabled passengers, first class and business class passengers, those traveling with small children and frequent flyers – so “early boarding” isn’t really early.

For frequent travelers who don’t hold Delta credit cards or carry elite or frequent flyer status, these perks may seem worthwhile, but unless you fly Delta for every trip, the SkyMiles Select program may hold little value for you. We are wondering if this is a precursor to Delta charging passengers to stow a bag overhead or perhaps a subscription test to see what the travel market will bear.  

Scribe Subscriptions Hope to Personalize Greeting Cards Again 

Whether you are a baby boomer or a millennial, it is heartwarming to receive a personalized greeting card from family or friends on special occasions – anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, baby news, etc. In today’s digital society, however, we often default to sending a text or posting a Facebook message to wish someone happy birthday. Two brothers, Jesse and Ross Harding, are trying to change that with Scribe, a new twist on an old idea, reports Silicon Prairie News.

Launched earlier this week, Scribe is an online subscription service that helps people remember special people and occasions in their lives with personalized greeting cards. Subscribers provide Scribe with a list of special occasions to remember, and Scribe sends them reminders. The subscriber then chooses a card from an artist-designed collection of greeting cards. Scribe mails the card to the subscriber to write their own personalized message.

One unique feature about this is that the company calls it a subscription, but it is a pay-per-card plan and cards start at $8 each. Similar to subscriptions, however, you can pause or cancel reminders for a particular occasion. Without pausing or canceling, customers will receive annual reminders. There is no monthly or annual fee, however – just the fee per card and optional postage. At launch, the selection of cards is limited, and one card already shows that stock is low. To be fair, they are fresh out of the gate. Some additional testing and tweaking may be needed. Learn more at ScribeGreetings.com.

Report: EU antitrust regulator enquiring about possible Apple Pay anticompetitive behavior

A new report says that antitrust regulators in the European Union have their eye on Apple again – this time for use of Apple Pay, a contactless payment method. MLex Market Insight reports that the European Commission has reached out to companies who use Apple Pay, banks, online payment providers and app developers for input. One item the Commission seems to be looking at is how and when Apple directs users to use Apple Pay for in-app purchases over other payment options.

9to5Mac reports that a Commission representative said that they were looking at “possible anti-competitive market practices and abusive conduct,” but the investigation has not been made public. This inquiry could possibly lead to scrutiny of other contactless payment methods as the mobile payments industry continues to grow. Learn more about the probe on MLex.

Hulu Adds ‘Like’ and ‘Dislike’ Buttons to Personalize Recommendations

Streaming video platform Hulu is adding a feature familiar to Netflix subscribers – like and dislike buttons, reports Engadget. The new-to-Hulu buttons will help the company learn what viewers like and don’t like, so it can offer more personalized recommendations. For now, the new feature is available on Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast, the Switch, the Xbox One, and some Samsung, Vizio and Android-powered smart TVs. Hulu will add other platforms soon.

When Hulu subscribers click the like button for a particular title, the streaming company will deliver similar shows as recommendations. When a viewer hits the dislike button for a particular show, they won’t see that show appear again. The new dislike button replaces the ‘stop suggesting’ feature. Additional features coming soon include a personalized home page and  improved search functionality.

“We know that today’s connected consumers expect a deeply personalized experience when they watch TV. At Hulu, we’ve always taken a unique approach to recommendations. It’s a combination of human curation, empowering our viewers, and algorithms that round out the personalized experiences we deliver to Hulu subscribers,” said Jason Wong, director of product management at Hulu, in an October 16 announcement.

https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/16/hulu-like-and-dislike-buttons/

LinkedIn: Top Subscription Jobs

Manager – Retention Marketing
WW (Weight Watchers)
New York, NY

The Retention & Engagement Marketer is responsible for the creation and optimization of retention, engagement and recognition triggers as well as journeys throughout the lifecycle and across all channels. This will contribute to a holistic omni-channel marketing strategy that optimizes member success, globally. The Retention & Engagement Marketer is a talented and collaborative problem solver who creatively and continuously improves the way we engage with our members. Analytical acumen, project management skills, and a desire to quickly test and learn are critical to successfully optimize the experience. Read more.

Senior Manager, Customer Lifecycle Marketing
PagerDuty
San Francisco, CA

The Customer Lifecycle Marketing manager is a key member of the Growth Marketing team and is a self-driven individual, passionate about connecting user behavior to the marketing “wow” moments in one cohesive customer lifecycle marketing journey. You are able to go from high level bigger picture customer experience, down to specific details like UTMs to ensure we are serving the best customer experience possible. Obsessed with tracking performance and consistently experimenting to drive the best performance out of each email, you want to build a best in class customer acquisition, engagement, and retention strategy. You are data-driven, and customer focused, you will own email strategy and execution from end to end driving greater customer growth and retention! Read more.

Business Development Manager, Apps
Apple
Cupertino, CA

Apple’s App Store is the world’s largest and most innovative software store, serving more than half a billion customers every week. Since the App Store launched in 2008, the App Store has changed the way we all live; it has enabled countless new companies, spawned new industries and created millions of jobs. It has also paid out over $120 billion to developers around the world, rewarding millions of developers for their hard work and creativity. But we believe we’re just getting started. We are seeking a hardworking, data driven and results-oriented individual to join the Apps Business Development Team for the App Store. In this role, you will use your industry experience, critical-thinking skills and deep interest in technology to help app developers grow their businesses on the App Store. Read more.

Strategy & Operations, Program Manager
Stripe
Seattle, WA

As a Platform Strategy & Operations Program Manager, you will be building the infrastructure to help our Operations (e.g. Customer Experience) organization scale. We’re responsible for the experience of our hundreds of thousands of users who self-serve and our 1K+ customer service specialists. Through our Strategy and Operations team we analyze the causes of ticket volume and strive to structurally decrease and prevent it through our Technology, Training and Knowledge teams. We’re a nimble team that has a large scope and is obsessed with efficiency and impact. Read more.

Audience Development Manager
Bisnow
New York, NY

Bisnow’s Marketing department is actively seeking a data-driven, curious and digital media-obsessed Audience Development Manager (ADM) to join our organization. This is an opportunity to become a leader for a highly successful team and help us to reach new audiences on every platform. This role reports into the Executive Vice President of Marketing and is primarily responsible for growing our subscriber base by leading projects and research initiatives team who grow Bisnow’s network. The ADM is also responsible for developing and implementing data-driven traffic growth strategies for all touchpoints with a particular focus on content marketing using digital tactics to grow our subscriber base. Read more.