With advertising revenues down, publishers are increasingly investigating non-advertising ways to bring in additional revenue, such as raising subscription and newsstand pricing and cutting rate bases, like New York just did this week. Another small light at the end of the tunnel comes in the form of the iPhone, as iPhone applications created by – and touted by – magazine brands are gaining in popularity and bringing publishers just a smidgen more much-needed cash flow. By bringing the right amount of exclusive content to readers, and making it interactive and functional enough so that people will want to pay for it, magazine publishers might be on the right track with their iPhone apps. MediaWeek reported this week that Hachette Filipacchi Media, the parent of brands such as Elle and Car & Drive, are launching iPhone apps later this year that will focus on shopping and cars. Also, Meredith Corp., which has lifestyle titles like Better Homes & Gardens and Family Circle, plans to launch apps focused on food, parenting and fitness. Apps run the gamut of prices, from free to ad-supported, to $5 or $10 a pop, to bundle subscription-based “premium” features that are added onto free apps. We applaud publishers not stemming the flow of great content, but instead finding new outlets for it.
Industry buzz applications, apps, content, Hachette Filipacchi, iPhone, Meredith, revenue
The launch of Apple’s iPhone App Store opened the door for media companies to explore an all-new, interactive way to distribute content and engage readers. Magazines were exploring the mobile world before then, but the iPhone App Store suddenly made everything amazingly accessible—and magazines went to task creating some can’t-live-without mobile applications. Take the Style.com app, which won Condé Nast Digital the top spot in the “Mobile Application” category at min’s 2009 Best of Web Awards last Wednesday. It lets users zip through runway shots of the newest fashion collections, read reviews and find out how to snag the looks. And there were other top magazine-based mobile applications that won, too. See the full list of min’s Best of Web Awards winners here.
Next week, Time Inc. is launching new applications for Golf.com and CNNMoney.com, adding to its already robust collection of mobile apps, including those from Time.com and People.com. Time Inc., which says mobile apps are a “natural extension” for its bran
ds, reports it has a million monthly unique visitors to its mobile sites.
Even local magazines are utilizing the iPhone App Store to create a more direct connection with readers. Here at TMG Custom Media, Washington Flyer partnered with GeoRadio and DC by Phone to create a Washington Flyer mobile app that gives customized guided tours of D.C.’s sights. Take a look. And tell us what magazine apps you love.
Industry buzz applications, content, iPhone, magazine, mobile
