Today’s online magazine publishers driving trends: EMAP, C Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar
Online magazine publishers are focusing on tightening up their apps and archives in the evolving effort to bolster digital product. In the midst of all of this activity, Talking New Media’s D.B. Hebbard both offers excellent coverage while at the same time proposing that media companies mimic some aspects of print business models in order to succeed.
EMAP, The Economist, NYT Digital, Others Update Apps
A burst of activity is occurring on the digital magazine app front. While most app updates are minor in the aftermath of the Apple Watch’s debut, there are still a lot of them happening, Talking New Media reports. British B2B publisher EMAP is leading the charge. Its stand-alone apps for Retail Week, Nursing Times, and Architect’s Journal have all seen updates.
The New York Times, meanwhile, has updated its NYT Cooking app with iPhone improvements; Oyster, Nat Geo View, The Economist, and Adobe have, as well.
CHS Releases Digital Magazine Apps
C Magazine, branded magazine from farm cooperative CHS, has received the iPhone and Android treatment, Talking New Media reports.
“This is an exciting new development for CHS and the magazine,” Editor-in-Chief Greg Lamp said in statement.
“This new app combines the extra video, photos and other useful and engaging content that is already being created all into a single multimedia digital package. Each of us carries our mobile phones nearly everywhere we go. Now C magazine, and its extra, rich content, will only be a single touch away.”
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Talking New Media Advocates for Old-School Approach
In an interesting recent post, Hebbard recalls his days working for legacy publishers, and discusses the lessons he took from those experiences and how they apply to online magazine publishers. Essentially, his argument boils down to knowing your audience before you even consider launching a digital magazine, and we couldn’t agree more.
One of the Apple Newsstand’s most incisive critics, Hebbard argues that relying on the star-crossed service to help you home in on a steady readership is folly.
“But Apple is not the reason so many digital magazines are failing,” he writes. “Instead, it is that they rarely follow the rules of print magazine launches: have a list of readers at launch, promote aggressive with real marketing dollars, and discount, discount, discount.”
Good stuff – highly recommended!
ProQuest Will Digitally Archive Harper’s Bazaar
Mequoda Members know that publishers’ archives are a huge part of our digital philosophy, representing a straightforward and worthwhile way to repurpose and monetize old but quality content. Harper’s Bazaar is the latest among online magazine publishers to embrace this strategy by partnering with ProQuest to archive articles and other material that dates way back to 1867, Talking New Media reports.
“We know scholars and students are using more than journals and books to conduct their research,” ProQuest Senior Director of Product Management, Humanities, Stephen Brooks said in a statement.
“ProQuest aims to keep libraries at the center of research support. Essential to that goal is expanding the variety of content types we offer, enabling libraries to access digitized, high quality content. Digitization programs such as this one with Harper’s Bazaar unlock valuable, historical primary sources from the confines of print, making them easy to access, text mine and use within researchers’ workflows.”
Do you want to join the ranks of online magazine publishers? Download our free Digital Magazine Publishing handbook today to break down the barriers to entry!
To read more about online magazine publishers making news, visit Talking New Media.
