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Filed under: Digital Publishing & Tablets ]]> http://techsifter.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/apple-quietly-drops-special-subscription-requirements-for-ios-apps/feed/ 0 JuergenB http://techsifter.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/apple_announces_digital_subscription_model/ http://techsifter.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/apple_announces_digital_subscription_model/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:10:09 +0000 JuergenB http://polymash.com/?p=942 ]]> Apple announced the terms of their new digital magazine subscription model yesterday in an agreement with app developer and digital publisher Texterity, which they posted on their web site last night. It clears up a number of concerns to the publishing industry, and finally clears the hurdle for existing subscribers of print content not having to pay again for a digital version of the same magazine.

From the Texterity Web Post:

Publishers can sell print subscriptions, and offer “digital companion” access through an app as long as there is no additional fee for those subscribers. It’s a way to offer another incentive for print subs to stay loyal and engaged.

“Apple wants the [in-app purchase] process to be an equivalent option equally presented,” he says. “So a person can go to Apple and have a one-click purchase or go to the publisher and purchase, so that does not foreclose the publisher from collecting [customer] data. It just puts Apple on equal footing with them.”

First, we were concerned that we would get no demographic information. That is mostly true. We’ll get an email address, however. That’s a big help and a step forward. It allows us to give that subscriber access to a digital edition as well as an app.

Association publishers are also allowed to deliver their content through apps. Apple does not want to be in the business of selling anything other than digital content, and an association sells membership, which includes a magazine in digital and/or print form, but also includes much more.

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It is a combination of

• designing interactive content for tablet devices and app marketplaces, starting with a state of the art iPad application
• authoring or converting existing content once, and  publishing it in a scalable way on multiple platforms and emerging app marketplaces (e.g. iTunes, Android)
• assisting our clients with overall product and marketing strategy, services and tsupport for interactive content.
• a team of experienced IT and publishing professionals specializing in user experience design, content and language optimization, marketing and social media integration, and web and graphic design

From the press release: This group is more passionate about social issues like energy (36% more than the 35 plus online population), climate change (48% more) and animal rights (24% more). However, in general they are 15% – 25% less likely to make purchase decisions based on their issues of importance. Instead they look to products for external validation, meaning they buy products that convey and reward their success and personal achievement. When compared to the 35 plus online population, 18 – 34 year olds are more likely to purchase based on the following brand attributes: innovation, looks, popularity and prestige. In fact, they are five times more likely than their elders to purchase a product that is viewed as prestigious, and over twice as likely to buy a popular product or a product that is aesthetically appealing.

Similar to the older generation they do buy products based on value, function and quality, however these products also need to fulfill their image conscious desires. Brands need to strike a balance between messaging a product’s value while also highlighting product attributes that are perceived to enhance a consumer’s image and prestige. However, while they do not initially seek products that advertise the issues that are important to them, once a product meets the value or image balance they are looking for, they will pay more for that product.  Examples of these are companies that contribute a certain percent of their revenue to rebuilding a devastated area or feeding the hungry.

“Resonate’s research reveals a tremendous amount of insight on this particular demographic, which is traditionally difficult to pin down. This group is focused on quality products that also exhibit their success to others,” said Bryan Gernert, CEO of Resonate. “In order to effectively engage 18 – 34 year-olds, marketers must understand the values and attitudes that drive their purchase decisions and develop the right messaging and ads to connect with them. Resonate not only knows what influences these consumers purchase decisions, we also know where to reach the various sub segments of this group online.”

Understanding the importance of message specific advertising based on the various product strength as well as consumer values and attitudes will help brand marketers engage 18-34 year old consumers more effectively.

Recommendations for marketers include:

Now that the iPad has been on the market for some time and a slew of other tablets are about to drop, usage and behavior patterns are starting to emerge, and ideas on extending tablet functionality are becoming more concrete.

Here at Polymash we have been humbly completing work on extending tablet magazine reader functionality for the information product and educational market, adding plug-in features such as in magazine notepads and social media integration for Apple and Android platforms.

But for a more comprehensive and compelling glimpse at future possibilities, I’d invite you to check out this video from IDEO entitled The Future of the Book

My favorite concepts here:

• The idea that interactivity needs to extend to participatory and community based discussions about the material being read. (Ideo calls this “Nelson”)
• The idea to link to book clubs, reading lists and recommendation engines (Copeland)
• Ideo also proposes a concept (Alice), which allows for co-creating the story, affecting the plot, interacting with characters and so on, and while I love the idea I do see it more in the realm off app and game development.

However long term the creation of truly interactive content will blur the line between app development and content creation…

Frankfurt Book Fair

Also this week the Frankfurt Book Fair took place, and following twitter feeds and blog entries it was apparent that there was much tablet talk and discussion. I’d like to share Joe Wikert’s presentation he gave “My eContent Wish List–Frankfurt TOC 2010” as posted on slideshare, which mirrors some of VIMEO’s vision in a perhaps more pragmatic way:

Having worked with, and around, the limitations of today’s tablet reader technology, the critical element to me is to create platform independent APIs that allow developers to directly access and interface to the publications content

My favorites:

• Platform independent readers, with platform independent APIs
• Better Social Media integration, for example tweeting from within and article or story
• The ability to highlight and annotate content, and then be able to share, archive, collect and search these annotations across publications

There are some great ideas in these presentations, and I hope publishing houses and tool makers in the tablet industry are listening and adjusting to the market needs being formulated.