Posts Tagged ‘GQ’

Publishing giant Condé Nast will debut digital replica editions across its portfolio of magazine brands using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite following its successful rollout of digital editions of Wired and The New Yorker using Adobe tools.

The apps for GQ, Vanity Fair, and Glamour will be re-created using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite.

Condé Nast president by Robert A. Sauerberg Jr. said:

This decision comes as the result of an ongoing research-and-development period that included the introduction of five digital replica apps using two different approaches and tools in order to gain maximum learning in this emerging area. The company will continue to seek the best technologies to bring its award-winning content to market as platforms and devices emerge.

The innovative work our in-house team at Condé Nast Digital did made us first to market with replicas on iPhone and iPad and has allowed significant learnings. Our team considered many factors to ensure that we had a platform that could be continually enhanced to meet the needs of our consumers and distributors.

Chief technology officer Joe Simon added:

We have always intended to deliver our content on a variety of platforms and devices, and the Adobe Design Suite will help us efficiently achieve the “author once, publish anywhere” goal.

AdAge.com examined the iPad app sales for six magazines — Popular Science, Wired, Men’s Health, People, GQ, and Vanity Fair — taking into consideration the titles’ newsstand sales and the fact that, according to Forrester Research, 5.25 million iPads have sold in the United States. The results:

Popular Science averaged sales of 14,034 across the iPad editions of its April, May, June, and July issues, along with 115,101 newsstand sales, so its iPad sales were equivalent to 12 percent of its newsstand sales.

Wired‘s debut iPad edition sold 105,000 copies, and it sold 31,000 iPad editions of the July issue, 28,000 in August, and 32,000 of the September issue, equivalent to 37 percent of newsstand sales for the respective issues.

Men’s Health averaged 3,174 iPad-edition sales across its April, May, June, and July/August issues, or less than 1 percent of newsstand sales.

People is averaging 10,800 downloads per week and, although Time Inc. declined to tell AdAge.com how many of those downloads represent existing print subscribers claiming free copies, the title’s iPad sales are also equivalent to less than 1 percent of its single-copy newsstand sales.

GQ‘s iPad and iPhone edition averaged sales of 13,310 across the issues from April-August, or 7 percent of those issues’ newsstand sales.

Vanity Fair averaged 8,925 iPad and iPhone edition sales across its June, July, August, and September issues, or 2 percent of those issues’ print newsstand sales.

Condé Nast conducted more than 100 hours of one-on-one interviews with users of its GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, and Glamour iPad apps, along with more than 5,000 in-app surveys, to determine the five best practices for advertisers looking to crack the Apple tablet medium.

The publisher said its questions focused on overall consumer usability, expectations, and sentiment, with 80 percent reporting that the content from its brands met or exceeded their expectations; 83 percent likely to purchase the next issue for the iPad; and 89 percent saying the apps were easy to use.

Condé Nast’s five best practices for creating advertising that will engage and resonate with the user:

Take advantage of this new medium’s functionality: Users responded positively to the additional functionality of the iPad. Therefore, advertisers that included compelling and unique experiences, that were self-contained and exclusive to the environment, were liked more than those that did not. Increased opportunities for engagement including video, photo galleries, and links to Web sites are recommended.

Provide clear instructions on how to engage with your app: As many surveyed were not familiar with iPad navigation, ads that included clear calls to action and cues on how to engage the creative were more effective. Icons should be clearly visible and intuitive and state whether more content or additional functionality can be found.

Supply additional information but avoid repurposing creative assets used for other media: Users enjoyed advertisements that provided something new and useful. Including detailed product info and how-tos are recommended. However, repurposing video or creative used for other mediums is not suggested.

Tell a story: The most remembered ads contained narratives. The iPad’s ability to showcase various forms of media offers a unique opportunity for telling a brands’ story. However, it was discovered that users became bored when the same advertisement was used repeatedly throughout a single application.

Lead them down the purchase funnel: Brands that enabled a user to directly access and purchase the featured product fared better than companies that offered homepage links alone. It is also recommended that due to compatibility issues, Flash not be used.

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