Thursday, 29 October 2015

Some Food For Thought About Apps

A great article by Media Briefing on the Economist's App strategy that deserves mention:

Key points:

  • if your brand is not big enough for your user to want to put on their home screen of their mobile phone, don't build an app;
  • for publishers who do have a large audience, Apps are a funnel to drive new subscriptions back to the magazine;
  • What we really want is for people to choose the bundle or the digital only, but we don't mind which - both options are more profitable that print alone
  • The In-app purchase model is infinitely preferable, he argues, to that of a hard paywall but "freemium" App content is the way to go "to get your content out there and people need to be able to sample it".
  • "It is exponentially easier to reach an audience that is larger than you could have ever imagined fifteen years ago. And if you focus on that quality in product then the opportunities are there."
Read the full article here.


Tuesday, 27 October 2015

The Death of Flash



The days of Adobe Flash are numbered. The experts say it is so because existing browsers cannot afford to continue the battle of ongoing security threats and breaches. In addition, the loading time for any flash file is exceptionally slow.  So browser makers are now demanding that Adobe set an “end-of-life” (very dramatic!) date for Flash - so that browser makers can disable it permanently. Adobe continues to send out patches and updates but that is not sufficient to assuage the potential hacking concerns for this plug-in.

As stated by Wired magazine, July 2015,”…just because Adobe releases a secure new version of Flash doesn’t guarantee its users will download it. As quickly as Adobe can beat back trouble, more pops up. It’s a never-ending game of Whac-a-Mole. “

Flash was once the go-to standard for multimedia even though problems with Flash have been recognized for years.   In fact, Steve Jobs blocked Flash from all of its mobile/tablet products in 2010.

Why does this matter in the publishing world?  
Publishers’ primary concern is that their web sites are the source of easy-to-read content.  By now many websites have abandoned using Flash in favor of a markup language known as HTML5.  HTML5 does a similar job but is more advanced, does not require a browser plugin and is more secure. These new websites allow for an optimal viewing and navigation experience called “responsive design” that resizes/reformats content depending on the device.

How does this impact digital magazines?
Despite the refocused investment on HTML5 websites, many publishers are not giving the same attention to their digital editions. They continue to use Flash technology for these publications. They do not consider the value of how a digital edition can augment their overall marketing strategy. And after all, the digital publications are key to extending their brand across all digital platforms and devices.

Even more puzzling, considering how quickly technology is moving, is the continued use of PDFs that publishers label as their “digital” edition.  PDFs equate with “long time to load”, “static”, “interminable scrolling” –a negativity that publishers would not want attributed to their print edition. 

Publishers need to recognize that quality, cross-platform digital magazines are a low price point compared to most other services needed to publish content. It has been shown that when a replica digital edition is produced sloppily, it can generate animosity and is detrimental to the brand.  Having a digital edition that is not well executed and presented can be more of a negative than not having one at all!

In addition, a web site is not a replacement for a digital edition. Publishers who have digital editions created in HTML5—the latest technology with cross-platform, interactive tools—understand that digital works as a complement to their respective print magazines and web sites as an effective way to distribute their unique content.  

As a result, audience engagement is increased and in turn, there is potential to increase additional revenue and results for advertisers. Publishers who embrace and execute specific strategies for their digital magazines will end up winners; those who just limp along with no business plan for their digital edition will not.

Tuesday, 20 October 2015

Publishers Get Caught in the Middle of the Apple-Google Strategy War

While Apple and Google continue to push their differing strategies along, publishers get caught in the middle.  The technology demands of extending a publisher's magazine content to both the web and App ecosystem can be costly and daunting.

While we do feel the web and special mobile web apps are a great solution for most magazine publishers in the B to B and Association publication space, there is no arguing that readers are flocking to Apple devices and using their Apps in much greater numbers.

Advanced Publishing can work with publishers to deliver both mobile web apps and native apps for resale/distribution in the App store.  Let us take the technology burden off of your shoulders!

Here is a great New York Times article that discusses this dilemma, and its affect on publishers.
Full Story Here

Monday, 28 September 2015

FeatureFlo Video


HERE
Here is a new video of how our FeatureFlo text service works.  Check it out HERE:

Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Advanced Publishing introduces FeatureFlo - Digital Edition Text Article Service

I am so happy to announce today the release of a new feature - we call FeatureFlo.  This service allows publishers the option of adding a scrollable text version of articles in each magazine issue.

See the full press release here

Friday, 4 September 2015

Adobe Flash is Dying!

Adobe Flash is coming to an end! We welcome any new magazine clients currently using Flash to convert over to our HTML5 cross-platform service.
 Read more... 

Friday, 26 June 2015

Key Rules For Magazine Media Growth

This article succinctly outlines what we feel about magazines - how print AND DIGITAL work together to meet the needs and desires of readers. It is great that a study using such a large sample proves this to be true.
Read more...

Tuesday, 16 June 2015

5 Key Trends in Digital Magazines for 2015

This is a great piece about key trends to look for this year.  Many of them we certainly agree with and are seeing  come to fruition.
The recent decision by Apple to discontinue the Newsstand did not come as a big surprise.  We at Advanced Publishing felt the best place for our publishers' Apps was on the Homescreen - I guess this is turning out to be a good decision.

We are excited about the emerging trends of larger mobile phones that lend themselves to a better reading experience for all. Video too is growing rapidly and we are happy to accommodate many video options for readers of our digital magazines.  2015 is an exciting year for sure!

To read the full article - click below.

http://www.pubexec.com/article/5-digital-magazine-trends-keep-eye-on-2015/1

Monday, 15 June 2015

New client case study! OE (Offshore Engineer)

We are so happy to be able to share a new case study we recently completed with one of our key customers - AtCoMedia of Houston, TX. 
You can find it here.