McPheters & Company is launching two new products:
- iMonitor™, which provides on-going, highly detailed, tracking and evaluation of apps for the iPad and similar devices on a bi-weekly basis
- AudienceLab® Study of Magazine & Newspaper Purchase, a syndicated study of magazine and newspaper purchasers that will explore how publications are purchased and consumed across all platforms, as well as the relationships between newsstand sales, traditional subscriptions, and digital purchase. In addition to providing purchase information previously unavailable, it will allow us to establish a baseline against which to measure future migration. It will be fielded in January among a large nationally representative sample.
iMonitor™
In June, McPheters & Company is launching a service to monitor products delivered via the iPad, with special emphasis on publishers’ applications and applications in related categories with which publishers’ applications will compete. The goal of the service will be not only to track key metrics relating to the apps available, but to identify best practice as it emerges – in terms of pricing, features, navigability and business models.
Publication tracking will focus primarily on apps for individual publications, as opposed to those delivered via Zinio or similar apps. The service will track publications which deliver issues via apps, as well as other apps for these publications which provide services other than issue delivery. The range of publications tracked will include:
- Magazines, including those without print versions which are deemed to be significant and which deliver their issues through dedicated apps
- National newspapers
Deliverables include:
- A comprehensive report which will be issued every two weeks, highlighting notable introductions and innovations – in terms of both the apps themselves and emerging business models. Additionally, each report will take a deeper dive into a single category to assess other apps with which publications in that category compete.
- Access to the iMonitor™ database, which will track applications, both characteristics and performance, on a wide range of more than 30 metrics
While they will not be our primary thrust, we will also keep tabs on apps – like Zinio – which provide a common distribution mechanism for multiple titles, and on non-US based titles in order to be able to identify stand-outs (such as Paris Match) and innovations of importance. For each publication, the database will include:
- General
- Developer (if identifiable)
- Frequency
- # of issues to date
- Download speed of latest issue
- App store category
- Magazine genre
- Ranking
- Unique features (e.g. Maxim’s multimedia galleries)
- Glitches
- Whether or not there is a print version
- Reader ratings & review summary
- Pricing
- App price
- Issue price
- Subscription price
- Advertising
- Is there advertising?
- For consumer magazines that are measured by MRI or have circulation of 500,000 or more, how does it compare to the print version?
- Base of advertisers
- Integration with content
- Sponsored
- Other (Specified)
- Navigation/Features and Functionality (5-point scale)
- App navigation
- Issue library
- Issue download/purchase
- Menu bar (favorites, galleries, etc.)
- Issue navigation
- Page by page scrolling
- Linked coverlines
- Table of contents
- Thumbnail layout
- Article navigation
- Scroll horizontally, vertically, or both
- Split screen (e.g. GQ & Vanity Fair)
- Interactivity (e.g. Wired & PopSci)
- App navigation
-
- Differences between portrait and landscape versions, if any (e.g. Time’s varying integration of media into article layout)
- Rich media
- Embedded videos
- Web links
- Social networking
- Comparison with Other Platforms (iPhone, Kindle, Nook, Zinio)
- Whether the iPhone app is the same or different
- Pricing
- Other Publication Apps (e.g. Men’s Health’s 1000 Exercises)
- What they do
- Pricing
- Functionality
AudienceLab™ Study of Magazine & Newspaper Purchase
In January, we will undertake a syndicated study of the dynamics of magazine purchase behaviors that will explore how publications are purchased and consumed across all platforms, while taking an in-depth look at the relationships between newsstand sales, traditional subscriptions, and digital purchase. In addition to providing purchase information previously unavailable, it will allow us to establish a baseline against which to measure future changes.
