Conde Nast Launches Reader for the iPhone

GQ will roll out first as an app at a $2.99 price point.

By Bill Mickey
Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Conde Nast has developed its own reader technology to view magazine content on Apple's iPhone. The publisher will test launch the December issue of GQ mid-November for $2.99 in the App Store.

Up to now, publishers have generally launched iPhone apps that are a functional slice of a magazine brand. Conde Nast is taking the next step and making full issues available as apps that are viewed via its own proprietary reader.

That the iPhone reader technology was developed in-house is a break from relying on another company's platform—such as Amazon's Kindle, which publishers have generally disliked for its inflexible distribution and revenue sharing scheme.

"One of the important things is the app itself is actually a reader," Sarah Chubb, president of Conde Nast Digital, told AD. "There are other reader apps for the iPhone, the Amazon Kindle being the successful one. We make the distinction that it's a reader because we've designed and built it in-house. We'll see what works and maybe use it with our other magazines as well."

Chubb said GQ was selected for the debut because its Web site was just relaunched and the magazine has done well this year on the newsstand (ABC numbers indicate single copy sales were relatively flat from December 2008 to June 2009, but that's much better than most). Its audience of young, fashion-forward males also overlaps with the iPhone aesthetic. "What capped the decision, though, was the December Men of the Year issue," she said. "There are lots of different celebrities and it lends itself to a big 'ta-da' on the newsstand and it lends itself well to the app format as well."

The $2.99 price point was selected for its proximity to the $4.50 newsstand price and its spot on the "higher end" of the app price scale. The price was not tested prior to launch.

Magazine issues can be viewed in vertical and horizontal modes. While in vertical mode, users can tap their way through the navigation scheme and pinch and swipe their way through stories and images. In horizontal or landscape mode, readers can swipe page by page, including ads, through the entire issue.

Extra functionality includes video, audio, and hotlinks to external Web sites. Chubb says they'll be paying close attention to how users navigate the content to analyze how the product is used.

The horizontal mode is a key format because it qualifies the issue as a digital replica per ABC guidelines. "We reviewed the app with Conde a couple weeks ago," said a spokesperson with ABC. "It will indeed qualify as paid digital circulation under ABC rules."

Chubb says since the iPhone edition is part of rate base there's no additional charge to advertisers, some of whom were sold into the December issue solely out of enthusiasm for the new platform. All print advertisers are in the iPhone version by default. They can, however, be upsold to extra functionality such as animated ads and links to a Web site or ecommerce opportunities.