“Eat This, Not That!” the Latest Success in Rodale’s iPhone App Factory

Launched only three weeks ago, app marks 'most downloaded' in the Healthcare & Fitness category.

By Chandra Johnson-Greene
Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Rodale is steadily building an extensive portfolio of mobile apps that seems to be striking a chord with audiences. The Men’s Health-branded “Eat This, Not That!,” the company’s latest app that launched only three weeks ago, has become the most downloaded app in the Healthcare & Fitness category within the Apple iTunes store, the company announced this week. It’s also among the Top 25 apps on the store’s highest-grossing list over this past weekend after a week spent in the Top 100.

Based on the best-selling “Eat This, Not That!” book series, now in its sixth edition, the application offers users a list of healthy food options available at restaurants and supermarkets as well as a calorie logger that tracks their daily and weekly caloric intake.

When asked exactly how many downloads the “Eat This, Not That!” app has received so far, the company declined to release specific figures.

A Winning Formula

Men’s Health brand editor Matt Bean is the head of the in-house team that works on developing apps for both Men’s Health and Women’s Health. It’s made up of designers, developers and freelancers that oversee the entire process of developing the user interface functionality. “One of our strengths is that we have a flexible team,” he told AD. “One of our members used to work here as an assistant photo editor. He was instrumental in the creation of the ‘Eat This, Not That!’ app. It’s interesting because we all come from a print background.”

When asked if there’s a specific formula the team uses when creating new apps, Bean said not really. “When creating these apps, we always ask ourselves the question, ‘Are we taking advantage of the robust platform provided on the iPhone?’” he said. “With the iPhone’s platform having such unique functionalities, we’re ideally positioned to serve our users with tools that can help them improve their lives. We don’t want to have an app just to say that we have an app.”

And with companies like Conde Nast, opting to launch digital replicas of their print magazines on the iPhone—the company announced this week that its GQ iPhone app is going monthly—why hasn’t Rodale done the same?

“Anyone who’s tried to read a rich media magazine on a screen the size of a deck of cards knows that the print product still prevails,” Bean said. “With our apps, we’re looking to narrow our focus, but dive a lot deeper into the functionality. So instead of offering the entire magazine, we’re going to give you just one part and then take it as far as it can be taken.”

Next year, Bean added, the company will focus on pricing and furthering the development of its existing apps as well as launching new ones. “I think there’s something interesting going on right now,” he said. “There are apps that are in the top 100 that are created by established brands and sold at premium prices. So we’re looking to develop apps with richer functionalities that can carry higher price tags. The store experience is solidified where users are not willing to pay a lot for value, but any established brand ought to look for ways to bring higher quality products to its users.”

No Stranger to App Exposure

This is not the first time Rodale’s apps have coveted the top spots.

The Men’s Health Workouts app has reached as high as #2 in the Healthcare & Fitness category and sister apps Women’s Health Workouts and The Abs Diet Smoothie Selector have made the top 20 in the same category as well. Rodale’s current portfolio of 18 apps also includes Jimmy the Bartender and Instant Wingman.

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