Update #2, Friday, July 23, NOON, Delhi time
TAKEAWAY: Several newspapers introduce iPad editions today as the iPad appears in their countries. Among them, Austria and Hong Kong. We show you how the introductory process goes for Austria’s Wirtshafts Blatt and Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post
Landscape view of today’s iPad edition of the South China Morning Post: In its first day out, the SCMP iPad app is the second most downloaded app in Hong Kong
Big iPad day for Austria, Hong Kong
Note: Alexis Johann, Manager, digital division of Wirtshafts Blatt, writes me to tell us that there was a bit of a misunderstanding with Apple about the WB’s subscription model and its admission into the Apple Store, and this has delayed their app appearing today, but they hope to have it all worked out later today Friday, with the app available tomorrow.
Here is how today’s South China Morning Post’s print edition promotes the debut of its iPad app
Here’s promotional campaign of the Wirtshafts Blatt to announce its intro into iPad world Friday
Austria and Hong Kong are among 9 countries that will get iPads today. The other countries are Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore.
I share the excitement of my clients in Austria and Hong Kong as they prepare to make their grand entrance in what they hope will be a most valuable platform for their newspapers, and one where their hopes are for positive reader reaction, advertising support, and, eventually, lots of subscribers.
Dr. Hans Gasser, publisher/manager of the Wirtshafts Blatt, sounds very excited when he writes me that “we are about to introduce our first version of the iPad edition of our newspaper, and we are happy with it, but look forward to working further with you on our 2.0 version.”
According to Alexis Johann, who heads the WB’s digital division, . “we want to combine the strenghts of the two worlds of our newspaper, the print and the digital world, in our new app, so the fundaments come from print, with its clear navigation, the well-thought out selection of stories, photos etc. But the reading experience is adapted to that great world of the iPad, where everything opens to your fingertips.”
For starters, the WB’s promotional ad is a true “pop up” moment, using the print product to suggest what the iPad edition will do with graphics and photos, making financial information quicker to grasp, and more enjoyable visually. We will be looking at the WB’s app and reviewing it tomorrow in this blog.
South China Morning Post: first HK paper on iPad
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the folks at South China Morning Post, where I have been this week, had a long and exhilarating night, but are thrilled to have today’s edition on the iPad, thus becoming the first Hong Kong based newspaper to go iPad, and, as SCMP marketing director Anne Wong emphasizes, the first English language native iPad app for an Asian newspaper.
The front page of the SCMP today is devoted to displaying the iPad with the SCMP on it, a campaign that uses the slogan: “we are here today, and tomorrow and the day after”.
The iPad app will be available as a free daily downloadable trial version timed to coincide with the first day Apple iPad releases in Hong Kong. iPad users will be able to take advantage of the free trial until early August when the full version will be available on iTunes.
“It is a great moment for the South China Morning Post, and our incursion into the iPad signals that we are, indeed, an organization that believes in serving our readers through a variety of platforms. Our goal is to become the unequivocal authoritative source for English language information about Hong Kong and China, and the iPad edition allows us to do that for a global audience, so it is a great day for us here,” says Steven Tan, general manager of the South China Morning Post.
iPad in Australia for the Sydney Morning Herald
– Australia: iPad Cometh for Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.panpa.org.au/ThreadView.aspx?tid=37595