Epicurious is overhauling its app to better engage users and solve challenges around discovery, recidivism, loyalty and visibility. The rebuilt app will leverage Apple's tools like push notifications tied to location and seasons, as well as widgets. It aims to keep the app top of mind through non-utility moments. FIG is investing in the overhaul after revenue growth and hopes higher-margin native ads will offset a smaller app audience. Discovery will rely on heavy promotion through social videos as no one has tried to own the food media channel on social before. The business model evolution and publisher learning around apps warrants a second look at the ecosystem.
3. 10/24/2016 3Magazine Media’s Most Trusted Source Since 1947
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Website Review: Essence.com Leads With Visuals
The relaunched site, though highly readable, has its shortcomings
Essence.com relaunches this month after a year of strong digital growth. Its unique visitors overall are up over 95% (per
Magazine Media 360º Brand Audience Report) with social refers up almost 200%. With that
tailwind, the title introduces an attractive, adaptive design with killer visuals.
On a mobile screen, the site loads a scroll topped by two massive featured stories with
screen-filling images and headline overlay. It's not until two screens down that you get to a
headline box of Top Stories. The effect is visually engaging, but tough on the scroll thumb. A
bit more efficiency at the top of the mobile experience wouldn’t hurt here.
The image-to-headline ratio improves as the scroll progresses, where Essence also leans
on lengthy and descriptive headlines to telegraph the contents. The brand has a tough mission,
covering a wide range of celebrity, beauty, romance and harder news content. This makes for
a long home page scroll of the sections (made more arduous by some gigantic imagery) and a
busy hamburger menu with many zoomable sub-sections. Things get cluttered, and some sort
of shortcut would be welcome.
However, I do appreciate the handy share icons available for every story at the home and
hub page level. The article layout is highly readable even on smaller phones, and it uses the tiered “Read More” structure that
speedily loads only the lede. Sharing tools are persistent throughout the scroll as well. The search function delivers results
with both images and enough article content to be helpful. While Essence promises branded content experiences, the only
monetization I saw were standard, poorly targeted banner ads on the bottom rail and fade-in badges in the stream. The video
trove could also use some better organization. It's a useful pile of celebrity snapshots, how-tos, and human interest pieces,
but there are no shortcuts to video types.
At its best, Essence.com is a highly readable and pleasantly constructed mobile experience that optimizes sharing. But it's
also a slog for the user who may be coming to the site for specific kinds of content.
App Review: Family Handyman Turns How-Tos into Paid Content
Trusted Media Brands’ Family Handyman is, like many service magazines, a trove of advice and tips available both online
and in print. But it's the nature of the periodical brand formats to feed this valuable, practical content based on seasonality and
opportunity as opposed to users’ immediate needs. With endless competition from YouTube and search, however, publishers
can only hope to add special value to their content via consistency, quality, trust and organization.
The Family Handyman Tip Genius does just that by assembling the library of practical articles and videos into a compact,
categorized and easily searchable app format. I like the basic layout. Tips are bucketed by Cars, Lawn and Garden, Plumbing,
etc. In each hub, scores of pieces are sub-divided by task. Call this DIY porn, which the app also serves with a “Random Tips”
function for the real home repair junkie.
The free version has ad support in the form of branded tips, which minimizes sponsor intru-
siveness. The Pro version costs the user a one time $4.99 fee, which seems reasonable for the
depth of content here. Aggregating the tips/how-tos that any service magazine generates over
time into a usable tool has obvious value.
Unfortunately, Tips Genius needs to go further to prove its ultimate value. The app is dense
with content, but the necessary search tool is fast yet dumb. Simple keyword searches like
“leaky sink” render irrelevant results, as the engine seems to be aimed more at broad category
searches. The app should also be ashamed of the “sharing tool,” which only pushes to friends
a promo to download the Tips app rather than any specifics about the shared tip.
Tips Genius is the modern version of the bookazine compilation or magazine branded book.
In order to excel, however, it needs to feel less like a book and more like a smarter app.
Steve Smith's Reviews
FH TIPS GENIUS
User Experience B+
Overall Design B+
Social Integration D
Mobile Utility B
Monetization A-
Final Grade B
ESSENCE.COM
User Experience B-
Overall Design B
Social Integration B
Mobile Utility B-
Monetization C
Final Grade B-
4. 4 10/24/2016Magazine Media’s Most Trusted Source Since 1947
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Epicurious 6.0 is being rebuilt from
scratch—“every line of code,” says
Eric Gillin, executive director, Epicuri-
ous, andHeadofProduct,FIG.KeytoEpicurious’sappsuccesswill
be how much both it and Apple have learned about app users.
Apps can’t just sit there waiting to be remembered and opened.
While many magazine brands seem to have given up on the
app ecosystem even as it has evolved, Epi is hoping to embrace
the many changes Apple itself has baked into iOS’s recent itera-
tions. Some examples: Frequently refreshed feature content in the
app will loop into the mobile alert platform to maintain interest
in the app. Video, of course, will be much more central to the ex-
perience. Push notifications will be
keyed into geo-location and locally
seasonal ingredients. The app will
be properly indexed so recipes can
pop up in general iOS Searchlight
results. And a widget will keep Epi-
curious present on the lock screen. The plan is to reach the most
loyal users in what Gillin calls those “non-utility moments.”
Make the Apps Come to You
All of these new features bear watching because they reflect
how much iOS has matured. We now have a mobile platform
that addresses the inherent challenges of an app interface. Con-
tent needs to break free from the icon and find ways to surface
into the flow of device use, which usually doesn't involve us-
ers tapping your company’s logo. I contend that most publishers
soured to apps and have not kept up with these OS innovations
that can give media brands a fighting chance on device screens.
The payoff could be considerable. FIG is able to invest
in this major overhaul after a 25% revenue growth rate in
2015 followed by another 10% in 2016. Its digital footprint
expanded 40% this year. Previous iterations of the Epicurious
app have been downloaded almost 11 million times, and its
users spend an average of 32 minutes a month with it.
Gillin admits that app users are a much smaller slice of the
audience pie, but he thinks the economics work with smart-
er ad inventory allocation. “[App users] visit the app two to
three times a day,” he says. “When the CPMs are higher, you
don’t need exponential scale.” You need to monetize more
effectively the higher engagement. “We put in much higher
margin ad inventory, like a suite of native advertising.” Spon-
sored recipes and sponsor galleries will be among the ways
brands are allowed to tell their
stories with the same tools as
editorial content. Launch spon-
sors include Calphalon, Fair-
life, Silk Soy and Target.
Discovery Trumps All
The biggest hurdle for app launches is discovery. This is where
both the growth of social media and iOS maturity may be key
drivers. FIG has filmed 90 videos aimed at promoting the new
app, with 30 drops a day across three days into Facebook.
“We will try to own the social food media [channel], which no
one has ever attempted to do before,” Gillin says.
What bears watching from a business and publishing
perspective is whether the tools, OS, learnings and business
models around the app ecosystem have evolved sufficiently
to make the environment worth a second look to magazines.
Steve Smith covers digital trends and innovations as min's digital media editor.
Send him tips or feedback: popeyesmith@comcast.net
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TOP STORY
Epicurious Re-Cooks The App Recipe
(Continued from page 1)
Steve Smith
We now have a mobile
platform that addresses
the inherent challenges
of an app interface.
"
"
5. 10/24/2016 5Magazine Media’s Most Trusted Source Since 1947
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Idea #1: Create Podcast GIFs
Podcast discovery is tough even for the most prolific of audio publishers, so anything that empowers fans to share their aural
faves is welcome. One of the top podcasts, This American Life, just launched an audio clipping tool called Shortcut that
lets a listener find and clip any audio portion from a recent episode. The clip is converted into a video that the user can cap-
tion and post to Facebook or Twitter. It's described as an audio version of an animated GIF. Yup, it takes a little work, but
the editing is remarkably easy. You locate a passage from a podcast via brackets on a waveform or the transcript, choose a
background color, then add some text and share. This model allows the user to comment on and disseminate specific pieces
of content. Apparently, TAM plans to make the code available for other publishers to use in some version, so this is an idea
they are quite literally going to encourage you to steal. Bottom line: Publishers thinking of adopting this approach
might consider making clips to pre-populate the posted podcast so fans can share without having to edit them.
Idea #2: Use Facebook Live's API to Promote Video Content
When it comes to Facebook Live, discovery remains a key issue. Sure, the app allows publishers to ping followers in real
time that a show is live, and some have even tried email to push viewers in. But it's hard to build anticipation for an upcoming
show. FB has recognized the weakness by issuing an API that lets publishers both advance schedule and promote upcoming
live events via their pages. The automated system will publish an announcement up to a week in advance to the News Feed
that also lets a user opt in to receive a real-time notification just before the event starts. Then, there's a pre-broadcast “lobby”
for these users so they can interact up to three minutes before the event begins. Publishers also get a link to the live event
that can be embedded elsewhere online. Bottom line: Adopting this tool is a no-brainer for magazine brands, but it
will be interesting to see how effectively social promotion can drive live broadcasting.
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New technologies have changed the way we do business.
Media companies have been forced to adjust to meet the
rapid demands of a complex marketplace. Advertising sales
is no exception—the process of selling is harder than ever.
MediaRadar understands this landscape. It understands
the changing needs of sales professionals. It understands
the new sales workflow. MediaRadar serves media ad-sales
teams as an indispensable business partner.
ADAPTINGTO A NEW ENVIRONMENT
As the market changed, MediaRadar has adapted too. The
company is committed to playing an increasingly bigger role
in helping ad salespeople sell more advertising.
“The life of the sales rep is getting much harder,” says
CEO and Co-founder Todd Krizelman. “Ten years ago, the job
was much simpler. Today, if you’re in ad sales at a B2B media
company, you’re a jack-of-all-trades. You have to sell email,
display, mobile, event sponsorships and a print page. In con-
sumer media, it’s not so different. There’s native, there’s mo-
bile. The complexity is so much greater, and there’s a need to
have a right hand to help you through it.”
This understanding has pushed an evolution for MediaRa-
dar. With the vast complexity of the salesperson’s job came
the need to advise sellers. Salespeople don’t have the time
to search databases. So MediaRadar does it for them and
suggests qualified prospects.
More than that, MediaRadar identifies prospects, and
then provides insights about that prospect’s buying pat-
terns. The MediaRadar platform, Krizelman says, was de-
signed with this functionality in mind. He suggests some
real-world scenarios:
♦♦ If you’re a sales rep at a finance website, it helps to
know before you get on the phone with a prospect that
they like, say, native advertising.
♦♦ Or perhaps a big e-commerce company only buys
email advertising. A rep working on the MediaRadar
platform would see a recommendation that says, ‘Be
sure to talk about your email capabilities. That’s a
great differentiator.’
♦♦ Using MediaRadar, a rep can show a prospect what their
ad will look like on the prospect’s website.
♦♦ MediaRadar even includes a recommendation engine
which easily shows reps exactly which brands they
should prospect NOW and why.
“We are extremely solution-oriented,” Krizelman says.
“We’re increasingly focused on giving specific advice and
recommendations to salespeople.”
MANAGINGTHE SELLERS
For sales managers, the priorities, questions, and needs are
completely different, but just as vital for organizational suc-
cess. “The questions are difficult,” Krizelman notes. “What’s
the health of the market? How should I deploy my resources
and staff time?”
Another critical subject is the changing nature of program-
matic advertising. The level of targeting that’s available is re-
markable, and it’s of significant value for clients. MediaRadar
has been a leader in counseling its clients on programmatic
sales, and in tracking programmatic buyers. As Krizelman
points out, the median number of new programmatic adver-
tisers each month is 620 brands. “That’s how fast it’s grow-
ing,” he says. “Your clients have to know about it.”
COMPANY ETHOS
MediaRadar has grown into a large business, with nearly
1,600 clients and more than 400 employees. But its core
ethos has never changed. “We take what we do very per-
sonally,” Krizelman says. “We take our jobs very seriously.
We’re customer-centric. We put all the investment back into
our clients and our product.”
The biggest transformation is how MediaRadar evolved to
be more consultative. “The essential product remains a soft-
ware solution, a service, but the relationship with the customer
is much tighter,” Krizelman says. “As we continue to grow we
don’t want to lose our connection with each client. We dem-
onstrate our value to our clients every day. Our client services
team is extensively trained in ad sales and the changing indus-
try as well as the MediaRadar product. We take the time to
learn the unique challenges each of our clients is facing and
together we make sure those goals are met—and exceeded.”
MediaRadar is your partner in ad sales.
Todd Krizelman is CEO of MediaRadar.
SPONSORED CONTENT
MediaRadar’s Approach:
Intelligence. Advice.
Impact. Commitment.Todd Krizelman
7. 10/24/2016 7Magazine Media’s Most Trusted Source Since 1947
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Main Event: Entertainment Weekly's PopFest
Access + consumer demand = great revenue and marketing opportunities
Thanks to Comic Con's growing reach, there's no shortage of experiential pop culture events around the
country. However, Entertainment Weekly is looking to carve out something new and different for fans
eager to get up close with their favorite actors, musicians, authors and other influencers. The inaugural
PopFest will be a two-day, all-access fan experience held at The Reef, an event space in in downtown
L.A., on October 29 and 30. General admission tickets are $49 for a day pass.
So what makes this event different from others? "Only EW could curate a lineup that represents such
a wide variety of pop culture genres," Christy Belina, VP of Brand Marketing, tells min. "Our access and relationships within
the industry, and with talent, make EW the authority."
Indeed, EW is definitely calling in some chits. Celebrities expected to attend include Jennifer Aniston, Academy Award-
winner Eddie Redmayne, singer Nick Jonas and the stars of "Gilmore Girls," who will also give fans the first sneak peek of
their Netflix reboot, which debuts in December.
Although this is a new event for EW, the brand's marketing team exercised due diligence to get it off the ground. Belina
says EW tested the concept last year in New York with a one-day program that served as an incubator— attracting around
1,000 fans. The success of the trial run made it a no-brainer to build out the festival further and launch it on the West Coast.
Around 7,500 attendees are expected to pass through the event space over both days, but Belina implies that the real
success isn't the six-figure revenue pull from ticket sales; it's the program itself and the partnerships it helped to create. "The
biggest win for PopFest is the caliber of talent the editorial team has secured along with coveted first looks at upcoming
projects," she says. "Additionally, we have seen success in sales of sponsorships to brands such as M&Ms, Heineken, FYE,
TNT, and more." Major media partners also include NBC, Sirius XM and iHeartRadio.
One more thing to keep in mind is that, in addition to the event contributing to EW's balance sheet, it's also a potentially
effective consumer marketing strategy, which, Belina says, gives the brand an opportunity to "reach the core EW consumer,"
as well as bringing non-consumers on board.
Feeds and Filters: Viewers Can't Get Enough of 'Westworld'
The new HBO drama has sparked online curiosity and engagement
Based on the 1973 film of the same name, "Westworld" has garnered almost universal praise
from critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 91%. And the premiere episode had the
highest ratings for the debut of an HBO series since that of "True Detective" in 2014, with
3.3 million tuning in.
After two episodes, the show has left viewers with a lot of unanswered questions, which
sparked countless fan theories online. Media brands are picking up on that trend. News sto-
ries on the series are seeing plenty of shares and likes, but the brands that are focusing on
theories have seen an increase in engagement numbers. GQ's "Why Westworld Looks Like
Nothing Else on Television" received more 1,200 likes on Facebook, while Entertainment
Weekly's "Westworld Showrunners on that 'Game of Thrones' Crossover Idea" garnered
more than 50 shares and 350 likes on Facebook—in just 30 minutes.
THE WRAP
A Preview of Martha Stewart and
Snoop Dog's New VH1 Series
NEXT WEEKUntil next week,
The Editors
Michele Shapiro, Editorial Director
Caysey Welton, Group Editor
Steve Smith, Digital Media Editor
Jameson Doris, Editorial Assistant