Why premium media products should be platform agnostic

Media companies face a critical choice as they struggle to introduce user payment for digital content:

Should they introduce separate products for each new platform, such as iPad, or try to sell a cross-platform subscription?

• Join BetaTales on Facebook
• Subscribe by RSS

I love reading books – and I love Kindle. Not only the e-reader device Kindle, but the Kindle platform as such. And I think media companies would be wise to learn from Amazon‘s Kindle platform.

Yes, it is a device. But much more important is the great platform agnostic service targeted at book lovers. Let me use myself as example: I read digital books on three different platforms. Most often I would read them on my Kindle e-reader. Occasionally I would continue reading on iPad. And on a seldom occacion, when I have no other choice and is very into a particular book, I will read on my HTC Desire smartphone.

The huge benefit Kindle offers me, besides having the largest selection of books, is the possibility to read my purchased books on whatever platform I choose. What I buy is not a book on the Kindle device, but a book that I can read on whatever platform I choose to use.

Compare this to Apple’s book app iBook. If you buy a book here, it will only be accessible on the iPad and iPhone. If you move outside Apple’s world you have no longer an easy choice to read the book you just purchased on the device of your choice.

I think media companies should learn from services like Kindle rather than iBooks.

Let me explain why.

As media companies move into the user payment area and try to distribute their premium content on different platforms they face two alternatives:

• Introduce a separate product and subscription for each digital platform.
• Merge the different digital versions into one platform agnostic product and subscription.

Many media companies are tempted to try the first alternative. They argue that it is possible to make more money by separating the products.  It is also very natural to stay focused on one platform at the time. At the moment many companies concentrate on developing a compelling app for iPad, hoping that readers will be willing to pay a premium price for their content on this new platform.

I think for most news media companies it will be smarter to merge the different digital versions into one platform agnostic product.

Following this path readers deciding to buy a digital subscription would get access to the premium content package on all available platforms: The web, mobile, iPad, e-readers, etc.  One price gives access to all. The different versions do not need to be the same, of course. They should utilize the benefits of each platform. But for the reader it should be one subscription.

Why is this the best alternative? There are many reasons:

Most readers will consume media content on more than one digital platform

Just about everybody has a PC, the number of smart phones is exploding and experts expect that iPad and other e-readers will grow significantly as well.  For users it is not an either-or decision when it comes to media content. Rather they will read on all the platforms available to them, depending on which user situation they are in. But it will be a hard sell to try to make them pay again and again for the same content. Rather they would expect that once they have established a premium relationship with a news brand that goes for all the platforms the content is available on.

The strongest relationship of readers is to the media brands, not to the specific digital product version

Readers relate to and engage with media brands rather than the specific products. If I read The New York Times on a Kindle, for instance, I do so because that brand already gives me strong and positive associations.

These brand relationsships with large numbers of people is the greatest value many media companies possess, especially those that have relied on a subscription-based business model. In selling digital content it might be smart to think that we monetize the relationships rather than just the specific products. And the relationships of our most loyal readers are by definition platform agnostic.

Selling digital content is hard: We need to build as rich experience as possible

To sell digital content you must provide Unique Value. Unique Content is only one of several ways of doing this. The richer experience you can offer your reader, in terms of both content, convenience, usefulness, packaging and emotional attachment, the better. For many general news media companies just offering the content for sale on new platforms will not be enough.

By offering the different digital versions as one product you also provide a richer experience. Users will be reminded about the benefits of the product several times each day: As they check the news on their mobil, when they check the web site for news during office hours or when they relax in the sofa  at night. The perceived value of the product will be higher, increasing chances that people actually might decide to order a subscription.

It also gives you the chance to build premium cross-platform functionalities that are useful for readers, such as syncronization of users’ activities and the possibility to save interesting articles for later reading.

It is much easier to administer and market one product than many

A good advice is always: Make it simple!  And it is much easier to develop one main digital subscription and communicate this product than selling a number of different versions individually. You can concentrate on one marketing campaign and one simple message with an easy-to-understand pricing structure.

Also it is easier to organize. Employ one manager to be in charge of your digital offering rather than one responsible for each of the separate products.

One main product will get much higher volume than many small ones

I think most media companies will discover that each platform-specific product on its own will generate a low volume. One reason is that readers feel they are not getting value for money. Why pay a full subscription price for access to the content on one device only when you every day relate to the media company on at least two or three different platforms?

By combining the versions the total number of subscribers probably will be significantly higher than if you sum up the numbers from a number of different products. Readers will get a richer experience and be reminded about your product on many more occasions.

It is a less riskier approach in a market with frequent changes

Say you put a lot of effort into making a state-of-the-art application for iPad. What if  iPad does not prove to be a success in your market? What if your product sucks in the view of your readers? Then you are stuck as your subscribers will run away as fast as they can.

You have a better chance of keeping the customer relationship strong by including all different digital versions in one product. In fact you are reducing your risk regarding which platform will win. The main challenge is to make sure that you are available on the most popular platforms at any time.

———————————————

Is this the best approach for all media companies?

Of course not. There are a number of exceptions. For instance media companies with a single copy sale business model might very well choose otherwise. However, for many newspaper companies which traditionally have depended on subscriptions I think this is a wise strategy to follow.

A platform agnostic news media product could be composed of a number of different elements:

- The e-Paper. A PDF version of the newspaper

- An iPad app

- An epub version for e-ink based e-readers

- A premium app for iPhone and Android smartphones

- A premium level or benefits on the news site (not necessarily paywall)

To tie them together all the different elements would need to be linked to a login/payment the media company controls itself. That way the media company also is in charge of its own customer relationships.

This is how I think. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
[iframe: src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?id=126256000717991&width=560&connections=18&stream=false&header=false&height=255" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:560px; height:255px;" allowTransparency="true"]

Tagged as: content, digital future, Digital media, iPad, Kindle, media, news, newspapers, user payment