The Australian unveils campaign via Archibald / Williams Sydney to support its new app launch
The Australian has today announced it has launched a new iPad app offering a dynamic customer experience and an advanced platform for advertisers. In addition, the newspaper has launched an integrated marketing campaign to promote its new app via Archibald/Williams, Sydney.
The new app has a range of new features including an Australian-first commercial product, AccessOne, automatically extending print advertising to tablet form.
New iPad app with dynamic customer experience
The Australian’s new iPad app now offers a more edition-based news experience with easier, more intuitive, linear navigation and integrated interactive functions including more videos, galleries and multimedia features within paginated stories.
The Australian’s newspaper inserted magazines including The Deal, The Weekend Australian Magazine and WISH will also be available from the app as downloadable digital editions. A range of features such as interactive graphics and full screen images, as well as additional visual templates have also been added.
The new curated app has also moved to Newsstand from the iPad desktop, making it ready to consume as soon as readers wake up.
Says Nicholas Gray, The Australian CEO: “The Australian has been reimagined for the iPad. Early trials of the new app, which engages readers who want a newspaper experience on a tablet, proved a success with reader engagement more than doubling to numbers well ahead of any major news website in Australia. The iPad App clearly represents the best opportunity yet to create a newspaper-like experience in a digital form.
“We are all delighted that we have been able to reinvigorate the newspaper consumption experience with high-quality graphics and video and believe it will resonate strongly with our audience.”
Says Clive Mathieson, The Australian editor: “The Australian never stands still. From our first issue printed 50 years ago to today’s multi-platform approach, we’re in constant conversation with our audience. In 2010, we were the first newspaper in Australia to launch an iPad app. And in 2011, we were the first general newspaper in Australia to launch an online subscription service.
“Our new iPad app, with its range of new features and products for readers and advertisers, remains intuitive and easy to use. The new design elements significantly enhance the customer experience. And more than ever, the app delivers a complete news experience – our world-class articles, images and video presented in a dynamic format.”
Advanced advertising platform – AccessOne
AccessOne automatically reproduces ad material from the print edition of The Australian into the same day’s tablet edition at no extra cost, with an option for enhanced digital creative.
This enables advertisers to reach more of The Australian’s audience through one creative with access to a full suite of digital communication tools including text, graphics, photography, audio, visual, video and transactions – all in one ad buy.
To optimise print advertisements to tablet form, News Corp Australia has partnered with Oomph, a global leader in tablet publishing.
Says Gray: “This concept has been a huge success at our sister masthead The Times of London and we are delighted to be the first Australian publisher to launch this product.
“AccessOne revolutionises our commercial offering – with one ad buy and one creative marketers can access our premium audience across print and iPad, and we can help them add interactivity to their iPad ad for a small incremental cost.
“It is terrific that 50 years on we are still able to break new ground with innovations like AccessOne.”
AccessOne can be utilised when booking print advertisements in The Australian and The Weekend Australian, The Weekend Australian Magazine, The Deal and WISH.
Says Fiorella Di Santo, News Corp Australia’s group director – sales: “We are very excited to be launching AccessOne which offers our advertisers a unique and innovative solution to extend their reach at no extra cost very easily.
“We are very encouraged by the initial take-up and plan to expand the function to our other newspapers over time.”
New integrated marketing campaign
To coincide with the launch of the new iPad app, Gray announced an integrated marketing campaign commencing today with a creative that ‘brings to life’ all the elements of the app.
Created by Archibald/Williams, the campaign includes broadcast, digital, print (including a wrap of today’s edition of The Australian), social and outdoor activations such as digital billboards and Wi-Fi sponsorship at major domestic airports.
The TVC, on-air from today, includes cameos from contributors and writers of the newspaper and to signify The Australian’s broad coverage of the key issues, the TVC also features an array of iconic influential landmarks.
Says Gray: “The Australian has a curious audience who love the thrill of pursuing knowledge and delving deeper to find the full story. We wanted the TVC to represent everything The Australian, in a single edition, offers on an immersive device like the iPad. We have brought this all to life in this layered TVC illustrating the breadth and depth of our content in a highly creative way.”