Twixl media White paper Tablet Publishing in a nutshell nov Tablet Publishing in a nutshell White Paper 1/25

Transcription

1 The tablet medium Tablet Publishing in a nutshell White Paper 1/25

2 Introduction In this paper we intend to give an overview of the tablet publishing market. Talking about tablet publishing you will think in terms of Apps, Applications. Let it be clear as from the start, there are four types of apps. Games, Functional apps Productivity apps and Content apps. Functional apps being apps which makes life easier, which makes something convenient. e.g. an app to note your shopping list, a rain notifier, A productivity app being an app to work with, to register information. e.g. programs like iphoto, Keynote, Numbers, a video player, but also custom made apps for order picking, for surveys, Content apps are providing, as you could assume, content and quite often news to the reader. In most cases you would think about a magazine or a newspaper but there s a lot more. About all content which can be printed can be published on a tablet. Product brochures, annual reports, leaflets, manuals, brand magazines, newsletters, product/sales presentations, research reports, all this content can be published on a tablet. In this paper we will be talking about content apps. That s why we use the term Publishing and Publications.

3 The tablet medium Table of contents The tablet medium Where content, design and interactivity meet each other It there a tablet behaviour? Is it lean back, lean forward or curl up? Is our behaviour when consuming and creating content on a tablet different than on other media? Is the tablet medium the same as the smartphone medium? Curl-up One content message, different media How to publish on a tablet? How to start designing enriched, dynamic content for tablet apps? Which type of publications are there - Single-issue vs multi-issue - App Store vs Enterprise How to distribute the app Who earns what? When should you develop a single-issue app and when a multi-issue app? Who s publishing? Printers, Agencies, Designers Publishers Enterprises Earnings models What needs exist in the applications market today? What type of apps is a tool like Twixl Publisher recommended for? Publishing free applications Publishing paid applications Developing applications "Tabletising" information Vision for the future

4 The tablet medium The tablet medium Tablets offers a number of advantages: Delivers a pleasant reading experience Allows you to store info digitally Provides fast, easy access to a greater amount of content Offers enriched, interactive and up to date content The content can be updated easily and for a low cost (to the editor) Where content, design and interactivity meet each other Print has always had some elements which made it a better platform to communicate. The printing quality and the reader experience make it a strong platform. While this reading experience is mainly a personal experience of feeling the content between your hands and being in control. Tablets are closing in on this attractiveness and are adding the advantages of digital.next to this reader experience tablets make it possible to add personalisation, accuracy and to shorten the time to market for the information. For instance, a printed product brochure illustrates the most common features, addresses a larger audience and records information at a specific moment. With a digital product brochure the message can be personalised with a customer specific focus. It shows today s price and availability plus videos and slideshows for an improved experience. Every detail of the product will immediately be available. All these advantages are the reason why more and more people are adopting this device, why more and more publishers are producing content for this device, why large companies are providing this device to their sales & service forces and why large companies are also publishing for this device. 4/25

5 The tablet medium It there a tablet behaviour? Is it lean back, lean forward or curl up? Reading a book, watching a movie is understood to be a lean back activity. You are relaxed, you are absorbed by the content that is provided to you, you are in the flow and you pay but little attention to external activities. In the same way, reading an article that interests you in a newspaper or a magazine is also a lean back activity. Lean back implies that there s a high absorption rate, a high sustained attention and a low attention rate for external activities. Lean back makes us think of the image of someone relaxing on a couch with a drink within arm s reach, vegging out. Browsing the web on a PC, scanning a printed newspaper, zapping TV channels is a lean forward activity. You are paying a lot of attention to a multitude of things and you are open to a lot of suggestions, opportunities, activities, you are just looking for something, you are feeding yourself with information, with content. 79% of readers are scanning when browsing the web, they don t read. 5/25

6 The tablet medium Lean forward implies there s a low sustained attention, a high attention rate for external activities and a low absorption rate. Lean forward makes us think of the image of someone leaning forward, scrutinizing the computer screen. With the introduction of the tablet, a new kind of behaviour came about, we curl-up with our personal device. We become one with our device. At the same time, our tablet is used for a number of activities that we used to do with other media. We browse the web, we watch movies, documentaries, news, we read books, we communicate ( , social media), we play games, we use it for work and we use quite a number of specific convenience apps. The tablet brings all this content close to us, and it s immediately available, at whatever moment we need it. It is also important to understand that regardless the fact that the ipad was introduced as a media consumption device, it has certainly become a creation device as well. And if it s used in a work environment, then that becomes even clearer. Is our behaviour, when consuming and creating content on a tablet, different than on other media? From our point of view not really, but it does bring an extra dimension. The major difference is the proximity of other activities, which could increase your attention rate for external activities and subsequently lower your absorption rate. Watching a documentary on your tablet is a lean back experience, reading a book on your tablet is a lean back experience and browsing the web on your tablet is a lean forward experience. When designing tools for tablets we have to take into account what type of activity we are guiding the user to. For example if you want that user to watch a movie that will last for at least 30 minutes you need a minimalist easy-to-use design, with a functional navigation only visible when starting or stopping the video. 6/25

7 The tablet medium But if you have a 2-minute video embedded in a brochure, and accompanied by some textual content, charts and pictures, you will need a functional design that is clear and always present. You are providing the user with a multitude of information and you want him to choose what he or she wants to view. This is a typical example of the same type of activity that under different circumstances offers a completely different experience and requires a completely different approach. On a tablet we have to offer the user the possibility to switch to another type of activity and we have to know that his or her attention rate will always be lower. But in no way does this mean we cannot guide the user to a pure lean back or lean forward activity or that they would not enjoy this activity with the same enthusiasm as on another medium. It would just be a different experience. A tablet brings the content closer to the reader, makes it more personal and offers more possibilities. A movie theatre may bring the viewer in the middle of the action, but doesn t offer other possibilities. 7/25

8 The tablet medium So yes: watching The Hunger Games in a movie theatre may be the ultimate experience. But watching the director s cut on a tablet in the train can be just as special. Conclusion: an experience is linked to an activity and influenced by the medium. This means you have to remodel the way you present your content depending on the medium. For tablets we use the term enriched application, meaning you have to combine text, pictures, audio, animations and video to meet up to the expectations of your audience. Is the tablet medium the same as the smartphone medium? No! The activities we use our smartphone for are nearly all lean forward activities. Very functional activities, on a screen of a limited size. You do not have a lot of space to visualise software functions and to create an atmosphere. There is not as much space for an enjoyable lean back moment. Lean back activities are not really meant for smartphones. A device like the ipad mini is also a very lean back medium because it is intended for very specific activities. It is an ideal device for reading books. Minimalist design, straight to the activity. This type of device will not invite you to do different things at the same time although it is possible. The screen size will invite you to concentrate on one activity. We think every specific activity has a specific medium that it is best suited for. But in the end a lot of activities can be done on different media as long as they are adjusted for the characteristics of each specific medium. Curl-up Going back to the tablet, the curl-up aspect is its characteristic. Very close to the user, very personal, in control and multifunctional. Both for lean forward and lean back activities. Because it s so personal it offers great opportunities for branding and customer engagement. Consumers are open to the kind of app that will bring them closer to their preferred brands and that will provide them with useful information about their products. This as true for both the business-to-business market as well as the business-to-consumer market. 8/25

9 The tablet medium Because the tablet is so close to the user, it makes it an emotional medium where design is very important (and remember: Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is also how it works ), and where you have the possibility to combine different types of experiences in a single moment. This should be handled with care! You have to respect the user, your potential customer, he/she is in control, but once he or she lets you in, you are there to stay if you can meet the expectations. To develop brand applications you will need a powerful platform that enables you to combine interactivity, content and design within a single application. One content message, different media Today a lot of publishing solutions talk about publishing to different media. We can understand this reaction from a practical point of view and it a logical reflex from people traditionally involved in print. For us it is essential to understand that you do not read an article on a smartphone in the same way as you would on a tablet: on a smartphone, you expect a quick overview, but on a tablet, you expect a big article with great pictures just like you would have in the printed version of a magazine, but at the same time enriched with audio and video, slide shows etc., to increase the interaction with the reader and to keep his interest. The content is different and the way to present that content to the user is different. So why would you want to obsessively try to find a unique way to publish the exact same content to different media? In order to maybe reach even less readers? Or to convince yourself that digital media just doesn t work? Just like we invested time and money in printed media we have to do the same for this new medium. And we also have to make choices as a function of our objectives. Which medium is the best to achieve the experience that we want to provide to our customers? It will take time to understand everything that s involved in a new medium, but please try and take advantage of the wealth of new possibilities and don t try to transform it into classic media. 9/25

10 How to publish on a tablet? How to publish on a tablet? How to start designing enriched, dynamic content for tablet apps? Enroll First of all, you need a creation tool like InDesign CS5/5.5/6 and you need a publishing solution like Twixl Publisher. Before starting the design process you need to define which platform(s) you want to develop your app for. Depending on the platform you will need to register as a developer. For distribution through Apple s App Store, the standard ios Developer Program is what you need ($99/yr). For easy in-house distribution, you can also apply for the ios Developer Enterprise Program ($299/yr). For distribution through Google Play you need to register for the Google Play Android Developer Console. A one-off cost of $25. For distribution through Amazon you ll need the Amazon Mobile App SDK and a developer account ($99). Twixl Publisher also requires that Xcode, Apple s development environment for ios and Mac OS X, be installed if you want to preview on screen. Xcode is a free download from the Mac App Store. Create Define for which canvas you want to create your standard design and which extra canvasses you want to support. ipad 1024 x 768 (and at the same time 2048 x 1536), Android x 600 or Android x 1536, in portrait and/or landscape orientations. We advise you to first create your app for only one optimal canvas (one orientation and one form factor). Once you are ready with this design you can add alternate layouts as required. With the liquid layout functionality (InDesign CS6 only) this is almost a fully automatic process, but you still have the possibility to manually make changes to every single page. Working with two orientations is sometimes confusing and does not always bring a real added value. If you decide to do so make sure your concept is creative and enriches your publication. 10/25

11 How to publish on a tablet? Enriching your publication is key! Add slide shows, audio, video, create web viewers or web overlays for integrating dynamic web content, add HTML5-based animations, scrollable and zoomable content, 360 image sequences, panorama VR walkthroughs, and more Preview If you want a preview of your publication, you can either send it to the ipad simulator for previewing on your Mac screen, or send it to an ipad or Android device on the local network, using the Twixl Viewer app. CESS Once your app is ready, you can publish it in an App Store or within an Enterprise network and if you are publishing a multi-issue app, you will need a third party hosting partner to host the different issues. esign Enroll > Select your Platform(s) > Register as a developer - ios developer Account - Amazon developer account - Google play Android developer Console Create > Define your canvas(es) > Design in InDesign CS6, (5.5, 5 support ipad only) > Create new or repurpose existing content - Enrich - Dynamise Preview > Test - On-screen - On a device - 'Ad Hoc' Approve - Internal - External edesign gle-issue app -issue app for Multi-issue app issue app Which types of publications are there? There are two main categories of "content apps". Publish Single-issue (standalone) apps and Multi-issue (kiosk) apps. Build Single-issue apps are separate App Store applications distribution in which all the previous content is replaced whenever Export a new version is released. Typical examples are product presentations, interactive > books Export and from InDesign > Gather all content elements annual reports. These applications can be either paid or free. They are usually made available through stores such as Google Play or Apple s App Store. APPLE GOOGLE PLAY AMAZON iour In house distribution > Company Network 11/25 Twixl TWIXL Enterprise ENTERPRISE KioskKIOSK SERVER Build or Package > Convert export file to different ap - Build Single-issue apps - Build Multi-issue apps - Package publication for Multi-iss

12 How to publish on a tablet? Multi-issue apps are apps that can contain a number of separate issues. An initial version is placed in an App Store and the user can buy each new issue separately or take out a subscription to have access to the future issues automatically. The following issues are placed with a hosting partner, like Urban Airship. Multi-issue apps are mostly offered by publishers of (usually paid) magazines and newspapers, and also for "branded" magazines, newsletters, manuals and catalogues. A multi-issue app usually includes a free introductory issue, but the app can also be placed in the App Store without an issue loaded onto it. This teaser version is either intended to attract customers or, if there is already some awareness of your brand, you can offer a subscription formula immediately. A multi-issue app can also be made available on a free or paid basis. Take into account the cost for hosting the various issues (a fee per download or per subscriber in the case of subscriptions). In practice we have found that prices per download can vary from one solution to another, and the partner for multi-issue apps published using Twixl Publisher offers very attractive rates. App Stores vs Enterprise As well as the single-issue and multi-issue aspect, there is also the question of where the apps are published. Initially people usually think of App Stores, which means making them available to a wide public. It is also possible, however, to publish apps within a closed network, for all members of an organisation. In this case Twixl media tools offers both single-issue and multiissue apps to be created. In terms of content distribution this market is just as important as the App Store market, and it is clear that businesses do have budgets available for it. Many businesses with large sales teams already create enriched sales presentations and take them to their customers using their ipads. One example of this is in the pharmaceutical sector, where the practice is already well established. The ipad also offers many opportunities for service teams, as manuals can be digitalised and easily updated. Many printers and agencies are already doing this. It also means that it is not always necessary to develop whole apps, but when using the Twixl Enterprise Kiosk, PDFs, iwork and Office documents are also supported (Numbers, Pages, Keynote, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) next to the Twixl Publisher enriched content. It should be noted that this market is currently focused almost entirely on ios. 12/25

13 How to publish on a tablet? How to distribute the app? The distribution model of single -issue and multi-issue applications is very different, and the multi-issue app model entails additional fees: A single-issue application will be uploaded as a whole to the servers of App Stores, and once the app has been approved, it will become available in the App Stores. From then on, Apple, Google or Amazon takes care of the hosting & bandwidth fees, independent of whether the app is downloaded 10 times, or 1,000 or even 1,000,000 times. With multi-issue applications, only the initial app with the base content (sample magazine content or maybe a free first issue) will be downloaded through the App Stores servers, all new issues that will be added afterwards will have to be hosted somewhere, outside of the App Stores. For multi-issue apps within the app stores you also need a distribution and a storage platform. A distribution platform to manage your issues, your subscriptions, your in-app purchases and a storage platform to host your issues. For that purpose Twixl created its own Twixl Distribution Platform. The Twixl Distribution Platform is available as a service with a yearly subscription fee downloads are included and can be used for different applications and issues. Extra bundles can be purchased at $ 0,05 or 0,0385. This price is independent of the amount of download. We even offer the possibility to combine our platform with your own Amazon S3 or Microsoft Windows Azure storage account. That way you are always 100% in control of your download cost. 13/25

14 How to publish on a tablet? At no moment is it our intention to earn money upon the success of your app. We offer our platform with different services and we also offer the storage because we think it can be convenient for our users to have an all-in-one solution but at no point do we require you use our storage. Apart from our off the shelf solutions, we also have an SDK available for custom integration of our Twixl reader technology into other apps. In that case you are free to work with an external partner or to host your content by yourself. This way the download fees become even more manageable. Who earns what? The public stores such as Apple App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore* all ask for a contribution of 30% of the sales generated. They provide a shop window and process the payment from users. Hosting partners require a contribution per download. They usually sell these in packages consisting of a fixed number of downloads per month or per year. Application developers are either paid for their services, or either develop paid functional applications for themselves, and go for a fee per unit sold. This is the 70% they receive from the Stores. Publishers also go for the same 70%, but they also have to cover their download cost, which has to be paid to the provider if they are working with multi-issue apps. When should you choose a single-issue app and when is a multi-issue app better? A single-issue app is generally for a one-off publication. A book, an annual report or a product brochure can all be single-issues. These publications can be updated and the user will also see when an update for his app is available. Nevertheless, it is difficult to offer the user new (different) content if no provision was made for this in the original app. Most content apps, however, are multi-issue apps. Single-issue ipad apps have to be submitted to Apple for approval, and so do their updates. That *Amazon may ask for more, depending on how you price your app, and it also reserves the right to make its own adjustments to the price of your app at its own discretion. 14/25

15 Who's publishing? influences the time to market. In the case of multi-issue apps only the "shell app" (the empty container) has to be submitted. The various issues that are linked to the shell app are linked automatically and no longer have to be approved. Multi-issue apps offer the advantage of subscriptions. Users can subscribe and therefore indicate more clearly they want to receive future versions. As a result there is a pattern of expectations. The user will see when new versions are available, he will receive a push message if he wishes and if the app is also in the "Kiosk" ("Newsstand"), a new issue can be downloaded in the background. As well as the aspect of making new content available more quickly, the main advantages of multi-issue apps are the connection with the user that they create and the way in which the user is informed about new updates. On the other hand, multi-issue apps do entail download costs. This is essentially no different from the distribution cost of printed editions in the past. If customer loyalty and speed are very important, you should definitely go for a multi-issue app. If not, a single-issue app will be a cheaper alternative. We would say that in the case of content apps it is better to start off with single-issue apps during a test phase, but you can always decide to go for multi-issue apps later on. In the case of paid apps it is also true that multi-issue apps generate more income on average than single-issue apps, since people perceive that they are spending a smaller amount of money each time. 15/25

16 Who's publishing? Who s publishing? Printers, Agencies, Designers Anyone who is currently developing documents on paper could consider developing tablet applications. In terms of apps, people usually think of functional applications or news/magazine apps, but the range is much wider than this: brochures, annual reports, newsletters, "branded" magazines, catalogues, manuals, product presentations etc. can also be transferred to tablets. The process of creating tablet applications is very similar to the work of a designer at present. He can continue to work in his familiar environment InDesign. When Twixl Publisher is used, no programming knowledge is needed to develop apps. A completely new market has opened up for printers, agencies and designers. Many of the things that they are now developing can also be optimized for the tablet, but another key market alongside the App Store apps market is Enterprise publishing. This involves large manuals that are no longer printed but are only published digitally, catalogues, dynamic sales presentations etc. Companies have already grasped the potential significance of tablets for them and they are equipping their sales and service teams with these tablets on a massive scale. Their needs are real. On the one hand they need a distribution platform, and on the other they need a partner to develop the apps and documents that are published on them. Using the Twixl media tools you can meet both these needs and move into a unique position within your client's organisation. 16/25

17 Who's publishing? Publishers New opportunities are also emerging for publishers. Tablets have created a demand for interactive books. These are books that can be experienced, where users read, listen and watch, make choices and decide for themselves how the story will progress. Many magazine publishers are finding that Twixl Publisher is the right tool to make the transition from analogue to digital. Our tool has a simple workflow, the publisher stays in control of his publication and also controls the cost of publication. The time to market is kept very short and in the case of publications that do not fit into a full CMS integration system, publishers often choose our standard tool. In addition our tool can be tailored to fit into all kinds of existing workflows. Enterprises Twixl Publisher combined with Twixl Enterprise Kiosk is particularly focused on businesses that need to publish apps and content internally. Many businesses are equipping their sales and service teams with ipads. They have a large quantity of information that they want to publish on ipads for various different players within their organisation. Enriched product presentations with dynamic content and animations for sales personnel, catalogues that need to be continuously updated for dealers, manuals for installers etc. 17/25

18 Earnings model It has to be possible to update the information quickly and cheaply and customers appreciate the dynamic, contemporary character of ipad communication. They are practical for the people who work with them, both those who create the content and those who have to use them. The ultimate cost of creation is approximately the same as for print, but the publication and distribution costs are much lower and the content is kept continuously up to date. An organisation can decide for itself where it wishes to create its documents. It can do this in-house using Twixl Publisher and/or contract it out to its agency (agencies) or printers. In that case they will need to work with Twixl Publisher. To publish the documents, Twixl Enterprise Kiosk can be used. Applications developed using Twixl Publisher, both PDF documents and also iwork and Office documents, can be distributed via this platform. The platform also offers a management module, making it possible to manage a number of aspects such as user profiles, passwords and the documents themselves. There is also a linked graphical reporting module. One important aspect of enterprise publishing is that the organisation must retain full control over its publications. These never go outside, but they stay on the organisation's servers. As a result the only cost is the cost of creation, so that there is no additional download cost other than the cost of the bandwidth available on the in-house server. 18/25

19 Earnings model Earnings models What needs exist in the applications market today? When talking about "apps", we can make a distinction between functional apps and content apps. Functional apps are apps that make something easier, faster and more functional. One example would be an app that indicates exactly when it is going to rain or reports the current traffic situation. We define content apps as apps that provide news, product information, company information in short any way of using something that may originate from InDesign. Functional apps and content apps can then be combined, for example in a travel guide that links tourist information to location-based information. End consumers demand functional apps. These are apps that can offer clear added value. The willingness to pay for these apps is sometimes limited, so it is important to go for volume. End consumers demand personalised information. This includes both general information and product information. Once again, people's willingness to pay is rather limited, and they will certainly be doubtful about paying for content when it comes to product information. Nevertheless, the need is there. In the enterprise market there is also a demand for apps for both internal and external use. These are both productivity apps and content apps. Some apps can increase employee productivity, such as tools for taking orders using an ipad. Content apps are product presentations, price lists, manuals and catalogues, and also newsletters, "branded" magazines etc. What type of apps is a tool like Twixl Publisher recommended for? Twixl Publisher is a tool that can be used to develop content apps. These are apps where the content is most important. Examples include branding apps, product presentations, manuals, catalogues, brochures, enriched books, annual reports, newsletters and magazines. These are apps where the design and the enrichment of the content are most important, so definitely not productivity apps. 19/25

20 Earnings model It is important in this context that the process of creation can be started from InDesign so that it is easy to define the layout and use existing documents as a starting point if they are available. This creates a faster time to market. In the current market, applications of this kind will often be created alongside traditional print documents, so once again both/and is best: a printed magazine and a tablet magazine, annual report, newsletter or brochure. Sometimes, however, the print edition can be completely replaced, for example in the case of manuals or catalogues. Publishing free applications Nowadays, when we talk about free applications these are usually informative applications or branding applications intended to emphasise or maintain a relationship with a specific target group or initiate a new relationship. Examples include product presentations, annual reports, branding magazines etc. In these situations it is important to get a grip on your target group and make effective use of analytics. It is important to seek to maintain regular contact with the target group so that the information can be adapted as closely as possible to suit them. In these situations CRM quickly becomes an important aspect. The earnings here come not from the app itself, but rather from product sales and brand loyalty. The app supports an image and offers even better perspectives on the needs of the target group. Please note that it is once again recommended to use kiosk applications because they create a connection over a period of time between the user and the applications, which extends to subsequent versions that are published. The other side of the coin is that there is a download cost per issue. Publishing paid applications Paid applications are traditional publications such as enriched books, magazines and news content. In these situations the reader must clearly perceive the added value so that they will be willing to pay for the content. Here we are always talking about multi-issue apps where it is necessary to have a combination of both subscriptions and sales of individual issues, and there is a cost per download or per subscription. 20/25