Mobile Moments technology was inspired by the newspaper’s major advances in recent months in engaging readers with moment-driven, personalized journalism. Based on findings from research conducted with mobile users, The Times identified specific moments throughout the day when mobile users are looking for particular types of content – whether it’s articles that update them on what they’ve missed, entertain them or help them understand or follow a certain event. For example, the newspaper’s Morning Briefing, a daily ‘tip sheet’ that prepares readers for the day ahead, has become one of the most popular features on its mobile apps. Similarly, The Times created one-sentence stories for Apple Watch, a collection of content that gives readers what they need to know in under one minute.
“Mobile Moments is the first phase of a long-term mobile native advertising solution that will continue to evolve,” said Sebastian Tomich, Senior Vice President of Advertising and Innovation at The New York Times. “Based on the success our newsroom has had with moment-based targeting for its journalism, the commercial side of our organization has adopted similar tools, templates and insights and tailored them to suit our advertisers’ needs. Our solution is three-fold: present bigger, better and more dynamic mobile creative; provide context for the mobile creative (where there is no adjacency); and tailor the mobile creative to the readers’ needs.” At launch, content for Mobile Moments may utilize a brand’s creative or can be custom-built by T Brand Studio. The creative will be “responsive and dynamic” and changes based on the time of day. It may take the form of a graphic, video, interactive, or ‘swipeable’ series of short stories.
In July, we announced on this site that The Toronto Star is also expected to launch a major tablet initiative this Fall. Canada’s largest daily newspaper will follow in the footsteps of Montreal’s La Presse+ and its news tablet app, whose design is more engaging and above all, doesn’t try to imitate a printed newspaper. La Presse+ has generated an unprecedented 60% of its total ad revenue from the app. Launched in April of 2013 at an estimated $40 million, the result has been a stunning 45% increase in readership with exceptional reader engagement. On average, 44 minutes is spent in the app on weekdays, 73 minutes on Saturdays and 50 minutes on Sundays. La Presse is in the process of developing a similar digital tablet edition for the Toronto Star. Operating costs of the launch are expected hit $9 million, with $13 – $15 million in capital spending predicted. The groundbreaking app is part of Frankfurt-Germany-based alfa Media. Its MediaSuite has been hugely successful in Europe, where its format-independent approach has helped publishers redefine themselves across all modern media platforms. We’ll keep you up to date on both breaking stories.
