In the wake of the discontinuation of the three Postmedia evening tablet editions for The Ottawa Citizen, The Montreal Gazette and The Calgary Herald, i have written quite a lot about how we conceptualized those projects (Garcia Media was the consulting firm for the Postmedia project), and I have had a chance to chat with those most responsible for getting the tablet edition out each night. I must add that these are one of the most talented editors and designers that I have ever worked with.
As a result of those discussions, plus my Poynter column, and my own Monday blog, I have had quite a number of inquiries and emails about the Postmedia tablet editions.
Three questions that many ask: is it possible that the management of Postmedia pulled the plug on those tablet editions too soon? Could they have changed the editorial approach instead of killing the product?
My friend, Michael Taylor,technology and media professional focusing on Latin America for CCIEurope, asks this via Twitter:
Can you imagine those @postmedianet #tablet editions reimagined for #smartphones, @DrMarioRGarcia? http://garciamedia.com/blog/categories/postmedia …
I was not involved in the Postmedia decision making and, as far as I know, this was a matter of the audience simply not coming to enjoy those great products. So, it would not be fair for me to comment on the management's motives.
We should leave it at that and not try to second guess the decision of a team of media managers who were close to the day to day product and its business potential.
What I have done, however, is to chat with Jens Jørgen Madsen, of the Danish newspaper , Berlingske, where both morning and evening tablet editions continue to thrive.
Denmark's Berlingske tablet editions
Mario: What makes your tablet editions (morning and evening) successful?
Jens:
“Our evening tablet app includes only unique content and one daily interactive graphic everyday,” Jens says. “The idea about the evening edition is to give our users a more lean back experience. Something that last all evening. Ready for their commute home or at home. It is compact. Contains about 13 elements - stories, graphics and web-tv…. not too much to overwhelm you - but the right size to give you an excellent reading/watching/graphic experience.
"Well, we know that in the morning commuters want to get all the news we can provide, so the morning tablet edition is definitely newsy. The feedback we get is that readers like it that way. In the evening edition we go for the most exclusive stories we can provide, the editors’ choice, for the evening commute and for a more lean back experience.
Mario: How do you see new editorial products developing and succeeding in the future?
Jens:
When it comes to the future of apps, - and not only when we talk about apps for mobile use but as well for tablets - I'm convinced that we will see a development of more and more apps with just one single-purpose use. Or a least one unique selling point.
If you try to think of all the apps you yourself use, I'm pretty sure that you will realize that most of them serve just one specific purpose. It's not the Swiss Army Knife for a multiple purpose. It's the Surudo Chef Knife that always makes a clear precise cut.
It does not matter whether you want to find the latest news, to enjoy pure entertainment, to manage your stocks, to find the best travel advice or to simply lean back and read the best journalism on earth. You come with a purpose.
So the winners in the market are likely to be the ones that are absolutely the best in serving that single purpose. Not only in design and presentation, but also when it comes to functionality and usability.
Mario: Who is doing it right?
Jens:
Well, take a look at social media. Even Facebook has “unbundled” its experience into single-use applications - if you look at how the social-media giant separated messaging and photography.
Another important aspect is that most websites (from media companies that we like and trust) are fully capable of satisfying our regular needs when we just want to browse through headlines and get an overview of today's news stories.So again the apps have to be able to stand out and be something more. Something special, that is so attractive that we continuously will open that single app to serve one of our many needs..
