"As a publisher it is important to be receptive to and understanding of readers needs, wishes and expectations," says Joakim Svensson, head of mobile platforms for Expressen, GT and Kvällsposten, three Swedish publications that are currently seeing significant growth in digital subscriptions.
Frida Boisen, editor-in-chief of GT, has hit the streets of Gothenburg with a digital version of the newspaper on her iPhone. She is showing off the newspaper's app to the young people she meets along the way in order to answer the basic question: "What do you think is the best thing about the GT app?"
"You can click on an article and read it without being distracted by other articles. And it's a flexible solution because you always have your mobile phone with you," says Matilda Palenius, one of those interviewed for the advertising video for the newspaper's new app for smartphones and tablets.
The newspaper is always available
"The media house has chosen to market the newspaper's iPhone app in an isolated campaign," Svensson explains.
"We've made other, bigger cross-promotion campaigns, both digitally and in the printed versions of Expressen, GT and Kvällsposten which is something we will continue to do and in one of these campaigns we opted to focus just on smartphones. The goal was to tell users that the newspaper is available as long as you have your telephone with you ‒ which, for most people, meansalways. This was also news to our readers because the previous version of the app was only for tablets,"says Svensson.
Positive reader response
According to Svensson, the readers are as equally pleased by the app as those who appear in the advertising spot.
"The readers have truly welcomed the new newspaper apps for Expressen, GT and Kvällsposten. This can also be seen in the fact that the number of subscriptions has increased by more than what was anticipated, particularly around Christmas and New Year. Over the first couple of weeks, the editorial staff received calls from many readers who just wanted to say how satisfied they were with the updated version of the app. We really couldn't have hoped for a better reception."
Readers happy with 3D page-flip feature
The new apps are characterised by their integration with the media house's homepages, which include video galleries, regularly updated newsfeeds and lists of the most read articles. At the same time, the readers have access to classic issues, which, for Expressen's sake, include front-page stories about Michael Jackson's death, Obama's election win and the wedding of Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria. The media house also uses a significant number of other features in the digital newspaper.
"The readers are particularly satisfied with the 3D page-flip feature, which gives one the feeling of flipping through a structured product with a clear beginning and end, which is important for many readers. And this feeling is something we hoped to maintain and strengthen, which was a challenge, but I think the developers for Visiolink have been successful in this regard. Among other features are the Article View and Push Notification functions, which we truly believe in and which have been praised by the users," Svensson says.
Listen to the readers
For competitive reasons, he does not yet want to reveal how Expressen, GT and Kvällsposten plan on developing in 2014, apart from ongoing work with the newspapers' digital editions and their degree of accessibility for readers.
"The digital transformation is fully under way, and the process entails being active, forward-thinking and continuing to work with the product. The users expect to be able to access our content quickly and easily whenever and wherever they want, and on the most important devices. We must therefore continue to work on encouraging readers and giving them the best options available," explains Svensson, who feels it is important to know one's readers to be able to deliver the right digital product:
"Listen to the readers, and listen closely. As a publisher, it is important to be responsive and understanding of the readers' wishes, demands and expectations. A not-so-bold assumption is that these will not become less over time. We see this as a sizeable and exciting challenge, and I hope that even more people choose to read our digital products in the future."
Göteborgs-Tidningen, or GT, is an evening newspaper in West Sweden with a main editorial office in Gothenburg. Its first edition was published on 2 November 1902, and the newspaper changed its name to 'GT' on 14 January 1967. For some years it was published as part of Kvällsposten from Skåne. Today it is part of the Bonnier Media Group, and in practice it serves as Expressen's local newspaper in West Sweden. Kvällsposten, with its main editorial office in Malmø, has a similar function and is distributed in South Sweden.
