MIXED VIEWS ABOUT DIGITAL EDITIONS
Last month we created a trial digital edition of our monthly magazine. I sent the link to many of my Thai contacts for evaluation and the feedback was very mixed. From this very unscientific survey I've concluded that Thais aren't overly keen on digital editions.
Our digital edition was created on the popular NxtBook platform that's used by leading publishers around the world. It's currently the only commercially available solution that has been adapted for the market in Thailand. Elsewhere digital editions are becoming part of everyday life, but it seems that Thais still prefer the touch and feel of their reading material.
That said we have been pretty successful in selling bulk digital editions to corporations. We're in discussions with one company that is keen on buying 1,000 subscriptions for its staff, and I'm personally talking to three more that could add easily add another 1,000. That's significant numbers and revenue that cannot be ignored. So while individual readers might not go wild for digital editions their employers certainly seem to be.
The image above shows the Thai edition of Monkey Magazine, Thailand's only free weekly digital edition magazine. Monkey from the UK's Dennis Publishing is a licensed digital magazine, the first to enter the Thai market. In the UK Monkey Magazine attracts close to 300,000 readers per week.
4 comments:
We're glad to have you on board with Nxtbook and are excited about finding solutions that work best for the Thai market.
In the US, our publishers strive to covert 15% of readership to digital. Much less than 10%, and it's difficult to get enthusiasm from advertisers and your own team, but at 15%, you find a core group of digital readers that love the product and click through at very high rates (which advertisers will love).
Best,
Marcus Grimm
Marketing Director
Nxtbook Media
Marcus, thanks for your message.
We have been working with your local Thai partner to develop a digitial edition of BusinessWeek Thailand. I have to say the NxtBook service has been great,however the feedback from readers that saw the trial edition has been less than inspiring from a publishers perspective. Nothing to do with your colution which I believe to be the best - and trust me, I have looked at dozens and dozens in the last 12 months.
The problem is one of perception and that's something we need to work harder on.
Andrew.
Why don't you just use static html pages? Search engines spider those pages far more easily, which generate traffic. We all know what happens when you get traffic...
Re-read this comment in 2 years and that's what you'll be doing ;)
Chris,
This digital edition is searchable and fully protectable. One of my concerns was losing revenue from people buying one edition and endlessly passing it to friends and colleagues. The solution is protected by MAC and IP addresses, as well as offering a totally Thai interface - all in the digital edition format.
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