Mail Plus Enters the Spotlight at the World Publishing Expo 2013

The World Publishing Expo 2013 took place this week and many of the industry’s biggest names were in attendance to converse about the sector’s largest challenges and opportunities.

One aspect of the publishing world that is growing in stature by the day is digital media and many firms are now exploring ways to monetise content that was once exclusive to print.

Running a traditional print business on its own is no longer cutting it in the market as consumers take to the internet to receive their news, watch TV and movies and even play games.

One company that has really taken the bull by the horns is the Daily Mail, which used to operate at a domestic level in the UK, but has now obtained readership from around the globe thanks to the power of digital publishing.

The organisation went one step further this year with Mail Plus, an additional supplement designed for tablets. It works on Android, Apple and Amazon devices and is a re-imagined version of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.

Paul Field, editor of Mail Plus, was in attendance at the World Publishing Expo 2013 and explained how the business saw a lot of potential in tablet users as oppose to traditional desktop consumers, journalism.co.uk reports.

He said research found one in five people who read the print edition of the Mail has access to a tablet. The print magazines have been “re-interpreted” for tablets and add a “cinematic quality” to “differentiate what we do on tablet and print”.

However, one major challenge is creating content people are willing to pay for – the service costs £9.99 a month. To compete with the free content, the firm focused on puzzles and TV listings, neither of which were a major priority for Mail Online.

Now Mail Plus offers 30 interactive puzzles a day, with readers even competing against the app’s community to win prizes.

The app, which launched in February 2013, was created using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, while MPP Global provides the online payment solution.

One thing that has been important to the application’s success is the branding. Mail Plus has been designed to be familiar to print readers, with similar fonts as used in the newspaper. This branding is carried across all pages, including the areas where customer and payment details are input.