“To infinity and beyond!” said Matt Bean at the opening of the NYU Summer Publishing Institute panel discussion on mobile publishing applications. While Bean, brand editor for Rodale‘s Men’s Health and Women’s Health, is no Buzz Lightyear, he was referring to the optimistic outlook the magazine industry has on its own technological Toy Story. The three top digital executives on the panel enthusiastically agreed.
A magazine’s mobile extension is easy, Bean said. For one, there are no page constraints, so content is limitless. And thankfully, the consumers are there and ready. Twenty-one percent of the mobile market already has a smartphone, and there are at least 200 apps listed in the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) registry alone. In fact, in 2010 mobile ad spending totaled $10 billion and is expected to increase to $32 billion by 2013. While these revenue statistics are certainly encouraging, Bean emphasized that of 10 total app downloads, 8 or 9 are for free apps — a conundrum for publishers and consumer marketers alike. [Read more…] about Mobile Mania at SPI