As reported by Nat Ives on the Ad Age website on 30 November: Ever since Apple introduced the iPad in April 2010, magazine publishers have been trying to figure out how to make the most of their app editions.
Time Inc. gives its print subscribers access to tablet and smartphone apps under a strategy it calls "All Access" - designed in part to shore up print. But it gave up on an attempt to use that more robust package to underpin a price hike at Sports Illustrated from $39 to $48. Rival publishers such as Hearst and Conde Nast, meanwhile, have resolutely sold app subscriptions separately, figuring they're leaving money on the table otherwise.
Now an important independent magazine has left the "All Access" camp: The Economist last month stopped bundling app access with all new print subscriptions, charging more to newcomers who want both and introducing a print option that comes without apps.
We asked Michael Brunt, senior VP-head of circulation for the Americas and global head of marketing at Economist Digital, to explain why The Economist decided to unbundle now and how the early results are looking.
