Unlike some traditional magazine apps that stick closely to the format of their print equivalents, the new evo app puts the reader straight into a stream of motoring content from the moment they touch the icon. There’s no choosing a specific issue to download, and no waiting for a once-a-month drop of hundreds of megabytes of content. Instead, there’s a stream of articles, video and commentary.
Inspired equally by evo magazine and the immediacy of social media products such as Twitter and Flipboard, the new evo app features all of the content from the print magazine as soon as it’s ready, supplemented with video features from the magazine’s YouTube channel and additional imagery and content.
Driven by Dennis Publishing’s Create Once, Publish Everywhere (COPE) strategy, the app has been launched on iPad, iPhone and Kindle Fire, as well as Android phones and tablets. All new users receive a free trial, and after this lapses they can continue subscribing for full access to all the latest evo content, or read a selection of articles for free. With this freemium model, Dennis seeks to bring the simplicity of modern subscription products such as Spotify and Netflix to magazine apps.
Evo first launched an interactive app, in October 2010 – just weeks after the iPad itself was launched. This new app builds on the original’s experiences, but intends to open up brand-new audiences.
Geoff Love, Publishing Director of evo, said: ‘We had a fantastic response from our readers when we launched our first interactive app three years ago, but times have moved on and we feel a digital model that just relies on re-packaging the same content and delivering it at the same time as the magazine is no longer relevant. The new evo app allows us to deliver some of the world’s best performance car news, reviews and features to our audience at the most appropriate time for them. This development of the app continues evo’s investment in content across multiple platforms that encompasses YouTube, website, print and social media.’
Clementine Vioux, Head of Product, Tablet & Apps at Dennis Publishing, said: ‘evo lends itself perfectly to this new model of digital publishing. We have learnt a lot about digital publishing as a team and as an industry since the launch of the iPad in 2010. We’ve spent extensive time user-testing and that has given us invaluable insight into how consumers want to read on tablets and smartphones. We’re not satisfied with the more conventional mag-app model, as readers want more interaction and more-frequent content. Our apps are purely the vehicle through which readers access the magazine. The vehicle needs to be flexible and engaging on every level.
‘With evo we’ve gone beyond the traditional downloading of one whole issue at a time,’ continues Vioux. ‘evo is revolutionary because for the first time we managed to rethink the product itself to perfectly fit the new habits of the customers and the devices they own. It is not just about how to bring the print magazine over to the tablet, but is about how to create a product that will produce an amazing experience for the reader.’
The evo app was launched yesterday. First 28 days are free, and is thereafter priced £3.99/month (28 days) or as a bundle with the magazine for £5 for 5 issues.
To download the app, go to:
* iOS
* Android
* Kindle
