When tablets burst onto the scene three years ago with the arrival of Apple’s iPad, the publishing industry – and newsbrands in particular – were among the first to recognise their potential, says Newsworks.
They have a growing and engaged audience and offer the benefits of print newspapers, coupled with the interactivity of online, but there are still few metrics, standard formats or norms available for the advertising community.
In a bid to resolve this, Newsworks has launched The Tablet Project – a project for media agencies and clients, which will create a series of case studies from client specific to sector level that showcase the tablet’s unique characteristics.
The outputs will include average click-through rates, time spent, engagement metrics such as video plays and app interactions, and response stats. These outputs will help define the key benchmarks for newsbrand tablet ads as well as create first-stage industry norms.
The project will cover five key sectors – retail, finance, motors, tech & telecoms and FMCG.
Media agencies can apply to take part in the project on behalf of their clients, who will run interactive tablet campaigns during October and November 2013. Publishers will provide matched advertising space and creative assistance where required.
Vanessa Clifford, client services and strategy director at Newsworks, who is leading the project, said: “Instinctively and anecdotally we all believe that tablet advertising delivers greater engagement and interaction with consumers, but what has been missing are the stats to prove this. The Tablet Project will change this, not only giving us proof of both engagement and interactions but allowing us to deliver sector norms.”
About Newsworks
Newsworks says: “Newsworks is the marketing body for the national newspapers in all their forms. Its stakeholders are: Guardian News & Media, Evening Standard, Independent Print, Mail Newspapers, Mirror Group Newspapers, News UK and Telegraph Media Group.”
