It’s the job of every public relations agency to keep an eye on the latest from the industry frontline, and recently there have been a few firsts that have really been worth talking about. Without further ado then, let’s cut to the chase.
First up WRG’s new Manchester United Events website boasts a unique approach to utilising everyone’s favourite new gadget, the iPad 3. Taking full advantage of the device’s built in motion detection accelerometer visitors to manutd.com/unitedevents can now explore Old Trafford’s many facilities from the comfort of anywhere by simply moving their tablet around to take in views from innumerable angles.
Sticking with Apple’s celebrated market leader, Stuff magazine has just become publishing giant Haymarket’s first fully interactive title after launching a brand new, ‘purpose built’ iPad edition. Obviously this isn’t the first monthly in a hand-held format and it won’t be the last, but it’s still a clear sign of where surely most print businesses should be heading- not least as a 12 month subscription to the all singing, all dancing electronic version will only set readers back £23.99.
Of course we also believe that there will still be glossies (not to mention dailies) left in the decades to come, especially given the loyal readership inherent in high-end magazine culture, and the perception of such publications as trend-setting entities. With that in mind it’s interesting to see global fashion powerhouse Elle has announced David Beckham will be the first solo male cover star in its history, a move that shows a marked change of policy from the usual supermodel and female celebrity lead pictures.
On top of this the very nature of how we assess the number of eyes reading national newspapers has just gone through a wholesale change. As of this month data published by the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the body in charge of collating these figures, will now include a weekday daily average, and a Saturday average, as oppose to a combination of the two. The overall idea being to increase transparency and give you, the potential advertiser, a better idea as to exactly how far your budget is going to go, if and when you buy some page space.
At first glance these developments may seem innocuous enough, but what’s interesting is that they all represent the lengths content providers and curators are currently taking in order to keep up to speed, or get ahead of the curve. Clearly this summary is far from conclusive, given the media is one of the world’s fastest-changing industries. As such we’d recommend keeping regular tabs on our blog, to ensure ideas and innovations like these don’t pass you by unnoticed.