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OHbaby! Magazine launches Newsstand app

Ohbaby becomes the latest magazine publisher to join the digital fray with the launch of its magazine on Apple’s Newsstand platform.

For $6.50 per issue or $20 a year, mums can get the latest information on pregnancy and raising kids straight to their iPads. Ohbaby follows in the footsteps of Mindfood, which launched an iPad magazine late last year and was featured as a Best of Apple 2012 in January.

The new digital version has been on sale for two weeks and Ohbaby managing director Angela Pedersen tells StopPress there’s an average of 300 downloads a day.

This isn’t the first time Ohbaby has tried its hand at digital publishing, for two years the magazine was on Zinio with a basic PDF version. Pedersen says static PDFs don’t make the most of the iPad and other tablets, so Ohbaby now uses a development shop in New York to create interactive editions.

“With Newsstand we give the readers more opportunity to interact with our content which makes it more enjoyable. This includes photos, video and connecting content to the internet,” she says.

For example an article on swaddling can now display a how-to video instead of complicated step-by-step instructional illustrations. 

It’s not just the readers getting more from the platform, Pedersen says advertisers are taking a liking to it as well.

“Ads on this kind of platform have a lot more impact than static ones in print. You can do a lot more with them so they become more memorable,” says Pedersen.

Magazine Publishers’ Association chief exec John McClintock says, “We’ve had a lot of comment from agencies recently that shows they are keen for publishers to be more innovative and offer something more interactive for their clients. It is pleasing to see that Ohbaby, a member of the MPA, is playing a lead role in an exciting time for publishers to really engage with their audience in a new way.”

Ohbaby didn’t go riding towards the iPad wave without doing a bit of research first. A study carried out before hand and feedback from the magazine’s 100,000-strong database showed a significant number of its readers – predominantly Kiwi mothers – already use iPads and other tablets.

Pedersen says around 20 percent of the iPad downloads have come from overseas and this is an area the magazine will expand in the future. Already the magazine is tapping brands which export overseas in order to make the most of this audience. The magazine’s content will also change to reflect its growing overseas readership . The print version will keep its New Zealand flavour, while the digital version will add content aimed at mums all over the world.

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