Hearst opens app 'think tank' to jump start business, education

Posted by Savita Sauvin on August 25, 2010 at 12:23 PM

U.S. Publisher Hearst Magazines is preparing to open an "App Lab" at its Hearst Tower headquarters in Manhattan, paidContent reported. The lab will serve as a "think tank" for those in the advertising and marketing industries, aiming to to kick-start business associations and help experts discuss mobile content ideas with the publishing industry.

The initiative is set to begin in September, with educational sessions on topics including previews of emerging mobile content, applications and platforms, including iPad and other tablets; advertiser and agency roundtables on new ad formats and models; and consumer insight panels, among other programming, according to the press release posted on WebWire.com. In early 2011, the group plans to open up a physical space for showcasing its iPhone, iPad and tablet products exclusively to consumers.

Image: greenquest.co.uk

"The App Lab is a digital think tank to bring together innovators, both inside Hearst and across the media and technology industries, in order to create the smartest content, ad models and platforms that resonate with consumers today," David Carey, Hearst Magazines' newly named president, stated in the press release.

To date, the company has created 11 apps for its magazine titles, including the Redbook's One Stop Shop that recently launched on August 9, in addition to the popular Seventeen Fashion Finder and Cosmopolitan's Sex Position of the Day, according to a blog post on MediaBistro.com. On the mobile front, Hearst's magazines are accessible on iPhone and Android platforms as well.

Fourteen magazine titles are available on the iPad through Zinio. iPad apps for Esquire and six other leading brands include, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar and the Food Network will be rolled out later this year.

"We intend to bring marketers and agency partners into The App Lab to collaborate with our creative teams to develop new possibilities of how our magazine-branded apps and their consumer brands can work together," Michael Clinton, president, marketing and publishing director of Hearst Magazines, stated in the press release. "As the app landscape expands rapidly, we are all discovering new ways to engage people: it's a new way to communicate and the possibilities are expanding every day. We hope to include apps in all of our print and digital integrated selling efforts."