“iPad is not the end, but a beginning”

When it comes to launching a newspaper app, the first priority is to define your target group and understand their desires, says Romanus Otte, General Manager of Welt Online in Germany, which produces the country’s leading news app.

Mr Otte presents numerous insights in his presentation at WAN-IFRA Digital Media Europe, held in London from 11-13 April.

For Die Welt, the target was the modern newspaper reader – with the emphasis on “newspaper” — someone who values professional journalism, loves to read, wants curated content, knows what is possible on connected devices, but is neither a digital native nor avant garde.

“The newspaper readers praise us for bringing the newspaper they love to the iPad,” says Mr Otte. “The digital natives criticise us, saying this is not what the iPad is for, ‘I want the internet there.'”

Die Welt’s app is the market leader, downloaded to nearly half of all iPads in Germany. It tops all categories in the app store in Germany and was chosen App of the Year by iTunes in Germany for 2010.

Die Welt on iPad is much like a newspaper but is always up to date, includes videos, can be stored, shared and contacted easily, and provides tomorrow’s issue the night before. It sells for 15.99 Euros a month or 129.99 a year.

Here are some of Mr Otte’s insights:
– There are less iPads than expected and it isn’t a mass product yet.
– There are less competing newspapers on the iPad than expected, though competition comes from new and free players.
– Users are very open to new offerings – there is a need for steady updates.
– Users priorities include quality journalism, simple usability, speed and stability.
– There is a big price sensitivity.
– The iPad cannibalizes print.
– Readers are very attractive to advertisers.
“The iPad is not the end, it is the beginning of a development that is very promising for us,” says Mr Otte.