Electronic readers first hit the headlines in 2007 when, a mere five-and-a-half hours after its US debut, Amazon.com’s Kindle device sold out at US$400 a piece.
Since then, e-readers, which allow consumers to read text on tablet-style devices, have surged in popularity. Media owners, too, have flocked to the Kindle. Earlier this month, The Economist joined the publications available to Kindle users, joining The New York Times and the Financial Times.
Since then, e-readers, which allow consumers to read text on tablet-style devices, have surged in popularity. Media owners, too, have flocked to the Kindle. Earlier this month, The Economist joined the publications available to Kindle users, joining The New York Times and the Financial Times.
So will this come to Asia, and can it develop into an ad platform?
1 About the size of a standard soft-cover novel, the Kindle is a lightweight reading device that uses a 3G network called Amazon Whisper. Through this wireless network, which performs similarly to a mobile phone, the Kindle downloads the latest edition of newspapers, magazines and blogs. The latest version, the Kindle DX, has a 25-centimetre screen, is less than a centimetre thick and, Amazon claims, can carry up to 3,500 books, periodicals and documents.
2 For media owners looking to broaden their exposure, e-readers create a separate avenue to reach audiences. The Economist entered the fray via single-issue and subscription-based downloads, for US$10.49 per month or US$5.49 an issue. Subscribers will have their magazines delivered weekly at the same time print magazines reach newsstands. Although graphics are limited on e-readers, the charts and diagrams featured in the magazine can be seen exactly as they are in print. Amazon takes a sizable chunk of this revenue - up to 70 per cent according to some reports in the US.
In some cases, newspapers have spotted a marketing opportunity, offering discounts on the device in return for long subscription terms.
In the US, Amazon is considering selling advertising on its Kindle digital book reader in a move designed to increase revenues from the service. The ads, which will be related to content in the book, may be in the form of one or several descriptive advertising words, pictures, or symbols, which direct the reader to a website. However, this system is still at the planning stage.
3 For the time being, the Kindle is only available in the US because of internet capability issues. However, e-readers such as Sony’s Librié, iRex’s iLiad and Bookeen’s Cybook are available in some Asian markets. Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific director 360 Digital Influence at Ogilvy PR, points to a number of e-reader experiments going on in Asia at the moment, with Korea and Japan the markets to watch. He cites an e-reader project whereby Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun worked with Fujitsu to experiment at a Tokyo café. Customers could pick up one of four Fujitsu Frontech FLEPia e-readers for free. Content included Mainichi for elementary school students, ads for Fujiya Restaurant and the Termina shopping mall, timetables of Japan Railways and weather forecasts.
Crampton adds: “For advertisers on e-readers there’s little going on in Asia at the moment. But what will be interesting is the interactivity brands and advertisers can have with users, their approach can be granular and they can actually target individuals.”
4 However, the jury is still out on the feasibility of advertising on e-readers. Ross Settles, director of digital business for South China Morning Post Publishers, says the main hurdle with the medium is that “the ability to target or develop any interactive units” is still limited, and that restricts the scope of creative campaigns.
5 According to Jason Kuper-man, Omnicom Group’s vice-president of digital development in Asia-Pacific, there will still be niche opportunities, especially for content providers. For example, a publisher can release the first chapter of a book for free on an e-reader ahead of a book’s release in stores. Sponsorship of content can also be a relevant way to reach e-reader users.
An example of this type of initiative is the first Kindle-exclusive campaign developed recently by the US TV network Showtime. The network sought to generate buzz for its new programme Nurse Jackie ahead of its 8 June premiere. With media agency OMD, the network made its pilot script available for Kindle audiences to download for free and advertised the stunt via banner ads on Amazon.com and on Kindle storefronts.
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