Adobe Digital Publishing

In this release of Digital Publishing Suite, the library gets a makeover, publishers have new options for app promotion, analytics and social sharing are further refined, and the viewer UI is designed for an improved reading experience. For detail on set up, visit the Digital Publishing Suite Help Site: What’s New in this Release.

New Library User Interface
The library user interface has been re-designed to look more professional and eye-catching as well as allow readers to preview more of the app. View a slideshow of the new library UI here to see a splash page, larger grid cover images, and folio preview:

Pique the Interest of New Readers: First Folio Free
Readers new to your publication may want to “try before they buy.” Now, there is a feature that allows you to distribute the latest folio for free. This feature only works with readers who have never downloaded the app before.

Tailor Content for Readers Based on Subscription Status
Enterprise publishers can create a conditional HTML article or web content overlay that displays different content depending on how the folio was obtained. For example, if the reader is new to your app, you can include a subscription promotion on the HTML article. If your reader is already a subscriber, you can use the space to sell special editions or other content.

Dynamic Subscriptions 

Sample of a subscription option dialog box

Publishers can now change, add or delete subscription options available to readers on an ongoing basis. This allows publishers to do A/B testing of subscription types and hone in on the optimum subscription packages for driving sales.

ANALYTICS IMPROVEMENTS
Video Analytics

       
Sample screenshots of the video analytics report
Site Catalyst users can view more detailed analytics for video content. For example, you can find out how often the video was watched in its entirety and, if not, the duration of time that the video was played.

Download Reports
If your account has multiple titles, the download reports available on the dashboard now show downloads by issue. You can not only see the number of downloads in aggregate, but also see how many titles were downloaded each month. 

IMPROVED READER EXPERIENCE
Automatically Open Background-Downloaded Issue (iOS only)
Readers don’t want to wait to download new folios. Now, when a new title is available on the reader’s device, it will download in the background and allow readers to tap on the cover and immediately begin reading new entitled folios. This is especially helpful for newspapers, when readers are opening content on a daily basis.

Open Folio To Last-Read Article and Position
Previously, if readers switched between issues/folios of a publication, the previous folio would reset to the title page when the reader re-opened it.  With this new release, readers can pick up where they left off in an article. For example, if they were half-way through an article on page 22, the folio will automatically open to that same reading position.

Local Storage on Android
When I’m doing a crossword puzzle in a newspaper, I don’t want to lose my work when I flip over to my Facebook app. Now, Android apps allow readers to enter information onto a page, leave the app, and return to the same content entered on the page. (This feature is already available on iOS.)

SOCIAL SHARING FEATURES
Facebook Sharing for iOS6
In iOS6, readers can enter their Facebook and/or Twitter credentials in the iPad Settings, allowing all apps on the iOS device to connect with their accounts. Once readers have set this up and share a DPS article via Facebook or Twitter, the sharing dialogue box will seamlessly open, without asking the reader to sign in.

Results released from consumer survey of mobile purchasing behavior

In recent months, retail catalogers have increasingly expressed interest in producing apps that drive revenue and consumer engagement on tablet and mobile device. Today, we’re releasing the results of a new study that examines the purchasing and usage behaviors of consumers on mobile devices.

The 2013 Digital Publishing Report: Retail Apps & Buying Habits, Adobe’s U.S based survey of 1,003 consumers who use a smartphone and/or tablet, highlights data points about consumer preferences for shopping and catalog apps. New insights from the study show that retailers must adapt to meet the rising expectations for specialized mobile shopping experiences, and that the usage of mobile apps by consumers is on the rise.

In the survey results, respondents indicated that tablet users (55%) are almost twice as likely as smartphone users (28%) to purchase products and services from their devices. Across both mobile platforms, the use of retail apps will increase by approximately 15% in 2013 – more than half of all mobile shoppers are likely to make a purchase using a shopping app in the next year (56% of smartphone shoppers and 60% of tablet shoppers).

The findings also reveal that retail and catalog apps are rapidly catching up to mobile browsers as a viable shopping channel: nearly half of all mobile shoppers are interested in using apps instead of a mobile browser (45% of tablet shoppers and 49% of smartphone shoppers). Smartphone shoppers cite the slow speed of browsers and the ease of navigation on apps as reasons for their interest in using apps and digital catalogs. Of people who don’t currently shop on mobile devices, one in four intends to use mobile apps to shop in 2013.

Industry leaders like ASOS and Sotheby’s are among those who have used Digital Publishing Suite to engage customers and clients with tablet and smartphone apps – and for good reason. With increased opportunities for brand interaction and engagement, it’s no surprise that 38% of tablet shoppers and 42% of smartphone shoppers responded that app interactions strengthened their connection to the brand.

Finally, the survey results show that purchasing behavior is most influenced by a recommendation from a trusted friend, which creates the need for social sharing features in retail apps and catalogs – such as sharing products, reviews and news – to be effective in driving purchases and app downloads.

Learn more about retail apps and buying habits, and see how publishers are using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite to engage mobile consumers:

• 2013 Digital Publishing Report: Retail Apps & Buying Habits
• Infographic:

(PDF download of infographic available here)

by Natalie Kessler, Adobe Employment Branding Manager

The inspiring stories of our employees and the amazing culture that we have at Adobe should not be kept a secret. For that very reason, we decided to publish the Adobe Life digital magazine, a complimentary annual publication that captures what life is all about at Adobe throughout the world.

As an Employment Branding team, our goal is to show the world what a cool company Adobe is as an employer and to inspire readers to consider exploring a career with us. In addition, we want our current employees to be able to share in the experiences of their co-workers that they may not directly interact with. Digital Publishing Suite allows us to tell that story through rich videos, photographs and articles. The Adobe Life magazine features more than 35 employees covering career paths, community outreach, and the many benefits that we all love. The interactivity enabled through our Digital Publishing technology truly brings these stories to life in an impactful way.

This Adobe Life magazine was created for anyone who’s interested in understanding our culture, for those who are considering building a career with Adobe, and for all our employees who are proud of where they work.

Why Use Digital Publishing Suite?
Telling our story through the web is a given. We wanted something different and we know that audiences are increasingly using mobile devices to consume content. We decided to use DPS because we’re a rich-media company and we wanted to tell our story using the tools that reflect Adobe, the value of our products and our brand. We chose to publish to the iPad for our initial launch because of its popularity and market reach, and we plan to publish on more devices as we build up our skills in DPS.

This time around, Adobe Life is available on the iTunes store and a web-viewer version is also available for non-iPad users. Next year, we aim to make the magazine available on a wider variety of tablet devices. Enjoy the magazine and let us know what you think.

Want to know when the Digital Publishing Suite server is undergoing maintenance? Want to stay on top of any ongoing issues with DPS services such as App Builder and Content Viewer? Bookmark the DPS Status page and sign up for the RSS feed in order to stay on top of any issues that may impede your team’s progress.

The DPS status page provides at-a-glance information about the service status of Account Management, analytics, App Builder, Production, etc. If your team notices difficulties during the production and publishing process, check out this page first to see if there are any issues. The team will let you know when the next update will be posted so that you can plan your workflow accordingly.

- Bookmark the DPS Status page.

Adobe Digital Publishing Suite recently released a feature designed for newspapers that allows readers to view and download specific sections. When I pick up the morning paper, I often grab my favorite sections first: Local, Business, and of course, whatever section has the comics. Newspapers want their readers to download their favorite sections and immediately dive in instead of waiting for the entire folio to download.  This is also helpful because daily newspapers can consume a lot of memory on a tablet. By downloading only specific sections, tablet memory will not be consumed as quickly.

What is the reading experience like?

Library View of Sections

The prototype image pictured above shows the layout of sections. In the Library view, readers tap on a button that says “View Sections” to see today’s issue organized into sections. When the reader taps on the section, it begins download.  Once sections are available, browse mode will show downloaded sections side-by-side, with no reference to sections not downloaded.

How do I set it up?
Sections can be set up in Folio Producer using the latest release of DPS (v24). Publishers can define metadata for a given article. If you want to be more efficient, import an XML file that has a list of articles that belong to each section. Please note: if you do not specify section metadata for a given article, it will be downloaded with the first section that the reader selected.

Can I see it in action?
We are working with several customers that have adopted sections. Keep an eye out for future posts that highlight leading newspapers’ use of sections.

Learn more about sections on Bob Bringhurst’s DPS Help Site

The largest consumer magazine publishers in the world are powered by Adobe Digital Publishing Suite

Adobe is excited to announce that Time Inc. is publishing Real Simple to the Apple App store using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS).  With launch of this app, Adobe now powers mobile and tablet apps to the top five largest consumer magazine publishers in North America who collectively deliver content to over 200 million readers[1] in North America.  Time Inc. now joins Meredith, Hearst, Condé Nast, and Reader’s Digest, all of whom are partnering with Adobe to digitally publish magazines as apps for iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire and other leading Android tablets and devices.  With support from Adobe, these leading publishers are demonstrating innovation through stand-out mobile applications that have been lauded for their high quality design and extended consumer engagement.

The publishing industry has undergone considerable transformation in the last three years.  With the initial launch of WIRED on the iPad, a cascade of applications have followed Condé Nast in publishing highly regarded magazine and newspaper applications to a variety of tablet and smartphone devices using Adobe DPS.

Reading behavior of magazine and newspaper apps continue to be shaped as we move into 2013.  However, Digital Publishing Suite applications are setting the standard for excellence in readership. A recent report from iMonitor shows that the top five apps to achieve a perfect iMonitor app rating were built with DPS.  These apps were highly scored because they are “easy to navigate and appropriately leverage the iPad’s capabilities to both fully engage their users and to expand upon the service typically provided by more traditional media forms.”

In the last 12 months, there have been over 50M issues downloaded from applications created with DPS.  Additionally, data from these applications indicates that users are willing to pay for digital content with over 60% of readers purchasing an application as a single issue or a digital subscription.

The successes go on.  National Geographic recently stated that they are expecting to exceed their goal of 300,000 paid digital readers before the end of the year.  Hearst has over 1M digital readers and continues to grow.  Rodale recently noted that they predict that Men’s Health will surpass 100,000 paid digital readers this year. While still small compared to print circulations, digital circulation will continue to climb as the number of tablets and smartphones accelerates.  Case in point, roughly 1 in every 2 adults in the US is expected to have a tablet by 2013 (117.4MM users).[2] That is a lot of potential magazine and newspaper readers.

Adobe is proud to be working with many of the world’s most renowned publishers. Our goal is to empower publishing companies with innovative tools, technology, workflows and support to ensure their brands can be designed and delivered to readers where and when they want to engage with their content.

Today, McPheters & Company released the iMonitor State of the App 2012, including its list of Best Consumer Publication and News-Related Apps for iPad. The top five apps, created with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, received perfect ratings: Martha Stewart Living, Newsweek, Phoenix Home & Garden, Reader’s Digest, and Revista Época Negocios.

As company founder Rebecca McPheters stated:

The first five apps on the list are the only ones of the thousands we have evaluated to achieve perfect iMonitor App Ratings.  All of the apps on this list are outstanding – falling in the top fraction of 1% of all those tracked.  They are easy to navigate and appropriately leverage the iPad’s capabilities to both fully engage their users and to expand upon the service typically provided by more traditional media forms.

The iMonitor Report rates consumer publication apps on design, functionality, media, and advertising. McPheters evaluates nearly 8,000 apps from publishers worldwide.

To see the full list of apps, visit the iMonitor web site.

Our customers who use DPS for retail catalogs will be excited about today’s news. This holiday season, Adobe forecasts 21% of U.S. online retail sales to come from mobile devices, with a peak on Black Friday when 24% of online sales will be from mobile. To put this in perspective, Black Friday is expected to bring in $2 billion for retailers, which means that $480 million will be driven by mobile purchases. You can track these data points, and many more, on the Adobe Digital Index Holiday Forecast Interactive Website this season. The Adobe Digital Index 2012 Online Shopping Forecast is built on anonymous Omniture data aggregated from over 150 billion online visits to 500 retail websites in the U.S. and Europe over the past six years. Adobe has big data and we are not afraid to use it.

The data shows that mobile retail shopping habits are rapidly growing – and it’s important for retailers to not miss out on these affluent customers. In the United States, sales from mobile devices is projected to increase 110% over 2011 sales. In Europe, sales from mobile devices is predicted to double.

While many retailers have websites designed for mobile, some savvy retailers use Digital Publishing Suite to drive traffic directly from highly designed digital catalogs to their websites. By bringing the catalog experience to life with videos, 360 rotation and other interactivity, they’re immersing customers in the product experience.  What’s more, with online shopping available in tablet catalogs, retailers are turning browsers into shoppers.

Data Points Worth Tracking
United States
24% of online sales for Black Friday will be from Mobile
-        13% Tablet
-        10% Mobile
-        1% Other

21% of online sales for the holiday season will be Mobile
-        13.5% Tablet
-        6.5 % Mobile
-        1% Other

Sales from mobile devices will be 12% of online holiday sales in Europe up from 6% last year. Online sales from tablets will more than double those in 2011 and sales from mobile phones will double those of 2011.

• Bookmark the Adobe Digital Index Holiday Forecast interactive website and track predictions for the coming year.
• Check out the Adobe Digital Index Holiday Forecast infographic
• Learn about retail catalogs built with Digital Publishing Suite, including Lakeland, ASOS, and Dick’s Sporting Goods

Digital Publishing Suite passed the test! The Audit Bureau of Circulations—now known as the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM)–has successfully completed an initial audit of the metrics captured by the Content Viewer included with DPS. DPS is the first digital publishing solution to be certified by AAM.

Working with Adobe customers, the AAM ascertained and verified how Digital Publishing Suite, as well as the metrics available through Digital Analytics included in the Adobe Marketing Cloud, are measured and reported. The following metrics have been certified:

• Number of readers for a magazine and each individual issue
• Total number of article and content views within an issue
• Total time spent with an issue by all readers

What does this mean for the magazine and newspaper industry? It brings publishers and advertisers closer to achieving the common goal of accurately measuring consumption and engagement of digital issues and delivering verified data that is critical to the industry as a whole.

And this is just the beginning. AAM will continue to audit DPS over time and expand the scope of its review to additional metrics.

Read the press release: AAM Certifies Adobe Digital Publishing Suite