Adobe ANZ: Digital publication readership on the rise

Adobe claims Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) is powering significant circulation growth and reader engagement in digital magazines, with over150 million digital publications downloaded on mobile devices.

Launched less than three years ago, in the last twelve months publishers have added more than three times as many unique readers to their digital editions, when compared to 2012.

Data also shows readers are engaging deeply with the digital magazines, with subscribers spending an average of 50 minutes in DPS digital issues each month.

“In the last 12 months media publishers in Australia have recognised the opportunities presented by digital and publishers including News Limited, Pacific Magazines, NewsLifeMedia and Bauer have all begun their digital transformations with Adobe DPS," says Michael Stoddart, Adobe’s newly appointed head of digital publishing for Asia Pacific.

"In 2014, we expect to see more commercial entities shift to digital as they recognise the opportunities it can deliver. Already we have seen NRMA’s Open Road and David Jones validate Adobe’s DPS platform beyond traditional publishing.

"Data that allows brands to forge a direct relationship with customers is the key driver of digital publishing.

"Adobe DPS brings together social sharing, digital marketing and direct engagement which leads to a more personalised, deeper and long term relationship.

"Saving costs and avoiding paper wastage are obvious benefits of digital. Digital platforms also allow companies to be more nimble with their marketing campaigns.

"Brands can adapt marketing campaigns to market conditions quickly and easily on a digital platform.

"Developers and partners across Australia and New Zealand will view this opening of the .folio format as an opportunity to develop solutions that are standardised on an industry-recognised format and applicable to specific local market requirements.”

2014 and beyond...

Building on this momentum Adobe today announced that, in Q1 2014, it will publish the technical specification for the .folio format for digital magazines under a free license.

This will further accelerate digital publication adoption, enabling newsstands to produce their own viewing apps capable of displaying digital magazines built using DPS.

“As the leading digital publishing platform, DPS powers more than three quarters of all digital issues consumed on mobile devices," says Nick Bogaty, head of digital publishing, Adobe.

"Engaging reading experiences combined with in-app consumer marketing capabilities provide publishers with the tools they need to continue generating explosive growth in digital circulation.

"This makes DPS a powerful solution for driving sales of digital content as well as high-value advertising experiences.

“Adobe has a long tradition of creating and supporting open file formats to enable content publishing and distribution.

"PDF was instrumental to the advent of desktop publishing and document sharing, and our work in Web standards, including HTML5, has advanced what’s possible to do on the Web and in mobile apps.

"We are thrilled to make .folio available for free use to accelerate the growth of digital magazines and other publications.”