|
Hearst Magazines Introduces Mobile Solutions for Women Over 35, Partnering with
Crisp Wireless to Target an Underserved Segment
Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful and Redbook Mobile Sites Offer Unique Female-Oriented
Content Designed to Provide Entertainment, Information and Solutions for Everyday
Living
New York, May 3, 2007 – Hearst Magazines, one of the world’s largest publishers
of monthly magazines, today announced the launch of three mobile ventures targeting
women age 35+ in partnership with Crisp Wireless, a mobile technology and services
company. Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful and Redbook made-for-mobile Web
sites are now available in the U.S. at http://M.redbookmag.com, http://M .goodhousekeeping.com and http://M.housebeautiful.com. Each site provides valuable, time-saving content, with interactive, mobile-only
tools like calculators, quizzes, downloadable wallpapers, user-generated contributions
and comprehensive search facilities.
“Today, women live action-packed, on-the-go lives, and a mobile phone has become
‘home base,’” said Stacy Morrison, Redbook editor-in-chief. “Cell phones are how
a woman stays connected to friends and family, keeps herself organized, and now,
with our new mobile sites, she’ll be able to use her phone to actually make her
life easier – whether that means finding last-minute recipes at the supermarket,
getting ideas for fun, flirty things to do with her guy or quickly looking up
the best way to get gum out of her kid’s hair. The goal is to meet women where
they are living their lives every day, and more and more, that means on the run,
with a cell phone at the ready."
Both the Redbook and Good Housekeeping mobile sites offer a library of recipes,
complete with grocery lists and nutrition facts, as well as diet and exercise
tips. Two unique Redbook features are “Time for You Tips,” with ideas on how
to make the most of your private moments and “Mommy Strategies,” with advice on
how to stop a tantrum, teach good manners, and more. User suggestions are encouraged
for both sections with talk-to-us technology. Good Housekeeping mobile has a
searchable list of every product that carries the Good Housekeeping seal, an exercise
calculator and expert advice on everything from tipping to travel. House Beautiful’s
“Design Dictionary” offers decorating definitions, while a paint calculator determines
the quantity needed to cover a room. Redbook and House Beautiful’s sites also
feature branded mobile stories, both fiction and non-fiction: Redbook’s “Infertility
Diaries” and House Beautiful’s “Interior Tales” are the first to go live.
Chuck Cordray, vice president and general manager of Hearst Magazines Digital
Media, explained the strategy: “Through research we found that 25% of our readers
now have mobile Web-enabled cell phones but have not yet found what they are looking
for. Much like the Internet was ten years ago, today is a new world on the mobile
front, and it’s one with clear potential, if the content and delivery are right.
To support this strategy, we selected Crisp Wireless for their proven technology
platform and robust experience in creating a meaningful mobile experience for
the end-user.”
Crisp Wireless has extensive experience in building mobile web sites for print
publishers, newspapers and major media companies, all of which leverage their
proprietary technology platform, mLogic Media™. mLogic Media has many advanced
features including robust device detection and handset optimization, resulting
in the best consumer experience. Other mLogic features include rich media transcoding
and delivery, ad serving and enhanced reporting.
“Hearst Magazines is providing women on-the-go with useful mobile information
and services, filling a void in the marketplace for functional, female-oriented
content,” said Mary Park, vice president, business development at Crisp Wireless.
“Hearst’s brands, paired with our technology platform, will focus on the user’s
experience, resulting in an increase in mobile Web usage among women.”
Hearst is launching on and off-deck sites and has agreements in place with most
Tier I U.S. carriers, including AT&T/Cingular, Sprint, and Verizon.
About Hearst Magazines
Hearst Magazines Digital Media is the online unit of Hearst Magazines, one of
the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines, with a total of 19 U.S. titles
and nearly 200 international editions. Hearst Magazines, a unit of The Hearst
Corporation (www.hearst.com) reaches more adults in the U.S. than any other publisher of monthly magazines
(73.4 million according to MRI, fall 2006). The company also publishes 19 magazines
in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine
Company Limited.
About Crisp Wireless
Crisp Wireless offers technology solutions and services for consumer facing companies
that want to extend their brand onto mobile devices. Crisp Wireless’ core product,
the mLogic™ platform enables companies to efficiently deploy mobile web sites
that offer rich media features including audio and video, commerce solutions to
sell ringtones, wallpapers and subscriptions, text messaging, and integrated data
feeds for content management. Leveraging mLogic's extensive device database,
sites are optimized based on unique handsets and carrier capabilities offering
consumers the ultimate browsing experience. Crisp Wireless customers are major
media companies and publishers including USA Today, Tribune Interactive, NBC Universal,
Bravo Cable Network and Paramount Pictures. For more information, please contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|