News Corp offers app-only packages for metro dailies to grow subscriptions

As part of News Corp Australia’s strategy to accelerate growth in digital subscriptions, customers are being offered the option of an app-only subscription for all four metro dailies – The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser in Adelaide – for the first time.

Complementing the recent upgrade of News Corp’s metro apps for mobile and tablet, the new app-only subscription offer is expected to deliver incremental growth in an expanding market of customers willing to pay for quality news journalism.

Damian Eales, News Corp Australia’s chief operating officer, publishing, said: “Continually improving the customer experience, and making news more accessible to more customers, is an important part of our growth strategy.

“We think this new offer is perfectly suited to a segment of mobile digital commuters who get most of their news on the run.”

News Corp Australia’s chief digital officer Nicole Sheffield said: “Strong investment in our digital products, to enhance the customer value proposition and extend our audiences, is a clear strategic focus.

“We see an increasing number of people using apps as the preferred channel for real-time news access on their devices. And with increasing audience numbers, we naturally expect the app to be an attractive medium for advertisers.”

The new metro apps offer features like newsfeed personalisation, news alerts and notifications, access to live news updates, live sport scores, videos and interactive daily crosswords, all at a new, low price point.

The launch campaign, created by advertising agency The Works Sydney, centres on the message “The news you choose: The stories that matter to you in real time”. It will launch on November 21 with a four-week ATL campaign, including metro and community press ads, targeted display, mobile display and video through inMobi, and OOH on bus interiors through APN, in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.