Innovation in Publishing TION
How French magazine app lekiosk aims to resurrect the British print industry By Kelly Dolan
how did Michael manage to get publishers on board? “We raised our first round in 2007 with business angels, around 600,000 Euros. In terms of getting publishers on board, we simply told them that they were not monetising their print edition on the web and we were going to build a technology to solve that and it is totally free to get on board.
“To be honest though, it didn’t work well in the beginning. It was only on the web, it was 2008 and people were not reading print magazines online back then. Then the iPad came out in 2010 and we had this idea that we should rethink the user experience, that the iPad is a brand new device, nothing to do with a computer or a smart phone, and that we should create something totally new.”
What challenges had the tech start-up faced in terms of infiltrating traditional publishing houses who are notoriously slow in catching on to digital opportunities? “Publishing is a very complicated market” says Michael, “each house has different strategies - some have web strategies, some have a mix of web and print and some are building a totally new experience on tablets.
“What we were proposing is different. Have your own strategy and let us focus on your print edition and monetising the content that you are not monetising yet or is not yet part of your strategy.”
How would lekiosk monetise the digital versions of each magazine? Michael tells me that the company had created an economic model that would see publishers work collaboratively to reach new readers and drive sales. “We have created a bundle that lets you either buy magazines on a one-off basis or read 10 magazines for 10 pounds. This is a really important pillar in our model because while we are trying to change the user experience, we also need to reinvent the offers. People are willing to pay but at a lower price, they don’t expect to pay the same on a tablet as buying in print.
“In the UK we are still trying to convince publishers to get involved in the bundle, whereas French and Italian publishers have been very receptive. The market is growing really fast right now and the tablet revolution is not a phenomenon, it’s very deep and I think it’s going to be a large market.
“We created this economic model because we found that 85% of users in France will read magazines that they have never read before thanks to the bundle. We are targeting new readers and we are integrated in the ABC circulation as well so every time we sell a digital copy it adds to distribution figures.” Michael notes comparisons in the music and movie genres, with both industries capitalising on the digital takeover. “Take Spotify. You can get unlimited access to your music for 9.99 Euros and Netflix use the exact same model. We are trying to duplicate this model in the magazine industry and we are trying to convince UK publishers to be a part of this economic model. Technology alone is not enough.”
Mid-way through the interview, I ask a question that sprung to mind when hearing about an app that would act as a platform for publishing. How would it compete with Apple’s Newsstand, which also has virtual shelves and an online store? Michael is keen to mark out how lekiosk is different. “We are asked this a lot and it’s a very important question because we don’t want any confusion with the Apple Newsstand” he says. “Apple Newsstand is not an iTunes for magazines, it’s not even a Spotify for magazines, it’s just a place where you find all the apps created by magazine publishers. We could be in Apple’s Newsstand if we want; it’s just an app store within an app store.
“lekiosk is different because you receive the same user experience no matter what magazine you are reading. You have the same library, the same offer, so it is a general service focused on print magazines.
“Also, we are building interaction between titles through models like the bundle. The next step is to build interaction between the users, because when you read a magazine you want to share an article or comment. The next step is to increase interaction between titles and users.”
What else did Michael forecast for the future of lekiosk? The company has hit headlines recently for securing $7.1 million in investment and is set for global expansion.
“What we really aim to do is extend the content” says Michael. “We have 100 magazines in the UK at the moment but we want more.
17 entrepreneurcountry
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