Black Enterprise isn’t the first business publication to produce an iPad app, but it is the first to get it right. The BE app for the iPad doesn’t offer live stats or business quotes that are easily accessible from the web or via text message to users already inundated with data. Instead, it enhances the magazine experience, using the capabilities of the platform to add more depth to the content while also making that content easier to consume than if it were ported over to a simple web page.
The iPad can surf the web, so the BE app doesn’t recreate and charge for content a user could get on the web within the confines of the app. It zeroes in on the BE user, giving them more ways to make the content work for them and unique opportunities to create community around the content, which outweighs what could be done on a web page.
There are many features that make the Black Enterprise app stand out from the competition, but we’ve highlighted five of the most notable ones here.
1.   Reader Accounts — BE has introduced an amazing function in the Reader Accounts, one you’ll likely see become a standard among not just business magazines but any publication looking to reap the benefits of the tablet platform. The idea takes its cue from print where circulation numbers are often augmented by a “pass-along†factor–readers circulating one purchased copy amongst other readers who haven’t bought the issue. This is exactly the type of unquantifiable metric that advertisers are finding hard to accept when the Internet offers laser-sharp measurements down to the unique user. But by limiting all in-app interactions to users who have created a reader account (enabling sharing, bookmarking, notes, etc. for each user), BE has not only given users reasons to create accounts, they have also given themselves and their advertisers an unprecedented view of the publication’s true audience.
The best example of this is to imagine an iPad sitting on a household coffee table. Like a magazine, any household member or guest is able to pick it up and read a few articles. But whereas a magazine becomes worn and tattered after many reads, the iPad version is fresh for every reader. There are no bookmarked pages to suggest what to read and no missing pages indicating what someone thought was a must-read that you’ll never get the chance to. The Reader Account changes this by making every account logon a brand new experience.
One user might read an issue, bookmark a few pages, take notes, and even link their Facebook and Twitter accounts so they can share articles with people within their social networks. But when he or she logs out of the app and the next user picks it up, they’ve got to create a Reader Account if they want to do anything more than just read.
The current version of the BE app doesn’t ask readers for any demo info, but the in-app traffic patterns of the users alone will be valuable. If the app knows which Reader Accounts frequent which sections, it can serve more relevant advertising for that reader. If it asks for more demo info, it might discover that the young adults of the family are finding as much value in certain sections as their parents. The possibilities are endless.
2.   Browser — The magazine cover may attract the casual passerby who finds him or herself intrigued by the cover photo or a snappy headline, but the table of contents is where any real reader is going to find the “meat” of their favorite magazine. In an instant, the browser function in the BE app delivers the goods up front. This function deconstructs the magazine down to its bare elements of article pages, photos, videos, ads, and bookmarks, with an extra personal touch.
The article pages are presented as a clean view of what the page looks like, complete with text and/or images. Readers can see how many pages of text a story has and decide if they’re in a position to engage in such a heavy read at the moment or choose to watch a related video instead.
The photos are a real surprise and look somewhat like a black “hall of fame” when you’re just scrolling through them. In a small business publication, the quality of the photography isn’t a selling point and, therefore, is often overlooked. But on the iPad, it’s impossible to ignore the effort that’s gone into making these images a key part of the experience. What’s ingenious is that if you’re a visual person and you find yourself going directly to this view first, the photo captions link directly to the story. The videos are presented in the same way.
Apple’s iAd initiative is going to contribute to advertisements becoming significant experiences of their own within apps, which makes it fitting for ads to also have a separate section in the browser view.
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Here, thanks to the layout, ads are given a chance to compete with content for a user’s attention in a way that would never happen in a standard table of contents.
An interesting caveat about the Browser feature is that if you don’t have a Reader Account, you’re only going to see media and none of your bookmarked selections. However, once logged in, the browser view presents you with a row of your bookmarked content, whether they are articles, photos, or videos.
3.   Search — The search function within the BE app opens up each issue of the magazine to granular searches–something unprecedented in a magazine experience, digital or otherwise. Most “digital magazines†are just PDFs that don’t allow for actual searches of the text. But since the pages of BE aren’t just images, all of the content can be searched. The app prioritizes headlines first, before going to in-article text, but can find everything from company names to the names of the story subjects. Imagine being told by a colleague that they’re featured in a certain issue and being able to find them by simply searching for their name or looking for mention of a certain product. The search function makes it easier than ever to find this information.
4.   Notes — Imagine that you’re reading an article about how to maximize the value of your 401k and you suddenly get a great idea about how the information can be directly
applied to your personal situation. If you were reading a traditional magazine, you would have to take out a pen and scribble a few notes in the margin of the page or on a piece of paper. If you were at a desktop or laptop computer, you would have to open a word processing program, create a document, and then save it somewhere that you would hopefully remember when you were ready to act on it. But the BE app lets you create the note within the article; so the great idea you suddenly had is right next to the information that inspired it.5.   BE Live — In business, it’s often said that it’s not what you know but who, and the BE app gives readers an incredible opportunity to get to know like-minded business professionals through dialogue around BE content. Through BE Live, all users of the BE iPad app who have created Reader Accounts can participate in real time conversations with BE personalities in a forum much more similar to a business conference than an open chat room or comment section of an article on the web.
For example, if BE were streaming an exclusive live video from its annual Women of Power Summit through the app only, interested users unable to attend the conference could participate in the question and answer sessions via logged in Reader Accounts. The reach of the Summit would be expanded exponentially and the value of actually attending in person would be proven to off-site participants who realize that the discussions don’t end when the live broadcast does.