Bonnier Partners with CP+B

With sales of Apple's iPad soaring and the wave of new tablets continuing in 2011, there is a need in the media industry for all-new advertising for all-new advertising platforms. So Bonnier has joined forces with advertising bureau CP+B to develop next-generation advertising formats for tablet magazines.

The new partnership with CP+B is a natural evolution for Bonnier, as Bonnier's Mag+ platform, which launched with Popular Science+ in April 2010 at the iPad's debut, has since expanded to 11 magazines internationally, with many more slated to launch this year on the iPad, Android devices and other emerging tablets.

"It's our aim to further advance digital ads on tablets to make them more entertaining, more informative and more engaging, connecting our audiences with our clients' products and services," says Gregg Hano, Vice President, Group Publisher for Bonnier's technology brands, which include Popular Science.

The first task of the effort will be an intensive research study to determine the needs and wants of consumers, publishers and advertisers when it comes to advertising on tablets. The end product - launching in late spring 2011 - will be a series of ad concepts built by CP+B for the Mag+ platform to be used across Bonnier titles, beginning with a pilot for Popular Science.

"Tablets have enabled publishers to re-imagine the magazine, and over the last year there have been newsworthy advancements in the space, but advertising has not kept up," says Winston Binch, Partner/Managing Director at CP+B. "There are few best practices in place, nor scalable ad formats that work across platforms and make use of the full range of tablet functionality."

Bonnier R&D Program Director Megan Miller is leading the CP+B project. "We saw an explosion of nearly 100 new tablet models launching at CES, and Gartner analysts predict there could be as many as 208 million of these devices globally by 2014," she says. "Given those numbers, there's no question that there's a market for high-quality media on tablets. We're still very much in the early stages in this new medium, but we're researching and experimenting to bring users the best possible content - and that includes fantastic ads."