Transcontinental’s Canadian Living, the country’s top magazine for women with a readership of 4.3 million (PMB), has announced that the magazine will be available as a new smartphone application. Free to download on any Blackberry or iPhone, Canadian Living Mobile will automatically deliver and store the mag’s content – from recipies to fashion features – to a user’s handheld device, allowing faster access to content than is available by browsing websites. (The mag’s site, Canadianliving.com, has 1.2 million average unique monthly visitors, according to comScore.)
‘This gives our readers – who lead very busy lives – a fun and useful tool to get trusted information while they’re on the go,’ says Lynn Chambers, publisher of Canadian Living and CanadianLiving.com.
By leveraging address book integration on a user’s smartphone, the app, developed by Toronto-based mobile tech provider Polar Mobile, also provides social media and viral features like article pass-alongs to friends and invites to use the application.
Ad opportunities available in the new app include MMA-approved mobile banners and custom advertising opportunities through Polar Mobile. Advertisers on board include PepsiCo, Ramada, Ericsson, Marriott and Telus, which is promoting the recently launched BlackBerry Storm through the new app. Canadian Living is also in conversations with consumer packaged goods companies interested in advertising on the site.
Since it launched on Sept. 15, Transcontinental’s The Hockey News Mobile application (http://thn.mobi/), also developed by Polar Mobile, has 19,200 users.
To download the application, smartphone users visit m.canadianliving.com on their handheld device and click on ‘Download Now.’ Users will also have a chance to enter a contest to win one of nine BlackBerry smartphones. For more information, visit www.canadianliving.com/contests.
