Sun Media is offering advertisers new reach to newspaper readers. This Monday, it will be launching online e-editions of 32 newspapers. With exact-copy electronic images of the paper, the move offers distinct direct connections to consumers and full-on user features to readers, like title downloads for offline viewing, listening to publications on their desktops or mobile phones, commenting on or sharing articles, posting stories on social networks and viewing picture galleries. There is also a search-and-monitor feature that alerts readers when stories match their search criteria.
Subscribers have the option to either view the full e-edition on their desktop – complete with full story layouts, photos and ads – or see a mobile-optimized version accessible through any BlackBerry or iPhone. Readers can also receive daily e-mail notifications of news.
‘This will be a great service for readers when they are travelling, spending time at a cottage or otherwise unable to get the print edition,’ says Steve Angelevski, corporate vice-president, reader sales and service at Sun Media. ‘For advertisers, the interactive e-edition allows readers to connect with them through website links, e-mail addresses and phone numbers, as they browse the e-edition.’
All the Sun dailies in major urban markets plus other publications will deliver e-editions free in a 14-day trial of the subscription service. After the free trial, the e-edition will be offered at a fee to existing subscribers; the 24 hours free dailies will be accessible at no cost.
The Sun Media e-edition was developed in cooperation with Vancouver-based NewspaperDirect, which works with 750 newspaper and magazine publishers from 80 countries around the globe to market and sell hard-copy and digital editions of their publications worldwide.
