Bringing old media into the digital world is no easy feat. However Optus and National Geographic have outdone themselves with a new partnership announcement.
The partnership includes the development of an app, which features 129 years worth of content from the well-known publisher, and is the first of its kind. It features written articles, video (including two live channels – National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild) and photography, with up to date images directly from Instagram. You can even use the app to read complete issues of the magazine.
The managing director of Fox Networks Group ANZ, Jacqui Feeney, said:
“The launch of this app sees major investment in a digital first product come to fruition. It has been a true collaboration between National Geographic and the team at Optus. It delivers on our vision to lead digital entertainment by moving the brand from reverence to relevance in a mobile-led world. The app expresses what National Geographic stands for: taking the extra step, driving exploration and going further, all of which is built into the product’s DNA.”
The collaboration came about as a result of Optus’ commitment to bringing quality content to its users in an attempt to be the number one in the market.
Ben White, managing director of marketing and product at Optus, said:
“It is not always about having exclusive content, it’s about having broad content offers – like we already do today with partnerships with Fetch [TV].”
“We have also sought out what I think is really iconic, exclusive partnerships.”
“We started last year, on an exclusive basis, with the English Premier League, which was a really big step for us. That was certainly a great way to stick with the exclusive content. That has appeal to a certain market and we were on the look out for some other properties that might appeal to other parts of the market as well. And that is certainly where an iconic brand like National Geographic was.”
A few things that set this app apart from the rest. Firstly, there’s a strong focus on personalised content. The first time you open the app it asks what kinds of things you’re interested in, whether that be oceans, animals or mountains. It then searches and finds content that might appeal to you.
After that, it constantly (and anonymously) watches the content you click on, making sure to analyse and find content suitable for you. It sounds a bit creepy, but with 129 years worth of content to sift through, it’s actually a time saver.
The app also brings science and nature content to a whole new generation. Due to publishers slowly switching to digital, many future generations won’t have a clue what a magazine looks like. The app ensures that every generation will remember the name; National Geographic.
Finally, this app will change the future of all media applications for years to come. To survive, a news organisation can’t exclusively focus on one thing. It has to have captivating articles, videos and images. Usually they’re all separated. In this app, they’re not.
Zac Zalon, from We See Dragons (the app developers), said he’s a little biased, but the National Geographic app is different from many others.
“It’s the future of media apps,” he said.
Why? Well, isn’t about what the media company wants to deliver.
It is about personalising and bringing you the content that you want to see. Media consumers are busy. We don’t have time for ads on TV or spending all day scrolling through article
While it’s important to know a little about everything, when it comes to your down time who can blame you for wanting to skip the boring stuff?
Although, can anything from National Geographic actually be considered boring?
The National Geographic app is exclusive to Optus customers for 18 months. New, existing and recontracting Optus My Plan Plus/Flex and My Plan Business/Flex customers4 on plans $40 and above can access the app at no extra cost, and without using their plan’s monthly data allowance.
Chattr has previously created sponsored content for Optus.