Magazine publisher Bonnier partners with ad agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky to develop advertising formats for tablet magazines

Sandy Yang

NEW YORK , January 21, 2011 (press release) – With sales of Apple's iPad soaring and the wave of new tablets continuing in 2011, Bonnier announced today that it is joining forces with top ad shop CP+B to develop next-generation advertising formats for tablet magazines. The move addresses a fundamental need in the industry: all-new advertising for all-new advertising platforms.

This new partnership with CP+B is a natural evolution for Bonnier, as the international media company has been a leader in the development of magazines for the iPad and other tablets. 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. "We're extremely excited to partner with an agency as innovative as CP+B on this initiative."

The effort begins with 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 has all the right assets to introduce lasting innovation in the category. We're thrilled to be working with them to help invent effective new media opportunities for their advertisers."

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."

About Bonnier
Bonnier is a 200-year-old global, multi-platform media corporation made up of 175 companies across 21 countries, including magazine, newspaper and book publishing, online media, television and films. In the U.S., Bonnier is one of the largest consumer publishing groups serving passionate, highly engaged audiences with over 55 magazines and related digital properties and events. Bonnier magazine brands include Popular Science, Parenting, Field & Stream and Saveur. Bonnier is a privately held, family-owned organization with over 15,000 employees worldwide. The corporate mission is "to continuously reinvent the art of publishing."

About CP+B
CP+B, a member of the MDC Partners network, has a client list that includes Microsoft, Unilever, Kraft, Burger King, Phillips, Coke Zero, Discovery networks, American Express, Domino's Pizza, MetLife, Molson Canadian, Old Navy, SAS, Best Buy and Bolthouse Farms' Baby Carrots. CP+B has more than 1,000 employees worldwide, collaborating across six factories: Boulder, Miami, Los Angeles, Toronto, London and Gothenburg. The agency has $1.6 billion in billings and is one of the most-awarded agencies in the world-with the unprecedented distinction of winning the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in every category. CP+B has been awarded Interactive Agency of the Year three times at Cannes, most recently in June of this year, and in 2010, CP+B was also named Agency of the Decade by Advertising Age. CP+B and its work have been covered worldwide by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CNN, FOX, CNBC, the Colbert Report and Saturday Night Live.

About Mag+
Mag+ is the award-winning digital magazine publishing platform created by Bonnier for the iPad and other tablet computers. Mag+ was developed specifically for creating content on touch-screen tablets, in order to build beautiful native experiences for this new generation of devices. To learn more about Mag+, visit http://www.magplus.com.

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