Snapplify launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2011, and in just 10 months later, has made a global impact, making its mark from Africa to Asia.
At this early stage, Snapplify is the largest mobile content distributor in emerging markets, and is making an aggressive push in developed markets,” says CEO, Wesley Lynch It has close to 100 apps in Android and iPad app stores, reaching over 100 000 downloads across all apps and averaging over 1000 publication downloads a day.
“We’ve noticed excellent uptake among expatriates of content from their countries of origin. Much of it in our context has come from Arabic-speaking Americans requesting localised Middle-Eastern content, and South African expats requesting news from the old country,” says Lynch.
Shortly after that, in June, it represented Cape Town at the Barcelona Global Entrepreneurship Competition, where it was placed fourth. Snapplify’s most recent victory came when it was chosen as a finalist in the run-up to the inaugural Asia Digital Publishing Awards this year.
Interestingly, media clients have marked an increase in advertising revenue with the addition of video content apps, and have thus been able to expand their rate cards.
Lynch says the app model has enabled new sales and distribution models. The library model has been particularly promising, as readers access books for a lesser charge than if they were to buy it. And with subscriptions, too, mobile apps have opened new doors on new commercial possibilities.
