Local Gannett-owned newspaper the Cincinnati Enquirer has put out an iPhone app called “Porkappolis,” apparently a pun on the city’s nickname. It’s difficult for me to fully test in San Francisco because the content is limited to the Cincinnati market. However, as you can see, it’s largely a local restaurants and entertainment app, although there is news. It’s a kind of hybrid, borrowing features from a number of local apps.
I like it because it’s a bold move by Gannett (akin to the company’s mom-social media strategy) and because it has personality. It’s also a new brand.
One of the central questions right now for local publishers is how to brand and present content on new devices and platforms. Porkappolis introduces a new brand but references the familiar Cincinnati.com local brand. AT&T Interactive had little or no success with Buzz.com as one example of a local publisher trying a separate brand. But the challenges that Buzz faced may have less to do with the brand than overall UX.
Whether or not this particular effort and app is successful there’s potentially something of a model here for newspapers and perhaps YP publishers. But what do you think?
- Should the app have launched under the Cincinnati.com brand instead?
- Do you think the app stands a chance with other more visible and widely adopted LBS apps in the market?
- Will the “hometown” association give it a fighting chance against “national” LBS apps?
(Thanks to Brad Simonis for pointing this out.)
December 28th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
I’ve always liked apples and pork together. Does that count?
December 28th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
I think so . . .
December 28th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
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December 29th, 2010 at 4:33 am
Good move to separately brand product, & I think that local publishers – especially those that lack fun, “social” (i.e. easy to talk about) names – should consider building a family of niche brands around their (trusted) core brand.
I’m don’t consider myself one of those overzealous brand guys, but having a fun and easy to talk about brand is a must-have for any product that is remotely social. Good job Gannett. This is a good start. I hope it works.
December 29th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Greg,
Thanks for the mention. We all know the battleground is set between the Davids (such as Porkappolis) and the Goliaths (like Google, Groupon & others). The advantages for the true local apps, especially ones that have existing local SMB relationships through a local newspaper for example, are that they are truly local and presumably have the staff to sell and service the local market already in place. The question is whether they can establish enough of a local/mobile reach (beyond their subscriber base) to fend off the national/local reach of these big guys.
I like the separate branding because it’s fun the way social brands ought to be, but is still powered by Cincinnati.com to give it the credibility it needs while it builds its own brand equity. And by association, they could be perceived as the true experts in all things Cincinnati based vs. other national search brands.
But most of all, I like that this app is skating to where the puck is going; the blend of local, advertising, reputation & social media. Because of that complexity, my guess is that this is more of a white-label app than a Gannett developed app, and that maybe we’ll see more of these in other markets soon.
December 29th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Thanks Brad. Good points all.