The Short Names

While Condé Nast is taking a more measured approach to distributing digitized versions of its magazines through the iTunes App Store, Hearst has already decided to put a new electronic edition of Esquire for sale each month on what is increasingly becoming Apple’s virtual newsstand. Hearst made the announcement on the same day the January Esquire app went on sale. Condé Nast, which was first to the app story with its complete electronic edition of GQ last month, had originally intended the app as a one-off, with the possibility of a regular digital issue hitting the iTunes store after more study. But a source told paidContent that the publisher made a quick decision to give its last issue of GQ the app treatment, since it featured Rhianna on the cover and seemed like it might be good to tie it to the music store.

GQ won’t officially become a regularly issued app until the March issue. Until then, Condé Nast will have to issue another single app for the next issue and users will have to buy a separate app. When the official monthly version is ready, users will be able to simply accept an update of the app each month, if they choose to buy a new issue from the App Store.

Neither Condé Nast nor Hearst would say which of its dozens of mag titles would be next to hit the app store. But both are looking at a range of titles. Condé Nast is looking closely at titles like Vanity Fair and Vogue as natural additions to the App Store.

Subscriptions are another area both companies are mulling, but a decision is not expected for months. For the most part, both aren’t sure how to price a monthly subscription. But Hearst says it’s definitely planning on coming up with a subscription model for its apps soon. For now, publishers are comfortable with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) as the “virtual newsstand,” but not as the virtual mailbox. The companies are looking toward other avenues for the virtual newsstand concept, including the digital storefront with other publishers such as Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and Meredith (NYSE: MDP). Meanwhile, Hearst has been investing in digital device makers as well.

The Esquire app, with John F. Kennedy on the front (pictured, left), costs $2.99 to download and takes up 53 MB of file space. That’s the same price but a bigger file size than the two GQ app, which both are 0.4 MB. It joins other Hearst apps, which are more typical to other mag apps, in that they represent off-shoots of the print brands, rather than direct replications. Hearst’s other mag apps include Seventeen’s Fashion Finder and Cosmopolitan’s Sex Position of The Day.

Esquire, though, is Hearst’s primary guinea pig when it comes to digital. The magazine just spent six figures on Esquire’s December print edition, which was outfitted with Augmented Technology and other digital elements. Last year, Esquire worked with E-Ink on a “digital cover” in an effort to showcase its forward-thinking approach to fusing tech and print. In addition to featuring the full January issue as an app, users can also e-mail articles from Esquire to others and can post app items on their Facebook page.

This past week, Hearst promoted Sophia Stuart from her post as head of the publisher’s mobile unit to executive director, digital for Hearst Magazines International, a clear sign that mobile was going to become more important to its digital strategy.

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