Case Studies | The Spectator
Team Pugpig worked extensively with this iconic news journal to beautifully replicate the look and feel of its premium magazine into their app. As well as digital editions, the app showcases podcasts and editorially-curated content in true The Spectator style.
Established in 1828, The Spectator is the go-to destination for thought provoking political, cultural and current affairs journalism. Our partnership with them proves that the world’s oldest magazine can certainly embrace digital – with huge success at that.
Given that The Spectator is a publication centred around opinion pieces and the latest news, it made sense for the main content feed within the app to be completely curated by the editors. Readers can dive into a range of carefully selected content from across the app with ease.
We spent a lot of time on custom design and styling to ensure The Spectator app really embodies the recognisable look and feel of the magazine. The home feed, for example, features highlights from each section and a range of card types.
The Spectator has a large tablet audience and wanted the app to have a dynamic design that worked beautifully across all devices and orientations. We built specific layouts of cards for both portrait and landscape tablet views to make sure the app looked world class no matter what.
By choosing our publishing platform, the team at The Spectator have lowered their tech spend while being able to focus their development resources on other key areas of the business while not just retaining but improving their mobile app performance.
The Spectator app currently holds a 4.8/5 star rating in the App Store and is in the top 25 apps in the ‘Magazines’ category. It’s a real example of how the world’s oldest magazine can enjoy huge digital success.
Pugpig turns something that should be extremely complicated (building a high quality app) into something that’s extremely simple, and does it for a tenth of the cost
Zack Christenson
Editor, The Spectator World
News media
Euromoney’s BCA Research app is a great example of the incredible range of customisation possible on the Bolt platform. From highly curated dynamic timelines to optimising their research reports for mobile, the work of our Professional Services team has been instrumental in improving the Bolt product as a whole, with some of these features now available for all Bolt customers.
News media
Pugpig’s dmg media portfolio also includes The Knowledge and New Scientist. All three titles use the Bolt platform to deliver highly engaging, trusted content to thousands of loyal customers around the globe, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
News media
As Australia’s trusted voice, ACM have launched 14 titles with Pugpig including The Canberra Times and Western Advocate. Readers enjoy local and international news across user-friendly digital editions and live content feeds.
News media
With over 48 monthly sessions per user, The Pink Un uses Pugpig to monetise their most popular content across audio and video and provide extra value for their dedicated team of followers.
Over 48 sessions per user per month
4.7/5 App Store rating
82% trial-to-paid subscription conversion rate