Since being named Associated Northcliffe Digital‘s (AND) CEO 12 months ago, one of Richard Titus’ key strategies, at the DMGT publisher, has been mobile. By the end of last year, he committed the group to launching 15 smartphone apps by this summer.
That’s no surprise – at the BBC, Titus was mobile controller and is a keen mobile aficionado. One of the ways AND hopes to get there – a mobile developer initiative.
The publisher has launched AppFactor, an initiative to get budding iPhone devs making new stuff for it. They can submit their apps until May 9, before Titus judges the best.
The “prize” – £3,000 in cash, half of app sales income and exposure across Daily Mail (LSE: DMGT), Metro and websites like Jobsite.co.uk, Findaproperty.com and Motors.co.uk that AND says is worth £50,000.
Of course, DMGT stands to gain, too, from “commissioning” low-budget app submissions and taking a 50 percent sales split. It’s a low-risk chance at finding app riches.
DMGT isn’t the first to try an app contest. O2 and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) before it are amongst those to have embraced developers in a bid to more substantially populate their nascent app store efforts.