Need to know when the next primary is? What about when Beyoncé tickets go on sale?
Skimm Ahead, an iPhone app that’s an extension of the free, daily newsletter provided by theSkimm, launched this week, allowing its subscribers to be kept in the loop about events ranging from current news to concerts.
“With theSkimm, we wanted to make it easier to be smarter,” co-founder Danielle Weisberg said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday. “With this launch, for our busy, on-the-go audience, we want to help them with their routines.”
Skimm Ahead is a branch of the already popular theSkimm, which was launched in 2012 and boasts a subscription of 3.5 million.
Weisberg and her co-founder, Carly Zakin, have “always been the go-to source for friends seeking the scoop on current events or breaking news,” according to theSkimm’s website. As their friends sought them out for the latest headlines, the idea for theSkimm materialized.
“We soon realized three things: Reading the news is time consuming; Wanting to read the news is a hobby; lastly, not everyone has the time or interest,” the website states. “theSkimm solves all that and makes it easier to be smarter.”
For Skimm Ahead, which will be free for a one-month trial and then cost $2.99 for each following month, much of the value of the app is found in its editorial content and its interpretation of events.
Jacob Groshek, a professor in Boston University’s College of Communication, said Skimm Ahead will be able to market and sell its services successfully because it fills a niche for news that is well-packaged and easy to digest.
Groshek said the innovation of services, such as the calendar integration and flow of information, gives the app an edge that other news organizations can’t compete with.
“People learn more and remember more when they’re somewhat entertained,” Groshek said. “theSkimm is successful for the same reasons as something like ‘The Daily Show’ — it’s engaging, innovative and authoritative.”
Paul Cosway, a professor in the Questrom School of Business, also described the app as both informative and entertaining.
“Often with services that initially look like they might be for news or information, much of their value is really in entertainment,” he said. “They provide a way to engage your brain and while maybe educating you a little bit. This purpose is what will allow the subscription model of revenue that the app uses to work.”
Cosway said that the specialization of the app is important to its success because it is a form of curating, which gives consumers an easier task of accessing their interests.
“I use the newsletter mostly for the information that it provides about current events,” said subscriber Hannah Wayne, a junior in the School of Education. “But in order for me to benefit from using the app, features such as the calendar service which it provides would have to be more personalized towards my interests.”
Despite future changes in store for Skimm Ahead, the app signifies a larger trend in media toward personalization and accessibility.
Ian Mashiter, a senior lecturer of strategy and innovation in Questrom, said that strategies in marketing — like the one Skimm Ahead is practicing — are paving the way for the future of media.
“Web and mobile are changing the way the people consume content due to the responsiveness they can have to the desire of consumers,” Mashiter said. “People want news which is relevant to their own lives. In the future, we’re going to see many new media companies, all of them trying to deliver news content in the way we want it delivered.”
