• adopting standard file/publication formats where possible;
• developing a workflow that separates content creation from formatting/targeting;
• avoiding monolithic technologies.

These precepts will help you respond quickly and cost-effectively to new opportunities as they emerge.

MWS Content Supply Chain

Content sources and reading devices are evolving rapidly, and some of the most ubiquitous technologies and platforms remain proprietary. To address this, MWS uses the most popular de facto standards and formal standard formats such as PDF and ePub as intermediaries for diverse devices. MWS can target e-readers such as Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony Reader, Android smartphone devices, iPhones, tablets, and PC digital editions whether in Adobe Reader, Issuu, Texterity, Desktop Author, or other digital edition formats.

By using popular intermediary formats, MWS can quickly adopt new content sources as well as new display and reader  technologies. Content creation remains separate from content display, enabling MWS to select the target platforms and e-readers that best serve your audiences.

Because MWS doesn’t depend on any one target technology, reader, or digital edition viewer, we select the best tools for your specific content delivery challenge.

Content Delivery Architecture

By remaining uncoupled from content creation, content delivery can scale more effectively to reach a greater number of target platforms at a lower cost. Most publication content creation occurs in well-defined workflows involving authors, editors, designers, production specialists, and now users. When mobilizing content to diverse target platforms, it’s important to avoid disrupting these existing workflows. To do this, MWS offers services to gather content from your existing workflows and then target (automatically where possible, and manually when necessary) the content to a custom MWS Mobile Launchpad—essentially a microsite portal that delivers the content in the formats that best serve your audience. Those formats could include (in addition to standard HTML):

• XHTML Mobile Profile—a hypertext language for mobile phones
• ePub—the eBook standard from the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF)
• PDF—the Adobe Portable Document Format recently designated as a standard
• Issuu, Texterity, Desktop Author, and others—proprietary Digital Edition solutions for PCs, tablets, and devices such as Android and iPhone
• MWS Viewer—our own Flash-based viewer for eBook and eMagazine applications
• Feeds—RSS, Atom, Feedburner-managed feeds, and Twitter (in and out)
• Podcasts and Video—Multimedia content
• Common Document Formats—Microsoft Word (.doc), Open Document Format (ODF)
• More

MWS builds and brands your Mobile Launchpad to your specifications. The Mobile Launchpad then serves as the content delivery hub, itself serving as a destination microsite or providing “embed code” that you can insert into other sites for seamless content delivery.

MWS also offers MWS StatReport, which provides audience management for user registration, data collection, and access control, along with proven technology for monitoring, analyzing and reporting on behaviors and click-throughs (on Internet-connected devices).

The MWS Mobile Launchpad works like a microsite that aggregates your mobile content without interrupting your usual production workflow. MWS builds your custom Mobile Launchpad, and then provides conversion services and hosting for output types that require customization, such as Digital Editions and eBooks. Audience members access content through the Launchpad, mediated by MWS's audience management system, which provides access control, data collection, behavior tracking, analysis, and reporting. The MWS system saves publishers time and money while maximizing flexibility to target new output formats as opportunities emerge.

MWS Services

MWS ePublishing offers custom mobile content solutions (on a project- or hourly basis) focused on the unique business requirements of your publishing operation. With more than a decade of experience, MWS has developed methods and tools that make these custom solutions affordable to publishers large and small. MWS provides the technology analysis and development, followed by turn-key conversion and hosting services that give you maximum flexibility and reach across diverse platforms.

Contact MWS for more information.

This idea underscores the challenge faced by communicators to focus first on the content value they can produce independent of medium. Only after identifying an information need should we atomize the content for distribution via multiple media. That atomization involves understanding each medium or channel and what it represents in terms of reach or economic value.

The challenge is the same for marketing communicators: when using content to develop brand awareness or loyalty, first focus on the unique content value you can deliver to consumers. (What is your unique expertise? What unique perspectives can you offer?) Then consider all the ways you can deliver that value, whether it’s through e-newsletters, podcasts, digital editions, eBooks, iPhones, Twitter feeds, blogs, social networks, or another medium.

Adapted from “Deconstructing Content,” David M. Kalman, 9/22/2007, Terrella.com.

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