Publisher as Software Developer

A zillion years ago I worked for CBS Software -- a publisher of interactive games. CBS, which owned stations, programming, magazines (the poor Ziff books) and textbooks -- saw nothing unusual about being in software publishing -- it was merely one more form of packaging information and entertainment. Okay, so it didn't do a very good job with this group; the division was gone before the end of the 80s.

Still it was this notion of software publishing that I recently wrote about the Appification of Old Media; how publishers needed to embrace their inner geek -- and package their content in the form of applications. This may seem obvious, but with the exception of Epicurious, there are few publishers who have crossed the chasm and morphed into true software publishers. Until now.

Hearst Corporation, better known for its consumer mags and daily papers like the Houston Chronicle, has unveiled Manilla. The new service is a consumer cost management tool - for managing household expenses. The "Chief Home Officer" lets consumers roll up aggregate household expenses -- to get a better handle on expenditures. That Hearst created the app initially to get a handle on its own mailing expenses is immaterial. As Outsell surmises, "it does not take too much thought to realize that the greater benefit to Hearst is in becoming the de facto clearing house for such consumer information."

While the business plan is not yet clear, Hearst is creating a free app -- that ostensibly can become a very important advertising channel. More importantly, a consumer brand publisher is leveraging its knowledge of the market to create a new information product -- versus letting someone else do it.