Online explosion for Swedish national newspaper Expressen.
Afternoon paper Expressen has launched Expressen Labs and no less than eight new websites. We talked with the paper’s CIO, Peter Frey, about the initiative and the paper's mobile success.
What is Expressen Labs?
The idea behind Expressen Labs is to develop new products quickly. Quite simply, we’re testing new ideas that otherwise would get lower priority compared to bigger project closer to the core business. For Expressen and other media companies, it’s important to constantly develop new ideas and find new ways of doing business. Our aim is to launch at least one new site per month and so far we’ve more than met our goals.
What’s the connection between the sites and the newspaper?
The connection is bigger for some of the sites, like the WWII site, and smaller for some, such as our viral sites we launched in Turkey, Norway and Germany [see the list below of the sites launched so far]. We’re testing new things and topics all the time.
How does it work to create a new site from scratch?
The idea for a new site comes from different places. It can be from a co-worker, a group or from the development team. The process moves very quickly from idea to finished product. Sometimes it takes only days, sometimes a few weeks. In order to succeed, it requires fast decisions and a short development process inspired by lean and agile development. The biggest challenge is sorting through all the ideas we have.
How is it going so far for the sites?
The results have been fantastic, with big increases in traffic. And we’re reaching additional target groups.
What’s behind Expressen’s successes with increasing mobile traffic for the paper?
Basically, it’s about having a good product that we package in different formats. To drive mobile traffic, user-friendliness and sites that download fast are incredibly important. Our mobile products are a combination of apps and mobile web in order to achieve this. A key factor is measuring everything and following up so that we know what works and what needs to be changed and improved.
Are there other interesting digital initiatives going on right now?
New platforms and so-called “wearables” are an important area we’re focusing on. Just last week we launched a news service for smart watches. Every new platform is a new opportunity to be No. 1, which is why early launches are important.
Eight New Websites from Expressen Labs
Omtalat.nu - viral site; translated the URL literally means “talked about now”
Sportfeed.se– the name says it all
Gilladjur.se– viral site; gilla djur means “like animals”
Expressen Andra Världskriget– site focused on WWII
Omsnakket.no – Norwegian version of Omtalat.nu
Begenmek.com– Turkish version of Omtalat.nu
Superschnack.de– German version of Omtalat.nu
Gamefeed.se– site for major e-sports matches