B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Federal Election
  • Pinterest
  • AFL
  • Anthony Albanese
  • WPP
  • AI
  • NRL
  • Thinkerbell
  • EssenceMediaCom
  • State of Origin
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • imaa
  • Channel 10
  • Cairns Hatchlings
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: The Economist Launches Five Minute Morning App
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Media > The Economist Launches Five Minute Morning App
Media

The Economist Launches Five Minute Morning App

Emma Mackenzie
Published on: 7th November 2014 at 11:21 AM
Emma Mackenzie
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

A new app from global publication The Economist, The Economist Espresso, aims to help people start the day feeling smarter by delivering a quick shot of news and information.

The insight and opinion publication is launching an app which offers a five minute morning wrap up.

According to its editor-in-chief, John Mickelthwait, the app’s point of difference is that is provides a news update that is “finishable”.

He said: “We’re only going to take five minutes of your time. We will fill you up with ideas so you can go off and start your morning. That is quite similar to the weekly edition, which, although it’s quite long, is still finishable.”

When a reader has swiped through all the articles on the app, it tells them ‘that’s it’.

Mickelthwait said: “It’s giving you permission to go off and do other things having hopefully made you feel smarter.”

The initiative behind the launch was a mixture between new technology and old Economist ideas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHte6ipno1U

“The aim is to get the same kind of feel you do from reading The Economist,” said Mickelthwait. “We looked quite carefully at what our readers were doing because our readers are increasingly using digital, particularly smartphones, and we began to see this opportunity to reach them.”

The app has three sections, ‘Today’s Agenda’, ‘The World in Brief’ and ‘Market and Currencies’. The Agenda section includes five ideas each day for readers to wrap their heads around.

espresso

“There are five longer segments, still less than 150 words at the beginning that are meant to say ‘this is what’s going to happen today’,” he explained. “Now you know this, here’s an opinionated take on it and you’ll feel smarter as a result.”

The product offers two opportunities for advertisers.

“One is sponsorship,” said Mickelthwait. “Every day it says ‘this edition of Espresso is brought to you by’.”

However Mickelthwait was quick to add that sponsored editions will highlight the content was in no way influenced by a paying advertiser.

Mickelthwait added: “There’s also an advertising slot or two in there as well.”

In addition to this, subscriptions will also be paid. “We’ve always focused on a business model which relies on bringing good content that people are prepared to pay for,” said Mickelthwait. The cost to readers is $3.99 a month.

To spread the word about the app, Mickelthwait’s team is looking to owned, earned and paid media.

“We’re relying quite heavily on word of mouth. We’ll put it in this week’s Economist. There’ll be a digital campaign as well and there are one or two specific ads about it. In general, there’s a fairly wide selection of people who we think will at least try it.

“In the launch period, the hope is to get between half a million to a million downloads.

“We hope it adds greater value to existing subscribers, but also it will bring in lots of people who are either potential subscribes or just want to subscribe for this. I’ve learnt to be modest about predictions about who will get what.”

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Adshel, Advertising Standards Bureau, KIIS 101.1, nimble, SheSays
Share
Emma Mackenzie
By Emma Mackenzie
Follow:
Emma Mackenzie was a reporter at B&T from 2015 - 2016.

Latest News

TV Ratings (16/06/2025): Food-Themed Superhero’s Take Top Spot In Entertainment Programs
17/06/2025
Kirsty Muddle & Chris Howatson Return To Lead 2025 IPA Business & Agency Leadership
17/06/2025
Second Born: Australia’s Emerging Creative Agency Arrives In Adelaide
17/06/2025
Twilio Report Finds AI Driving ROI For Australian Businesses, But Consumers Fatigued & Sceptical
17/06/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?