Hearst adds two new mobile sites

Hearst Magazines Digital Media Groupáhas launched new mobile sites that correspond with its Harper's Bazaaráand Marie Claire titles.

Marie Claire and Bazaar mobile site users will have the ability to access fashion, beauty and life advice via their mobile phones. Hearst already has agreements with most US mobile carriers, including AT&T/Cingular, Sprint and Verizon.

A Hearst spokesperson said Bazaar and Marie Claire were chosen for the service because, of Hearst's 19 titles, their audiences were most likely to use the extra mobile content.

"In the days of the connected world, most women would rather leave home without their lipstick than their cell phone. So we created applications that would allow our content to be with them wherever they go," Hearst commented in an e-mail.

The new sites, created internally by Hearst, join seven other Hearst mobile sites, including Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Seventeen. All nine sites offer interactive features such as search functions, "talk-to-us" links and downloads.

Free to users, the sites will generate revenue only through the sale of wallpaper downloads, which include vintage Bazaar covers. Future revenue-generating plans are in the works, but would not be disclosed as of press time.

"With emerging technology, the best way to encourage adoption is to provide the content at no cost to the user," explained Hearst in an e-mail. "We don't collect names or e-mails; we only collect cell phone numbers to push out text messages."

Hearst plans to promote the mobile content through sections on the magazines' Web sites. Editors at the titles are also incorporating news of the mobile sites into their editorial columns.