Media Library :

With more than 600 publications from 41 countries available in its ever-growing digital media library, e-paper specialist Media Carrier is enjoying robust take-up in the travel industry for its Media Box solution, including across Lufthansa Group airlines and in more than 1,000 luxury and five-star hotels worldwide.

But providing travelers with access to the world’s top magazines and newspapers via their electronic devices isn’t just about informing and entertaining them, and driving brand loyalty. It gives airlines the option to rid themselves of the paper equivalent on board, creating savings in terms of logistics, weight and fuel consumption.

Media Carrier explains its solution thusly:

Media Box is web-based and can therefore be used with any Internet-enabled device – iPhone, iPad, Android or tablet PC and notebook. The user does not have to install an app or register personal data but simply connects the device to the local WLAN. The start page offers a link to Media Box, where the newspapers and magazines are to be found. The desired publications can then be downloaded with a mouse click.

So for example, Air Dolomiti passengers have access to Media Box via the Air Dolomiti website three days before their flight. There, they can choose their preferred titles from a range of 100 different national and international newspapers and magazines, and download them as a PDF file.

Italian leisure carriers Air Dolomiti and Neos give passengers access to a comprehensive range of e-papers. Image: Media Carrier

For airlines, the biggest attraction to Media Box “is cost savings and an increase of service for their passengers because in the print world, they usually have only newspapers or not-so-common magazines [on] offer. But with our solutions they can have all the big brands of newspapers and magazines on time, and the right amount for each and every nationality traveling with the airline,” Media Carrier managing director Philipp Jacke tells Runway Girl Network.

“So it’s a cost savings factor because airlines only have to purchase just what the customer is requesting. And the second thing is, of course, the increase in service because we can reach out to every publisher and provide every kind of publication that they have. And, additionally, an airline can provide their own publication [via] our solution as well.”

Media Carrier customizes Media Box for each client. Oman Air last year became a Media Box customer, so Media Carrier brokered agreements with publishers in Oman to cater to the airline’s needs. It is now able to offer these titles to others customers, thereby bolstering its own portfolio of titles.

Once an airline has adopted Media Box, integrating the solution into its IFE app is the natural next step. But offering the content over wireless entertainment systems on board aircraft – i.e. stored on a server and streamed to passengers’ own devices – is also an option pursued by some airlines.

“We have a few implementations in the wireless IFE for Lufthansa Systems’ BoardConnect,” says Jacke, referencing the high-quality digital magazines streamed to passengers’ devices. “We figured it out on Lufthansa Systems [and] did a great job there.” But due to the time-sensitive nature of newspapers, the opportunity to bring a vast amount of newspaper content on board via wireless IFE is more limited, he notes, “especially in the non-connectivity IFE” realm.

Does Media Carrier believe airlines will ultimately replace their own inflight magazines with digital solutions? Not necessarily, says Jacke, who notes that inflight magazines are seen as providing an important distraction for fearful flyers.

With that said, given that “modern gate-to-gate wireless IFE systems can provide them with digital reading material right away as well”, Media Carrier does include inflight magazines and inflight shopping magazines in its portfolio.

“Lufthansa has six different publications [of its own] that we have in our portfolio, like Lufthansa Woman’s World, and all these other publications that are not displayed on board, so [it provides] an opportunity to display their magazines as well,” says Jacke.

In the transportation industry, Media Carrier does not limit itself to the aviation sector (airlines and airport lounges). “We have a couple of train companies that we are servicing, and cruise ships as well. So these are the major areas that we are covering.”

In terms of growth, Media Carrier – which has a strong position in Europe – sees more opportunities in the Middle East. And the firm recently opened up an office in New York “so of course the North American market is also” a target, says Jacke. “So these are the major areas that we are covering and the biggest advantage of our solution is that it is bespoke for each and every customer when it comes to appearance as well as implementation as well as the portfolio.”

source : https://tinyurl.com/ycqsswt4