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Forbes segments investment content with tailored app

Forbes is taking a niche approach to its latest mobile effort with an application designed to help users make sound financial decisions.

The Forbes Lifetime Financial Planning iPad app includes a calculator to help create a financial plan that works for them. The app is sponsored by Northwestern Mutual.

?When looking at the app market, we think about how we can provide value in an area where Forbes has expertise,? said Andrea Spiegel, senior vice president of product development and video at Forbes, New York.

?Forbes is an industry leader in the financial sector and a place for consumers to turn for authoritative information and advice, so investing was a logical choice,? she said.

Mobile investment
Northwestern Mutual?s sponsorship includes banner ads that run along the bottom of the app. When tapped on, the ads expand into a landing page with videos. Users can watch twelve different videos that feature executives from the company with advice on how to plan for their financial future.

Northwestern Mutual also appears throughout the app with financial tips, logos and branding.

The Forbes app includes three main parts ? Forbes articles, a calculator that breaks down a user?s finances and a section with a basic run-down of retirement financial information.

The calculator section lets users fill out a lengthy financial planning form with all of their contact information.

The news tab includes a list of Forbes retirement investment content that appears as a sidebar along the edge of the screen and is updated in real time.

Users can also tap to visit Forbes? Web site and save articles.

Mobile caution
Recently, an executive from Forbes at DMA?s Circulation Marketing Day 2012 revealed that the publisher has taken a unique route with its mobile strategy by not rushing to roll out mobile apps (see story).

By catering to one specific area of Forbes content, the publisher is aiming to make the app a catch-all place for retirement news, advice and tools.

Forbes is not the only publisher rolling out mobile initiatives that are aimed at small segments of users.

For example, the Washington Post recently rolled out an app specifically for election 2012 coverage (see story).

According to Ms. Spiegel, Forbes tries to develop digital initiatives with a three-pronged approach that includes mobile, desktop and tablet experiences.

?When we build a new product experience, we are always thinking about three platforms ? desktop, phone and tablet,? Ms. Spiegel said.

?Mobile is absolutely critical to our ongoing strategy, and we have been using HTML5 to optimize our content across platforms,? she said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York