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Random House relies on iPad app to drive user engagement

Random House is letting consumers browse recipes and learn to make simple meals from food writer Nigella Lawson via a new iPad application.

The company partnered with AKQA on the mobile initiative. The effort aims to bring exclusive new features and reward recipes to Nigella?s fans in the digital iPad space.

?It?s a continuation of the strategy which began with the original Nigella Quick Collection app to bring Nigella to a new digital audience,? said Jon Salt, head of digital product development at Random House Group Digital.

?Rapid adoption of mobile entertainment devices is changing the way that people cook at home, especially tablets,? he said. ?They are spending increasing amounts of time on those devices and are searching for high quality apps.

?It therefore made sense to bring a premium app like the Nigella Quick Collection to a platform like the iPad. The large retina screen of Apple?s device was also the perfect environment to show off the beautiful recipe photography within the app, plus it allowed us to give more space to useful features like the step by step cooking guide.?

Building awareness
Through the iPad app, consumers can unlock a free recipe-of-the-month from Ms. Lawson, as well as buy a Party Collection recipe bundle.

The Nigella Quick Collection app includes more than 100 recipes that helps consumers create quick and simple meals in six steps or less.

Additionally, the app features 20 videos that include useful how-to guides and tips, as well as introductions from Nigella and full recipe run-throughs.

Users can also email the recipes to friends or family or print them.

Furthermore, the app lets consumers search and discover recipes through different categories including Quick Collection chapter-by-chapter; Why Not Try?; What?s in Your Fridge? and Food Moods Access recipes.

Users also have the option of adding multiple recipes to a shopping list.

?We?ve had great success with our award-winning Nigella Quick Collection app on the iPhone, so the iPad felt like the right device to take the app to next,? Mr. Salt said.

?It also became apparent that a number of users were also downloading the iPhone app onto their iPads, which made us think that there was interest from tablet owners in the app,? he said. ?The high lengths of time that people spend in the Nigella Quick Collection app also lends itself to iPad owners.

?This is an app that you want to take time to explore.?

Socially mobile
The app is a great way to drive user engagement.

Using the app, consumers can view their list by recipe or supermarket aisle, then edit if needed and tick off as they shop.

?Tablet sales are soaring ? it is widely predicted that they will overtake laptop sales by 2016, by when Gartner predicts 665 million tablets will be in use worldwide, with 45 percent of those being iPads,? said Andy Hood, executive creative development director at AKQA.

?The tablet is a perfect device for use in the home, and cooking is most definitely a home-based exercise so there is a perfect match here in terms of context and content,? he said.

?The iPad clearly leads the field in terms of tablet experience and market share so it makes sense to release the tablet version of the Nigella app for this device first, and make the most premium Nigella cooking experience available to as many people as possible.?

Final Take