In another breakthrough for ppi Media in India, the Kolkata-headquartered ABP group and publishers of the largest Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika has signed up for a complete editorial system and ad production system. ABP publishes The Telegraph daily in English and several magazines in Bengali. The group is also active in television. ABP is the first publisher in Eastern India to opt for a ppi Media system, which means that its newspaper systems will have presence in all parts of the country.
The deal for ppi’s software will include the Content-X editorial system for English and Bengali. The Content-X editorial system stores content in the digital asset management system in a media-neutral XML format, which can be played out in digital and print, covering the full range of publishing channels. Essentially, the ppi Context-X system at the ABP group will sit on top of Digital Collection’s digital asset management system, which can store and retrieve assets such as text, images, audio and video.
The multi-channel functionality of Content-X helps users to automate and update across media channels. The group plans to create variants and updates on the fly for channels including RSS feeds, social media such as Twitter, blogs, web as well as its print pages. The idea is that with the requisite set of preferences, structures, guidelines and workflow in place, updates in several channels can take place automatically and simultaneously. For instance, an update to a print story can also automatically broadcast a new tweet announcing the update in an appropriate way.
ppi Media’s page planning and production software is also part of the ABP deal. ABP has gone in for ppi Media’s AdSelf system for online booking of classified ads in which the advertisers can themselves design their ads.
Commenting on the agreement, Hauke Berndt, chief executive officer of ppi Media states, “In the past 20 years we have developed to be the leading technology provider for media companies in India. We are proud that the ABP group will be another strategic partner for us in this growing market.”
AdSelf is key innovation
Ads booked and designed on the AdSelf system, which is friendly to remote bureaus and kiosks, will be linked to the SAP system for transactions and billing purposes. The AdSelf facility and portal for classified advertising allows back office and ad booking staff to independently design and manage the ads even at remote sites. Using HTML 5, it allows the design and booking of ads to be done on all mobile devices as well.
Hemant Kumar of ppi Media India adds, “While this is a comprehensive signing with one of the country’s leading dailies, it is a challenging project. The ABP Group is very particular about its Bengali fonts. The process so far has entailed very thorough and extensive testing for the entire editorial system, including the remote booking of advertisements on the AdSelf system.”
ABP earlier used ATEX systems for its English daily and this system will be gradually phased out. The ppi Media Content-X, AdSelf and backend for page flow and production will now be used for all products in both English and Bengali. The ppi Media installation is expected to take place in the July quarter of this year.
This article was revised on 14 June 2019.
