March 26, 2012

Longreads finds readers in the sky

by

Last week Longreads announced it had partnered with Virgin Atlantic Airlines and was introducing a new business called Travelreads, which offers flyers long-form articles about various locales curated to match their flight destinations.

The idea goes that travelers who are flying to London, for example, might like to read an article from, say, the London Review of Books …

Travelreads functions as a channel on Longreads.com, which launched in 2010 as a simple search engine that lets users find stories by topic and reading time/length (e.g., “15-30 minutes, 3,750-7,500 words”). The Virgin Atlantic backing not only clarifies Longreads’ business model but signals that former McCann Ericksoncreative chief Joyce King Thomas, who joined Longreads last summer as director of brand partnerships, is helping Armstrong turn a minimalistic service, beloved by the literati, into a real business.

The timing for this type of service is ripe, as Virgin has been offering inflight Wi-Fi, which is a terrific (and overdue) perk for business and luxury travelers alike.

And to make sure everyone gets the message about this new business, Travelreads/Virgin has assembled some serious marketing firepower:

Travelreads functions as a channel on Longreads.com, which launched in 2010 as a simple search engine that lets users find stories by topic and reading time/length (e.g., “15-30 minutes, 3,750-7,500 words”). The Virgin Atlantic backing not only clarifies Longreads’ business model but signals that former McCann Erickson creative chief Joyce King Thomas, who joined Longreads last summer as director of brand partnerships, is helping Armstrong turn a minimalistic service, beloved by the literati, into a real business.

“We’re trying to create a unique advertising model that serves both brands and the Longreads community,” Ms. King told me. “The most interesting brands are keen to create community and offer up relevant content for their customers. Our partnership with Virgin Atlantic does both.”

While competitors scramble to stay in business, Virgin, and now with Travelreads, is raising the bar for quality air travel not by offering a new version of 21st century airborne decadence, but by providing information curated and geared toward travelers of taste and means.

The Travelreads/Virgin concept is alluring. Just like Longreads, it presents an attractive business model that bridges a gap (bringing longer form, typically printed journalism to online readers) toward a more comprehensive, informative, and community-oriented media exchange.

That Virgin is backing this endeavor, while working to fix a revenue dilemma for magazine publishers and essentially rebranding an old art form as new and desirable — all of this is but extra gravy on your plate.

Chris Rossi, senior VP-North America for Virgin Atlantic, said in a statement, “We wanted to offer Virgin Atlantic passengers an easy way to enjoy some of the best travel literature and perhaps be inspired for new adventures.” Virgin Atlantic has been rolling out in-flight Wi-Fi on its routes. But for those traveling without access to a web connection, Longreads encourages the use of apps, including Flipboard, Instapaper and Read It Later. Mr. Armstrong serves as an editorial adviser to Read It Later.

So hear hear to Travelreads, whose parent company began as a Twitter hashtag and gained momentum only once readers interested in articles with high word counts grew dedicated and enthusiastic.

Let’s hope that such financial backing brings in more readers, more articles, and more businesses willing to break the literary mold.

Kevin Murphy is the digital media marketing manager of Melville House.

MobyLives