“Hello bamberg” is in the spotlight
Matthias litzlfelder whoever is out and about in the city center of bamberg with a folding map could be approached by lisa hassler. The 28-year-old product manager of the upper franconia media group often approaches tourists to talk to them. "I show them our app, see how they get on with it, and return to the desk again and again with suggestions."
Hassler's desk stands in the media house of the mediengruppe oberfranken (MGO) in bamberg. In the division "media power verstarker" she takes care of a new product of the newspaper publisher: the tourist app "hello bamberg. Main product of "hello bamberg is the application for the smartphone, which can be downloaded free of charge from the app store and the google play store. In addition, "hello bamberg" will be running an internet site, on which bamberg can be experienced from the air via a 360-degree tour, a blog, and twice a year an accompanying magazine is published – the next one at the end of october.
"The people like especially the design, but we are still working on more tours", reports hassler. The app was launched three and a half months ago. Hassler and her colleagues, who work in a wide range of departments at MGO, had spent a year and a half preparing for the project. "Our advantage is that we have the expertise in-house to develop something new as a team", says hassler.
New business field
The result is a product that not only appeals to all age groups, but has also attracted attention elsewhere. That's how "hello bamberg" is has been nominated for the nova innovation award of the federal association of german newspaper publishers (BDZV). When the award winners are announced tonight in berlin, it will be exciting for hassler and her colleagues. In the "new business fields" category compete against two innovations from newspaper publishers in osnabruck and kiel and stand a good chance of returning to bamberg with the award.
Regardless of this, the app will continue to develop noticeably in the coming weeks. Just last week, four new tours were put online, with audio guides in german or english explaining the sights as usual. There will also be tours for children, bad weather tips for the colder seasons, and a nativity scene tour with christmas markets.
"There are still many stories to tell and many things to discover", says hassler. Even as a local, you can learn one or two things about your city that you weren't aware of before.
Popping up ads there are on "hello bamberg not. Advertisers use so-called advertorials. "They can tell their own story", explains the product manager.
The app not only offers special forms of advertising, but also appeals to other people. "A new target group apart from the readers", says hassler. Soon it will be possible to try the app without GPS. And the audio guide will also be expanded soon in response to user feedback. The explanations are to be listened to independently of location. At the moment, the hortexts only work locally. If you're out and about in the city, you'll often discover the ideal location for a photo motif. The hello bamberg team would be grateful for such a tip, as they are planning a new tour for it.
