• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 26, 2010

Zinio, which creates and distributes digital editions for magazine publishers, has introduced several new options for marketing print and digital pubs, giving publishers new channels for recruiting subscribers and monetizing content. These include two new offerings: bundled sales of print and digital subscriptions, and an array of customized, branded magazine apps.

The print-digital subscription bundling allows readers to buy combined subscriptions through a single point of purchase. It will be available for more than 2,500 consumer magazines with digital editions currently available via Zinio. (Not all these titles may choose to offer bundled subscriptions).

The service addresses a major demand of magazine publishers operating in the digital arena -- the ability to use online and mobile channels to drive print sales, which still account for the majority of magazine ad revenues.

Zinio is also rolling out branded apps in collaboration with magazine publishers looking to augment their digital offerings with additional, high-engagement features.

These dedicated, branded apps will include e-commerce functions, holding out the possibility of new revenue streams for magazine publishers through sales of virtual products and additional content. Like the digital editions, publisher-branded apps will be accessible via multiple devices on a "buy-once-read-anywhere" model.

Early adopters of the branded app offering include Sporting News, with publisher Jeff Price promising additional features like "video highlights, rich photo galleries and touch-screen scoreboards" for the iPad, "as well as across every device where we deliver Sporting News today."