The challenge

Nikkei Asia had identified two new features that would add value to its subscription offering – articles in audio format and AI-backed translation.

Competitors like The Economist, South China Morning Post and Bloomberg had already introduced a read-aloud feature for their web and app subscribers, giving them an edge over other online outlets in the region. By generating audio recordings that subscribers could listen to on their preferred device, Nikkei Asia could help them stay informed, while they were doing other things – like cycling or commuting. Offering instant text translation would widen its content appeal into further Asian markets.

The objective was a boost in new reader acquisition, subscription and engagement.

The response

We considered multiple approaches to backend design, with a benefit/trade-off analysis soon establishing that each came with restrictions on technical performance, user experience or both.

As a result, we created a new service backed by Amazon Translate, with the latest articles converted on publish and older ones made available on demand. Users were also given options to listen and change language.To meet the required specification for audio playback, we built native player plugins written in Swift and Kotlin.

This meant all key features the user expected (play, pause, next, previous, forward, stop, background playback) were supported, while also leaving the door open for more advanced additions, like playlists and queuing in the future.

The outcome

Subscribers now have the option to read their news in a choice of seven languages and stay informed even when reading isn’t an option.

The solution was built entirely on AWS, within existing infrastructure patterns, minimising operational overheads. Our work attracted coveted recognition from Nikkei Asia’s parent company, who acknowledged the high technical standards set by the Bluetel team and our commitment to driving digital excellence.

The boost

Our evaluation of multiple backend architectures led to the development of a customised, but highly cost-effective approach, that made a direct and positive impact on our client’s subscription offering and ongoing operational costs.