Brands Love Mobile Apps—Maybe Too Much
What’s the next big thing in mobile advertising? Apparently, its not the oft-touted location-based ads, or mobile video, but mobile applications. Charles Henri Prevost, VP of Global Business Development at Phonevalley, the mobile arm of ad giant Publicis, told MobiAd, “Almost every request we get from a brand these days includes a mobile application.” Scott Seaborn, Ogilvy Group UK’s head of mobile, reported that three years ago, the ad firm was mostly doing WAP banners, while for the past several months, it has been doing applications.
But why an app? Because it allows brands “to engage consumers and plunge them into a branded environment in which they will be more sensitive to the brand messages,” Phonevalley CEO Alexandre Mars told MobiAd. Seaborn believes the apps represent a step forward for mobile marketing. Past efforts such as mobile banner ads, he says, were usually an attempt to copy what worked on the wired internet and slap it on the mobile internet. Mobile ad applications can, however, be created to take advantage of a phone’s specific function. For example, Carling’s iPhone app—iPint—makes use of the phone’s accelerometer and lets users pretend they’re drinking a beer. (The phone’s screen fills up with a virtual beer, and when tilted looks as if it’s being emptied). Currently, the branded app is number eight in the AppStore’s free apps, ahead of both Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Earth and Facebook.
Brands and agencies are optimistic that apps will be the way forward for the coming months, but while the number of platforms and app stores have grown, so have the number of applications, all vying for a user’s attention. So now that brands have figured out a way to appeal to consumers, the next big problem is figuring out how to let consumers find them. As MobiAd notes, “With such a wide variety of platforms, stores, and applications, discovery is actually becoming the big problem these days.”
Photo Credit: Gustav H
Posted In: Advertising, Companies
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Comments (8)
Jan 6, 2009 6:18 PM
This is definitely true but unfortunately it also means that the app-stores are getting cluttered with
a) low quality applications (8 out of 10 of the iPhone apps are poorly designed and don’t deliver what they promise in the description)
b) applications that don’t work on the phones that they are intended for (most apps on Getjar, Nokia Mosh, Mobango, etc are only tested on a few devices and hence simply don’t work on 1/3 or more of all devices)
c) bookmark applications that don’t have any other functionality than linking to a mobile website which is often not communicated in the description
In addition to this the app-space is getting more and more fragmented with the introduction of new platforms and SDKs which could mean that you have to deliver 6 or more different versions including Java, Symbian, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Android and Blackberry versions.
On the other hand the opportunities are enormous with millions of viral downloads of great applications with amazing return of investment to brands. 2009 will hopefully be the year of more consolidation and focus on quality rather than quantity and we are very much looking forward to taking part in this.
Magnus
CEO & Founder
Golden Gekko
Jan 7, 2009 2:33 PM
I’m a fan of a good bookmark application. It can save a lot of time and keypresses, and I frequently have a crowded bookmark list. What is even better is a thin client application that try replace it’s corresponding WAP site but adds some functionality and integrates well with the WAP site. Google does this well on blackberry and IPhone, doing some rich clients, some thin clients, and in all cases linking to the browser where appropriate.
Jan 7, 2009 3:30 PM
...“to engage consumers and plunge them into a branded environment in which they will be more sensitive to the brand messages”.
I’m very surprised to read a comment such as this from a mobile executive; however this clearly draws the distinction between mobile marketing and mobile advertising.
At the risk of seeming ‘old-fashioned, I am 44 after all, the fact that the ‘mobile’ device is still a phone and used primarily as a ‘communication’ device seems to be lost on many. Replace the word mobile with phone and see if it changes your perspective… phone advertising/ phone marketing.
Print, Radio, TV, WWW, Mobile…what will be the next savior for the advertising industry. Perhaps they’ll convince brands to pay them to develop virtual worlds where consumers float in brand space or connect to a globally interlinked network of brand advocates standing by to be activated on command… oh wait, they’re doing that already, wonder how that’s working?
If you haven’t guessed by now, we are in the business of developing and implementing strategies for organizations that focus on the interactive communication technologies native to every phone….text messages and voice.
I understand 160 characters of plain font text isn’t too sexy and difficult to charge clients a bunch a money for, but this is what people are doing on their phones, and brands and especially their agencies, need to explore all the capabilities of this basic function to better communicate their message…with a message.
Cheers
Cal Morton, Interlinked Media
Jan 7, 2009 6:10 PM
Mathiastick,
Nothing wrong about bookmarking applications. We produce and use them too but if every single mobile website uploads several iterations of bookmark apps to Getjar, Mobango, etc then the app-stores will be cluttered by nothing else than bookmark applications. A lot of users don’t understand this and get dissapointed.
Magnus
Feb 2, 2009 6:26 PM
I agree. I think there are alot of low quality apps that companies put out to just make a quick dollar and its coming back to hurt them.
Feb 5, 2009 3:11 PM
I don’t think you can love mobile apps to much. I think you get in trouble when you produce cheap apps that have no value.
May 21, 2009 7:12 PM
I agree. I presume there are alot of low quality apps that companies put out to pure make a quick dollar and its coming back to hurt them.
May 22, 2009 6:13 PM
This is definitely true but unfortunately it forth with means that the app-wealths are getting cluttered witha) low quality applications (8 out of 10 of the iPhone apps are poorly designed and don’t deliver what they promise in the description)b) applications that don’t daily grind on the phones that they are intended for (most apps on Getjar, Nokia Mosh, Mobango, etc are only tested on a few devices and hence matter-of-factly don’t work on 1/3 or more of all devices)c) bookmark applications that don’t have any other functionality than linking to a mobile website which is often not communicated in the description