Mobile Apps

Submitted By: Anisha Gidwani

Student ID no: 10987339
 Introduction
• Over the past 10 years, the mobile phone has become the only gadget that nobody
can do without.
• Marketers have wondered how to engage, without spamming? How to sustain
interaction without constant redevelopment? How to apply the creativity for which the
advertising industry is so well known to location-based technologies and teeny tiny
screens? The answer to all this is the “app”
• An application can fulfill all the requirements of a successful and engaging brand
utility. An “app” can be useful, relevant and entertaining.
• Mobile phones are not only portable, they're personal, meaning that a useful branded
app concealed discreetly in the privacy of one's pocket could prove more appealing.
• With the Iphone released, Apple now has 30,000 apps and passed its billionth
download in April 2009.
• The rise of the application represents a land grab for the hugely valuable real estate
in all of our pockets. Once we have an app for bar-hopping, recipe shop- ping, or
blood pressure monitoring, it's going to take an awful lot to have us switch. And if the
internet has proven that “pull marketing” can engage and stimulate communities of
loyal brand enthusiasts, mobile represents a chance to apply those principles to more
personal relationships between brands and consumers
 Tips for Brands
• Icom is a UK-based media and technology business that develops
digital and mobile solutions for clients such as Nokia, Orange and Live
Nation. Icom focuses on building mobile products and applications that
are suited to their intended audience and that enhance their mobile
experience. Contagious invited Icom’s John Cecil-Wright to provide his
perspective on the whys, wherefores and how-tos of the mobile app
world for anyone looking to create their own.
• Mobile is not longer quirky and niche and is being recognized by
leading brands and agencies as an intrinsic aspect of their marketing
strategy.
• Definition: An application is a piece of software that, once downloaded,
remains on the user’s device until deleted.
• Application or .Mobi?
– Brands need to consider their objectives and target audience. As a rule,
.Mobi sites are more accessible than applications. However, apps, due to
the fact they are downloaded to a handset and therefore don’t require a
connection for access, offer greater longevity.
• What Functionality?
– Functionality is an important area to consider. Applications can be simple and fun that
purely encourage a user to share. These type of apps does not necessarily need to
serve any useful purpose, but can achieve good brand awareness. Mobile can offer a
brand much more than just awareness and short term buzz
• Revenue Generation
– If an application or .Mobi site can serve a practical purpose, users will pay a
premium to download it. In addition, mobile can be used as a platform to
drive revenues from sponsorship, advertising and third party tie-ins.
• ROI
– Applications provide the most effective marketing method to date of
capturing rich user data. As soon as someone interacts with either an
application or .Mobi site their mobile number and model is captured, then as
they explore the software it is possible to track their movements (in much
the same way as one tracks page impressions on a website). So already
the beginnings of a user’s profile can be captured for future segmentation
and targeting.
• Integrated Solutions
– A brand must consider how entering the mobile space will fit into its current marketing
strategy. Mobile can be used to make more traditional forms of advertising measurable
and interactive (“call to actions”)
• Creative
– There should be a creative look and feel especially with limitations such as screen size
• Who benefits?
– Mobile space offers brands new opportunities for interacting with existing customers
and opens the door to previously untapped markets.
 Landscape/Consumers
• There’s no getting away from the fact that mobile internet use is on the up, due
to data subscriptions and a staggering uplift in 3G subscriptions.
• Messaging
– Mobile subscribers carry a highly personal marketing channel with them at
all times. This is an opportunity missed, considering that messaging
continues to be the most popular service second only to voice calls. Text is
the gateway to mass audiences in the US and western Europe.
• Photos
– Camera phones are now in the hands of majority of mobile phone users.
mobile social tools from Flickr and Kodak, are changing the photo land-
scape by giving people an opportunity to document and share in real time,
driving increased usage of blogs and social networks and extending their
value as a long term resource.
• Music
– One in five mobile subscribers across the US and western Europe now
listen to music on their mobile device. Apple and Sony Ericsson exemplify
popular platforms enabling people to discover and buy full-track songs.
• Gaming
– Mobile gaming has been on the verge for breakthrough for several years. Twelve our
of the 25 most popular mobile apps in Apple’s App Store are games, including classics
such as pac-man and hangman. Sega, for example, has launched its “Super Monkey
Ball” in the App Store priced at $9.99 and has gone on to sell over a million units,
which stands on a par with a hit Sony PSP or Nintendo DS title.
– Advertisers will be able to create branded casual games like Audi’s A4 driving game
and toys like the Harmonica app, that can be distributed through online outlets such as
the App Store or Nokia’s Ovi.
• Content Channels
– Time-sensitive content continues to be the most popular category for mobile internet
users. The number of people in the US using he internet to access news and
information doubled from 2008 to 2009 to a phenomenal 63.2 million people. There's a
growing opportunity for the publishing world, as apps provide new ways for publishers
to distribute and monetise their content, and increase their circulation.
• Commerce
– Mobile content commerce is on the verge of a breakthrough in western markets. The
challenge for marketers is to progress from low cost items, like ringtones, toward
higher priced goods.
• Search
– ABI Research estimates that mobile search related ad revenue will rise from its 2008
value of $813M to be worth $5B by 2013, clearly marketing it out as a key growth
area.
• Social Networking
– The growth of social media for mobile shows how user behaviour is evolving to more
time-intensive interaction. The key opportunities for brands will be to create a
presence on social networks through utilities that do one thing well, or premium
entertainment that can be used to reach and create value for mobile audiences.
 Branded Apps/Case Studies
• The popularity of apps is providing a fertile playing ground for advertisers. They are a new channel for
highly targeted, interactive content that resides on the one device that on one leaves home without. If
done right, apps offer an opportunity to build an ongoing dialogue with your customers and can potentially
increase loyalty.
• The key is to add value to your audience by providing relevant and targeted service or piece of
entertainment that, ideally, creates a viral effect.
• Service-based apps (Kraft/iFood Assistant)
– Kraft, the world’s 3rd largest food and beverage company entered the application fray towards the
end of 2008 with the iFood Assistant. The app quickly went to #2 in the Lifestyle category of the
iPhone app store. This is impressive considering that there is a 99-cent charge for downloading it.
– The iFood Assistant furnishes consumers with tips, recipes and consequent shopping lists (obviously
including Kraft products)
– This is a real masterclass in branded utility from Kraft - proving that if you make something useful
enough, consumers will be happy to not only be marketed to, but what’s more, pay for the privilege
AND exchange personal information.
• Charmin / Sit or Squat
– 4

– P&G brand Charmin, known over the past decade for providing free public restrooms in New York’s
Times Square, sponsored an app for Blackberry and iPhone users, which tells them how to locate a
toilet via the free SitOrSquat application. This app also rates the toilets depending on cleanliness
and other amenities.
– The site was launched in 2007, and has over 52,000 toilets logged and more than half a million
users, with 1,800 downloads of the mobile apps.
• British Airways / Executive Club
– British airways was the first airline to launch a mobile app for its top consumers. The
app allows users to check-in from their mobiles, check flight details and gives
Executive Club members access to their accounts, points and miles balances.
– There have been over 70,000 downloads of the app from more than 60 countries.
• Lastminute.com / Talking Phone Translator
– Another travel brand intent on encouraging loyalty by adding value is Lastminute.com.
This talking iPhone Translator enables iPhone users to convert 5 different languages
(German, Italian, Spanish, Portugese and French) into English as well hear the
phrases spoken via the iPhone’s speakers.
– The app includes essential phrases that travelers need to communicate, including how
to order food and dealing with medical emergencies. By hearing it with the speakers,
users will be taught how to pronounce the phrases authentically.
• Obama ‘08
– Apps can of course be successfully leveraged for political as well as pure
entertainment ends. As part of Obama’s brilliant social media campaign, one month
before the election last year, Team Obama announced the release of an iPhone app
for its supporters.
– The app included many features to enable users to become active campaigners. The
app also made it easy to receive updates on the latest news and announcements.
– Most importantly, the app supplied clear information about Barack Obama and Joe
Biden’s ideas and policies for America.
 App Stories
• Downloads from the App Store on Apple’s iTunes site reached a billion in April
2009, and the impact on Apple’s revenue has been significant. App downloads
along with strong Iphone sales contributed to the company’s $8B revenues
posted for its fiscal second quarter 2009, up almost 9% on the same quarter last
year.
• At the same time, competition is heating up as challenger brands such as
Blackberry, Google, Samsung, Nokia and Microsoft aim to eat into Apple’s
leading market position. However, it is important to keep in mind Apple’s unique
advantages: its premium brand; a single device; and a mature content
distribution platform through iTunes.
• Price point of apps
– A key trend to watch in the App store is the varying commercial model (premium vs
free) as well as the fluctuating price for premium apps.
– Marketers planning a business case for branded apps should understand that there
are clear benefits to both free and premium commercial models, and no definitive best
practice. The advantage of free and low cost apps is increased reach
– Paid for apps are most appropriate for content or services that carry a premium
association, through quality, brand name, or production value (of games, for example).
 Looking Ahead
• Branded apps are a fast moving space that will see much change over
the coming years. Already a diverse group of brands, companies and
organizations have begun to test ideas in the product space, hoping to
grab an early mover advantage and learn about their customers’ likes
and dislikes about commercial models, price points and in-app
advertising.
• Although competition looks to get fierce within the distribution
marketplace, the upside lies in the hands of the consumer; given the
wide choice of product, relative ease (for some), and lack of price
barrier for free apps, nearly anyone with a smartphone can have a go.
And as more people discover their favorite products and services,
usage will grow. For critical mass to build beyond the early adopters,
it’s essential for marketers of apps to retain their audiences, as The
New York Times does, by continually publishing new content.