app

A Dead Web Could Be Good For Advertising

Last summer, Wired wrote a very widely debated article on how the web is dead. It was argued by Chris Anderson, “much as we love freedom and choice, we also love things that just work, reliably and seamlessly.” For instance, “we’ll pay for convenience and reliability, which is why iTunes can sell songs for 99 cents,” as Chris points out, “An entire generation has grown up in front of a browser… We get the web. It’s part of our life.” It’s now that, Chris states, “the shift to the app model on rich media platforms like the iPad” is taking place, and “where limited free content drives subscription revenues.”

If the web is dead, which of late seems to be the direction it might be headed, this is good news for advertising. Appssavvy recently released a report that found in-app ads (apps inside social network apps or mobile apps) perform 11.4 times better than standard banner ads. Recently, a former Magnify Digital team member, Brian Wong launched his latest venture Kiip that gets advertisers and gamers thinking of screen real estate and in-game experience differently. Brian told Mashable that “[He thinks] that we have too long been fixated with screen estate and the attention exchange as being a key part of the advertising equation.”

Although “appvertising” is fairly new, app publishers continue to tweak and adjust their apps as need be to deliver unique and different advertising successes. Yesterday, Mashable discussed the three main types of “appvertising” that seems to be working:

Become Part of the Game

Finding a way to have a brand appear in a way that enhances the game experience. Last year, Appssavvy ran a campaign where they brought Windows Cloud into GodFinder All-Stars game. The user activity itself leveraged what a user was already doing in the game. In this six-week promotion, 10% of game player’s visited the Windows Cloud (6.1 million visits).

Bribery

Instead of blending advertising into the game experience, brands can ask players to sit through an ad in exchange for virtual game currency. Currently, SocialVibe is one of the main companies providing this type of service, but this is also the category where Kiip inserts themselves with a twist on “virtual currency” and instead providing real prizes.

Make Better Ads

Rich media mobile ads invite users to actually engage with the brand and ad itself, where the ad can be turned into an interactive game for users with a brand. For instance, users can swipe or tap on an iPhone that does an action to reveal a brands story.

With Mary Meeker from Business Insider claiming that 2012 will be the inflection point of which mobile devices will see significant growth, mobile advertising is about to take off. The transition from the “stay-at-home” desktop device to the “on-the-go” mobile device is being realized by marketers all over North America, with 75% of marketers planning to add mobile to their marketing mix in 2011 (Forrester Research).

If you’re not thinking mobile yet, you should be. The tipping point is approaching!

Tags: ads, advertising, app, ipad, iPhone, mobile ads

The Explosion of Hyper-Exclusive Mobile Communities

Now three months into 2011, it’s clear that the integration of mobile, social, and geo-location is about to take off in a big way. Companies looking to further grow their online communities and conversations amongst fans have never had so many options on different types of networks and devices. In the past six months, and especially during March at SXSW, two new mobile social community categories have dominated headlines:

• Photo-Sharing
• Group Messaging

Photo Sharing

More than ever, brands are starting to realize the benefit of generating content and not just text based. Over the past six months, the biggest trend in generating content is to ensure that your brand or company is striving for context and providing value. Mobile photo sharing on iPhone and Android has never been more popular amongst smart phone users than in the last six months. Brands have found a distinct advantage in becoming part of mobile photo-sharing networks because users have fewer issues over privacy on these networks than Facebook.

Mobile photo-sharing applications don’t ask for permission to gain access to sensitive personal information such as your name, phone number, address, date of birth, etc. Instead, users around the world are free to share photos amongst their friends and other network users while also choosing to see other cool photos from anyone they choose to follow. Consumers, specifically young adults, enjoy creating a community around interesting and fascinating pieces of art, in this case, photos. Brands that have experimented with photo sharing include, Levis Brazil, San Diego Chargers, Starbucks, NPR, Brisk Iced Tea, and many others.

Depending on your industry and company, brands are using the tools to give users a “behind-the-scenes” look at their events, meetings, product development, or other things and to share with their fans. Fans of mobile photo-sharing networks seem to be interested in sharing these photos as a “cool way” to socially connect with the community. Mobile apps to watch out for are:

• Instagram
• PicPlz
• Hipstamatic
• Color (New – Launched March 24th)

Group Messaging

The early micro-trend in 2011 is all about group messaging and the ability to create small networks of friends labeled as, for example, “Sport friends”, “Coffee Mates”, “Shopaholics”, etc. The idea that mobile apps could provide an organized, interesting, and relevant experience to keep track of micro-conversations amongst group of friends is very appealing. Brands think so too! Companies are starting to explore ways of how to use these platforms and developers are already trying to build brand incentives into their apps.

GroupMe launched “Featured Conversations” on March 28th that allows users to talk in groups of people about their favourite brands or companies (if they are featured). For instance, group conversations can happen around the Vancouver Canucks, Gap, Bon Jovi, Randy Jackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew, etc. This is just the beginning of this new category of mobile apps. Other companies that made a splash in this space at SXSW are:

• Beluga – Acquired by Facebook on March. 3rd
• Grouped{In} – Launched at SXSW 2011
• Google’s Disco – Launched March. 26th (USA only)
• Fast Society – USA only right now
• KIK

The future of online and mobile communities is growing significantly, but it will be interesting to see the choices companies make in the future.

Over the next two years, communities will blur or merge from larger online social networks (ie: Twitter and Facebook) to more hyper-local exclusive networks on mobile apps. Let the fun of mobile communities and user adoptions begin!

Tags: advertising, app, group messaging, mobile, photo-sharing

Resuscitate Your Twitter Account

Creating, using and managing your personal or business Twitter account is a lot of work. If you didn’t realize this when you first created your Twitter account, it is likely being left idle and unattended for weeks or even months.

Many accounts have faced this fate and many more will likely join them in the Twitter abyss where fail whales loom and Twitter droppings litter the ground.

Twitter users may have abandoned their accounts for a number of reasons, for example, stating:

• “I don’t have time to tweet anymore”
• “Twitter isn’t that exiting or fun anymore”
• “I don’t think anyone is even reading my tweets”

These are legitimate reasons, but there are ways you can overcome them.

Twitter is an effective tool that can be used in a strategy to reach real goals and objective. Using Twitter effectively, however, takes dedicated time and resources.

Here are some ways to overcome the challenges of using Twitter.

I don’t have time to tweet anymore

Tweeting on a daily basis is a challenge for many people. Finding and creating valuable tweets beyond what you ate for lunch today, takes time. This is where technology comes in.

There are many free tools that can help you tweet on a consistent basis.

Hootsuite allows you to preschedule tweets to publish them at a later date. If you know you’ll be busy the entire day tomorrow, why not schedule a tweet or two in advance.

Mobile apps like Twitter for the BlackBerry or Twitter for the iPhone allows you to tweet on the go.

Twitter isn’t that exiting or fun anymore

It’s true that the dramatic growth of Twitter adoption has plateaued a bit, but what’s special about Twitter is not the tool itself, but what you make of it. If you’re bored with what you’re currently doing on Twitter, why not try something new?

Use a 3rd party app, such as StumbleUpon’s iPad app to discover new content and configure your new stumbles to publish on Twitter. (If you need help on how to set it up, ask me in the post’s comments section).

Or maybe find a new group of Twitter users who share a similar interest as you or your business industry and start conversations with them. You can discover new users through Twitter lists, through Twitter directories like WeFollow.com or through hash tags like #canucks (for Canuck fans) or #worldcup (for World Cup fans).

I don’t think anyone is even reading my tweets

It’s hard to be motivated to tweet on a consistent basis if you think you’re speaking to a void. The best way to increase the number of people who read your tweets is by building solid relationships with other Twitter users. Those who find you interesting will likely read and perhaps even retweet your tweets.

Do you feel good when someone retweets your tweets? Well, you’ll probably make them feel good by retweeting their tweets too.

Happy tweeting,

Victor
eMarketing Strategist

Tags: account, app, fail whale, HootSuite, retweet, Twitter, wefollow

Bump App

Most people have seen or have done the standard fist bump when greeting a friend. The Bump App for the iPhone adds a new dimension where the same gesture, while holding the iPhone will enable two people to easily transfer contact information. Better yet, the technology is being used by PayPal to initiate money transfers.

Tags: app, bump, iPhone, paypal

#Canucks Take Top Spot – In Canadian App Store

The Vancouver Canucks iPhone App reached the top spot in the Canadian App Store. The App features include, exclusive news, photos, video, an interactive schedule, access to message boards, scores and stats. This is a great way for the Canucks and fans to be connected. (Source)

Tags: app, canucks, iPhone, Vancouver