By Rimma Kats
March 22, 2011
Discovery iPad app
ORLANDO, FL – The mobile apps versus Web debate took center stage during a panel at International CTIA Wireless 2011's Mobile Marketing & Promotion pre-conference program.
During the “Mobile Applications – The Rumors of Death are Highly Exaggerated” session, speakers talked about the new ideas driving mobile interaction and providing additional consumer touch points for agencies and brands through specially developed applications. The panel was moderated by Steve Spencer, president of Cayuga Service, New York.
“I don’t think apps are dying,” said Michael Schneider, CEO of Mobile Roadie, Los Angeles. “I think they need a reason to exist and right now a user experience on native apps is high and on HTML5 it’s low.
“A lot of people are looking for a direct revenue from apps,” he said. “I don’t know if all the mechanisms are there.”
According to Sean Rosenberg, managing director Grapple Mobile USA, New York, some applications are dying quickly.
“Location is a defining factor,” Mr. Rosenberg said. “Why make something that is customizable for a mobile device?
“If you’re seeing high repeat usage of mobile, segment that,” he said. “For publishers, there’s eyeballs to be had – there’s media to be created through these apps and sold.
“To increase the number of transactions and increase customer base – that’s where we see a lot of power.”
Android vs. iPhone
According to the panelists, companies that want to break into the mobile space should look at starting on Apple and Google operating systems.
“We started on Apple,” Mr. Schneider said. “I still think it’s the best platform to start.
“Android is catching up quickly,” he said. “In the next year, there are going to be three leaders – there’s going to be iPhone, Android and really, I don’t know what else.
“In general the iPhone and Android provide ease of use for companies looking to develop an application.”
Between iPhone and Android devices, Google has not figure out the payment mechanism of that, per Ted Shelton, CEO of Open-First, Milwaukee, WI.
“Apple has,” Mr. Shelton said. “Apple gets people to pay for apps.
“There are going to be millions of apps and people are only going to use a few,” he said.
Consumer experiences
According to Mr. Shelton, consumers want apps because they want a different experience than the mobile Web.
However, not every brand is using applications to their advantage.
Mr. Shelton said that companies should incorporate location-based services into their mobile marketing initiatives.
“If you look at mobile as an opportunity to rethink the work flow, use those location-based services,” Mr. Shelton said. “There’s an accelerometer on your device, you can use that.
“You can ask consumers if they are satisfied or not with the application by shaking their device,” he said. “You can get real-time feedback.”
Additionally, Mr. Shelton said that with mobile applications, comes mobile advertising.
However, advertising is in a long decline, per the executive.
“Advertising is fundamentally one way,” Mr. Shelton said. “Consumers would rather interact and once they interact they want to have an interesting dialogue.
“Ever since Apple introduced in-app purchases, it has creating a more compelling experience,” he said. “You will see Angry Birds get a seven-figure deal with in-app purchases.
“It won’t be an ad - it’ll be product placements and lead to a click rate.”
Ari Tiktin, director of Discovery Communications, Silver Spring, MD, said that the company mainly uses free and ad-supported applications.
Discovery sells mobile as a larger digital package.
“What’s different for us is where do you spend your money,” Mr. Tiktin said. “How do you get your app discovered?
“We try to put all of the stops,” he said. “We have great social media reach across all our shows.
“We do just whatever we can to promote our apps.”
Across platforms
According to the speakers, companies should make sure that their applications are available across key smartphone platforms.
For example, a consumers who is thinking of buying a Windows Phone 7 device, but finds out that Angry Birds is only available on iPhone and Android devices, will lose interest in Windows Phone 7.
Companies should make sure that they are on all devices to keep the user engagement and reach high.
“I think apps create the best experiences today,” said Mark Hyland, vice president of QuickPlay Media, Toronto, ON. “To a certain extent, an app can take better advantage of that hardware.
“Apps can normalize an experience across multiple devices,” he said. “Ads will work for apps with large scale usage.
“If people are going to use it everyday, then an app is definitely the way to go.”
View Original Article: Mobile Marketer
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