Expert Voices is the Teimlo blog entry series dedicated to sourcing expert knowledge for our readers and customers. Please read, enjoy, share comment.
Expert Voices # 12 (Part 1) Is it an app … or is it WAP … and does it matter? looks at the differences between mobile applications and mobile websites and looks at how brands lean towards using certain mobile applications.
Here is a reprise of the article.
Like so many things, there are pros and cons of brands using either a mobile application or a mobile website. This is when wise brands must consider applications and WAP sites and always look to the future.
It’s fairly easy to see why applications have made a big comeback. It’s not just the immense presence of Apple’s iPhone App Store but the ease at which it is accessed and the way products are presented. It is also very easy for a brand to be seduced by the application ‘model’ as the quoted download figures and related revenue simply cannot be ignored. As with all industry ‘booms’ however, it pays to take a closer look…
Mobile as a delivery platform and marketing tool is still a little way off its final destination and it would seem that marketing a ‘stand alone service’ is far easier for many brands.YouTube seem to have all angles covered though and offer three options to the consumer. The first is a site dedicated to Mobile devices; the second is an application that works as a ‘shortcut’ to the Mobile site and the third is a handset based application that pulls content from the Mobile site. The theme here is that they consider the mobile internet to be a very important channel for them.
There are some instances where an application delivering information will seem more useful than an equivalent Mobile internet site. This is generally attributed to situations where network coverage is less consistent. However, the underlying issue is often more likely to be that there isn’t any other way of reliably accessing this information via a mobile device.
There are exceptions to this and those include examples like the Cross Country Trains timetable application. It can store timetable information for use at anytime or it can connect to the internet to retrieve the latest updates or your next available train. MBooks are also a good example and publications like the King James Version of the Bible haven’t changed since 1611! News applications also have their place where a consumer can use them effectively when on the underground for instance but in order to stay up to date, the application needs to be able to connect to the internet at some point to retrieve up to date information and this relies on the consumer both remembering and having the time to do it when they do have network coverage.
Many brands still see the Mobile Internet as a poor relative of the Application and the fixed line Internet, largely drawn by aesthetics.
In the case of the application it’s the rich interfaces, the flashing lights above the app stores and the pound signs created by the potential revenue generating opportunity. The facts remains however that a brand cannot afford to charge a consumer to interact with them, and any application that needs up to date information still need the Mobile Internet for that information. “You are the wind beneath my wings” springs to mind here!
Brands are often drawn to iconic products such as the iPhone or Blackberry but regularly fail to look at mass audiences. The Mobile Internet is instantly accessible by most consumers on most handsets on most price plans and whilst Mobile Internet sites aren’t always as ‘rich’ as applications, the information available is instant and up to date and there is no need for consumers to download and install an application in order to access it.
The other key thing that many brands are still missing is that their current website is available via the Mobile Internet and consumers are reaching these sites on their handsets. What does your website look like on your Mobile phone? Go on, try it now, I dare you? And don’t just see that something loads, actually try to use it.
Maybe instead of investing in a short term application launch, brands should be opening their field of vision and look to create a Mobile friendly version of their website.
Google are standing up for the Mobile Internet for a very good reason. Maybe they could learn from application stores in the way that they deliver information but then Google gives consumers results from every page on the internet. Google don’t believe in walled gardens and neither do consumers. If you are hosting a party then it is generally considered polite to arrive before your guests …brands should remember this when deciding how to communicate with consumers via mobile.
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