Yes it’s true, America’s most loved cookbook has gone mobile. A free Betty Crocker iPhone application offers meal suggestions based on what’s in your pantry. An even bigger surprise is that the $.99 iFood Assistant from Kraft is one of the 100most popular paid iphone applications. With 19th century brands leading the way, mobile marketing may finally be making some headway.
Mobile marketing is getting a big assist from the iPhone. It’s hard to believe but the iPhone won’t even celebrate its 2-year birthday until June. That’s right, only 18 months old.
Apple sold Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first thirty hours, and has gone on to sell another 17 million globally through the end of 2008, helped by rapid introductions of faster speeds, lower prices and new app’s. And there’s no end in sight. While iPhone accounts for just 30% of the ‘smart phone’ category, it has left competitors like RIM in the dust. When we talk about apps for ‘smart phones’, we all know what we’re talking about.
Another amazing statistic: Over half a billion iphone app’s have been sold since their introduction. I did a little digging on what are the most popular. No one will be surprised to learn that among the premium (paid) app’s games rule. (Will GameBoys be the next victim of convergence?) Among the free iPhone applications, Apple’s list released in December includes many games, but also two social networking apps–Facebook and AOL’s AIM. It also includes two travel apps, Google Earth and Urbanspoon. The list also features a pair of entertainment apps, Apple’s Remote and The MacBox’s Lightsaber, along with two music apps, Pandora Radio and Shazam. Time magazine published its list of top 10 most useful app’s. These include Around Me, which tells travellers what is of interest nearby, including stores & restaurants, AP’s News on Demand, Wikipanion, and Ocarina (turns your phone into a wind instrument).Notable shopping related app’s are Save Benji’s which provides comparison prices and Yelp, consumer reviews.
For marketers wishing to reach mobile Millennials (is there any other kind?), iPhone app’s are a dream come true. iphone app’s are:
1) as targeted as search
2) potentially as close-to-the-sale as in-store
3) as trackable as email
4) as interactive as a web site
According to a slide share presentation by Marta Kagan of Viximo, iphone users have higher than average discretionary income and iphone app’s enjoy a higher than average response rate. Put all that together and branded app’s may be the killer app of all time.
The key for marketers is making a branded app that Millennials will use and will also benefit the brand, which is not as easy as it may sound.
I had trouble finding success stories in this space. Zippo’s Virtual Lighter is interesting as a novelty but doesn’t really offer any functionality or buzz value. Audi’s Driving Challenge didn’t get good reviews, even in 2.0. Maybe Millennial marketers need to look at those 19th century brands a little closer? Feel free to send me examples of successful BRANDED mobile app’s.
