Today, the latest edition of ‘New Media Age’ landed on the mat.
Increasingly, the last few weekly editions have only served to re-enforce my views on early-adopter enthusiasm and exuberance clouding sensible business judgement but, today, it’s apparent that ‘Apps’ are not proving to be quite the advertising and marketing meal-ticket previously perceived…..
‘Pop-Ups! Pop-Ups!’
Coming from a ‘web’ background, as I do, I must admit that I’ve found the notion of ‘apps’ and their exultation immensely irritating of late. I’m actually reminded of some long-since gone TV ad featuring Jennifer Saunders sitting in an internet cafe having some kind of crisis after being deluged with pop-ups. ‘Apps’ have kind of had the same effect on me.
Now, in fact, I can well see that there is a time and place for everything – and time and place are in fact extremely good variables for use in ‘Apps’ as they can do good things by interfacing with mobile GPS and stuff to provide location-aware information etc. and do genuinely software-y kind of things that you can’t really do with even the most sophisticated web application.
However, why so many businesses have fallen for the idea of having an ‘App’ which restricts them to a particular handset audience when they could have achieved far more with a decent mobile website has baffled and irritated me for quite a while.
Anyhow, lo and behold in this week’s NMA there is a whole clutch of snippets and items about the shortcomings of ‘Apps’ and the rise in interest concerning the true mobile web. Hurrah! Long live the King! Down with the Emperor! (There’s also a really good piece about not fixing what ain’t broken when it comes to revamping your existing website but I digress….)
Surely not? – ‘Hype’ is used in same sentence as ‘Apps’!
First, on page 4, there’s a subheadline ‘Brands warned mobile apps are not reaching as many users as hype suggests’ . Horror of horrors! Sacre bleu! How can this be?
Apparently, a recent study by ComScore has revealed that only 31% of UK mobile users have downloaded an ‘App’ whilst over 37% regularly access the mobile internet. Now that can’t be a result of apps being expensive and that there’s a war on – sorry I mean recession. Even I can afford an app or two at £1.50 or whatever they are – if I forego my weekly ice cream of course.
Even more interesting, James Tagg, head of mobile at Starcom MediaVest said “Many advertisers are getting caught up in the hype about apps but there is a growing realisation that the mobile web will soon have to be thought about more seriously”.
And then on P8 the headline says: Smartphone boom creates division for mobile advertisers’. This alludes to the fact that advertisers are waking up to the realisation that to advertise via ‘Apps’ requires multiple investment, multiple adverts and all the associated double-handling, duplication of effort and attendant management and technical headaches. It’s just not efficient and cost-effective. No wonder then that further down in the same item it says ‘…the polarisation could lead to an increased focus on web activity….’. ‘Could’? Surely ‘should’ and ‘must’. It’s really a simple matter of horses for courses. ‘Apps’ are essentially embedded mini-software programmes that can only work with a particular mobile operating system. As such, they need to be sourced, downloaded and installed.
Whilst ‘Apps’ may well have some degree of live connection to the mobile internet so that e.g. up-to-date advertisements can be displayed and interacted with in real-time this is not the same as having an advertisement running on the mobile web and which can be seen and interacted with by anyone with any handset just via their pre-installed web browser on any internet capable handset be it iPhone, Android, Windows, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Blackberry etc., etc.
Personally, I believe this is just matter of time and education.
The tempting Apple
It’s a bit like the ‘dotcom’ goldrush. Everyone has piled in to ‘Apps’ because Apple has led the way in terms of making mobile sexy and fun and other handset manufacturers have had to follow suit. Consumers have only really had ‘Apps’ pushed at them – not as yet the true mobile web. Advertisers have therefore had to try to reach the initial mobile market via shoe-horning ads into ‘App’s but of course that’s far from ideal in terms of the business case which ideally needs to reach the whole market with single creative, technical and managerial approach – which only the mobile web can ultimately provide.
Eventually, things will settle and stabilise. ‘Apps’ will continue to have their rightful place as embedded software gadgets doing useful specific stuff whilst mobile web will be the primary medium for true universal access to online information, advertising and multimedia resources (think ‘iTunes’).
Whilst there will be always be good reason for some businesses to have a dual ‘Apps’ and mobile web strategy, most businesses will be focused on mobile web – and especially as HTML5 takes hold.
Mark Wilderspin 