"Apps are here to stay and they are changing the face of all businesses, big and small."
- Appvertising, page 80
"Apps are produced with a unique win/win formula which benefits the user, the developer and the brand."- Appvertising, page 6
Consumers are more likely to have a smartphone with them at all times than any other accessory. People have embraced smartphone apps to save time, increase productivity and be entertained. Traditional ‘dead time’ like commuting and time spent waiting in queues are now filled with apps. There are apps for every purpose including banking, navigation, eBooks, music, news, information management, healthcare, and of course, communication.
Traditional industries such as music, movies, retail and travel are being disrupted by apps. Using the smartphone’s built in functions like GPS, cameras, wireless communication and cloud services, businesses such as Airbn, Uber, Facebook and Alibaba have been able to leverage the power of crowdsourcing to solve problems for consumers without carrying any assets of their own. It is said that a London taxi driver needs to memorize 25,000 streets while an Uber driver just needs a smartphone.
Entrepreneurs and developers who have good ideas and skills can develop an app relatively easily and affordably. App stores are cost effective platforms to market and promote apps.
App stores stand to gain from the sales of apps. For example, Apple charges 30% for each app sold on its app store. Apple realized quickly that apps also help to sell iPhones and iPads, and is supportive of app developers.
"The communication medium of the future is mobile and the advertising medium of the future is apps."- Appvertising, page 135
There are two key trends in smartphones with huge implications for marketers and businesses:
Mobile app advertising, or ‘appvertising’, is the use of apps to deliver branding, messages, content or functionality to reach target audiences using mobile devices or platforms. This is a way for companies to leverage the growing mobile platform to sell more products and services and generate a greater ROI for their advertising dollar. Examples are the Pizza Hut ordering app and Coca-Cola’s ‘Spin the bottle’ app.
86% of smartphone users multi-task with other media such as TV, music, video and the internet while using their smartphones. Therefore, the key to effective appvertising is interactivity in order to attract the attention of the consumer. It is also important to provide a seamless advertising message across all media.
The key types of appervertising to date are:
"Ask anyone who has developed a successful app and they’ll tell you that it didn’t happen overnight."- Appvertising, page 158
Finnish computer game developer Rovio Entertainment had created 52 failed games and was facing bankruptcy before the remarkable success of Angry Birds. The eventual success was all to do with persevering, promoting and updating.
Here’s some strategic approaches for creating an app:
Market research
Development
Design
Promotion
Growth
Even though it seems there is an app for everything, in reality it is just the first generation of a new technology. Predictive personalisation ranging from retail to healthcare, mobile commerce and augmented reality are some of the emerging trends that will influence future app developments.
Stephen Molloy is a leading authority in digital and mobile apps, employing the brightest from across the world to deliver solutions for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows. At the time of writing his book “How Apps Are Changing The World” he had developed more apps that anyone else in Australia.
