 INTERNATIONAL | MOBILE |
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| Apps: Optimizing the Viewing Experience |
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Mobile apps are becoming increasingly popular and tend to explode during major events. While they're still not considered a viable business model, apps are currently a great source of added value for all media content.
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They come in all shapes and sizes; some you buy, some are free; there's convenient and there are time-wasters. Major corporations design them and incorporate them to their marketing strategies, yet stand to lose ground against young programmers and tech students who come up with new ideas, Big Bang Theory-style.
For about a year or two, mobile apps have been all the rage. Whether meant for iOS (Apple) or Android (Google) -the two most popular OS-, these tiny programs suit all preferences and needs.
With a major event such as the London 2012 Olympics just around the corner, apps are currently at fever pitch. "The Olympics include too many activities; I need an app to keep up with everything," is something any early adopter sports fan might say.
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Media companies are well aware of this and have their New Business, Media Development and Marketing departments working full steam ahead on new apps to remain a part of both massive and segmented audiences' top of mind. "We've devised a tablet lab devoted to creating advertising ideas for tablets, to simplify information exchange between agencies and clients, in order to attract better ads and make the most of the platforms' full potential," said Manoel Lemos, GM, digital at Abril Media, part of Brazilian publishing company Grupo Abril.
Targeting the London Olympics, companies such as NBC or the BBC -Olympic referents in their respective countries- have launched apps which allow users to follow every minute of all the commotion at the event through their mobile devices: live-coverage of all sporting events, broadcasting via streaming, athletes' profiles updated in real time, information on the Olympics, links to social networks…. All in all, it's what analysts on occasion refer to as "immersion" experience.
In fact, beyond the economic aspects, what truly makes apps valuable is the added value they supply. Thus, NBC is stating the idea behind the NBC Olympics Live Companion app is for it to operate as a secondary screen through which one can access additional information while staying on top of the main broadcast (ideally, on NBC). All this, added to the fact that information will be updated constantly on social networks, accessible through any device; the coverage becomes a well-rounded, multi-platform experience with a successful brand strategy behind it.
In addition, while recently the BBC stated its apps have already been downloaded over 25 million times (12% of the US$ 1.7 billion it generated in 2011), it's an up-and-coming business model that's still in its early stages. The inability to develop Flash apps, and the consequential need to use other programming languages such as Objective-C (iOS) and Android SDK (Android), makes i tan expensive process since one must adapt to each systems characteristics and create the so-called "native apps." That is, until the day comes when a universal language is embraced by every programmer (industry connoisseurs abide by HTML5) to simplify the business model and reduce costs.
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