If we look at the categories of apps available, you see everything from the farting app to mobile banking. The use of the app has far exceeded games, utilities or even information. Marketers are grappling with branding opportunities to develop applications they believe push their message closer to home. Automobile brands develop racing applications, Snack food brands put out calorie counting applications and so on and so forth. How do we go about measuring effectiveness on these applications and how else can an application work harder for our clients?
Sure we can measure downloads, but who’s tracking the retention rate? How successful is an application if it's downloaded once and banished to page 20 of our iPhone home screen? A successful branded application in my book needs to play within the boundaries of the mobile environment. It needs to serve a tangible value to the downloader. Branding should always be proceeded by action. This builds real brand behaviour which allows for consumer endorsement and evangelism to happen. The mobile application environment is a fantastic medium for an opt –in user experience like no other.
In this case study, we see Nationwide insurance building a free iPhone application that helps Nationwide customers find local resources, document the accident and submit claims information via their handset. This tells me Nationwide is thinking about its tagline ““I am On Your Side.”
By bringing real time value to a real need, Nationwide customers don’t just hear the marketing message. They actually get it. This branding effect results in a tremendous effect and benefit which will resound within that user’s sphere of buzz-influence.
And that to me, is an awesome way of putting 1 billion downloaded mobile applications into marketing context. Well done
Song of the blog "360 degrees by Asa"
