Why Apps why?

There is an App for everything. But does everything need to be "App-ed?" Over the past year, Apps have dominated the innovation conversation amongst many creative planners, branding/product managers and marketing professionals worldwide. We see Apps that range from the integrated ( sales -force mobile) to the redundant ones (paragon app anyone?).

I can see the value proposition, hell i even preached about it for a good 12 months. The intrinsic value of getting one's service offering to reside as branded content in someone's phone is an amazing property to have. Now, in case you're wondering, i'm not jumping off the app bandwagon by any chance, i just think the wagon is currently filled with alot of lemons and very few winners. This boils down to 2 main fails, A lack of strategic understanding and too many assumptions.

What's your favorite branded app? Keeping to a local context, do you even have any branded apps living in your iPhone/BB/Android powered handset? ( I've excluded Nokia as the Ovi store isn't productive enough to be considered) Chances are the only ones would be readers such as Straits Times/ Today or some utility app developed by the government. Even those fail to hit the mark as the apps don't offer anything more than a good mobile site could have provided.

Brands need to identify their main proposition, examine what the iPhone or BB can do and create an original service that makes the app valuable. Do i want to read the papers on the go? Yes. Why should i read it on an app? Wouldn't a STOMP app make more sense than the Straits Times ( where the full story isn't even available on the app)? Users in real time could easily publish/report stories they see with geo location information and quick pictures. Stomp contributors could use the app on a functional level and Stomp readers could get their latest MRT grope in real time.

There are many more examples where apps are created without any reason to exist. Most times, it's either a duplication or meaningless. What happens then is a quick delete or relegation to page 20 of an iPhone. This brings us to measurement, downloads is a terrible way to measure apps as no one knows what happens to the app after. Unless there is regular interaction with some login or submission, most marketers have no idea. Kinda like direct mail marketing, yes it's 100% delivery , but it could also be 100% delivery from postbox to bin.

Let's not get carried away just because we think we can win awards with these apps or even because "everyone and everything has been app-ed". As with most good marketing strategy planning sessions, keep asking why? Then ask why again.

Song of the day

"Don't tell me that its over" by Amy Macdonald

Hot Buffalo wings and Purple Cows

I read Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" again last week and it's pretty amazing how every different read yields a unique and different response. (Kinda like Willy Wonka's varied flavored candy).I found myself thinking more and more about how true some of his observations were. The basic idea is simple enough, your brand/product needs to be outstanding amongst a sea of mediocrity. ( Thus a "purple" cow) Seth's adaptation is that it might not matter what the difference really is, as long as it is.

Be the first, the hippest , the largest, the smallest, the most hard to find and so on. I started to think about our very own local Sunset Grill with it's legendary Buffalo Wings. ( I've gone up to heat level 17 and i have the scars to prove it)
Now, for those who have been there, you'll know what i am talking about. For those who have not , let me summarize it briefly.

The location is inaccessible , the decor is just run down ( i don't care what anyone says, it's not "rustic") and the food is very mediocre and priced on the high side. So why do throngs of fans and super fans continue to make the pilgrimage to torture their taste buds and murder their bowels? The answer is in the heat. The challenge it presents to anyone who prides themselves as a hot head.

But how do you explain the other multitude of customers who think KFC hot n spicy really is hot n spicy? Why would they make their way down for a plate of level 1 cowardice?

WOM marketing is the holy grail of viral marketing in my opinion. Whether you hate or love Sunset Grill's wings, everyone has an opinion and is not afraid to express it. This to me is the secret recipe behind Sunset's cash register ringing in the dollars.
Everyone, whether heat lovers or not has heard the tale of Sunset's grill from someone they know. This influencer has somehow piqued enough interest for his audience to give it a go. In the words of Paris Hilton, "That's Hot!"

WOM marketing can only be manufactured/conjured when you as a business owner are not afraid to relinquish control over what the word is. I often get into conversations with clients who demand a very fixed outcome based on a specific message. I usually have a hard time convincing them that it won't work unless the word is the truth. Apologies for the religious context but in this instance, the "word" in WOM marketing should never be treated like an ad copy.

Whether you are selling hot wings or branding the next massage chair, your product/service is the WORD. What makes it different from anyone else ( the Purple Cow) are the letters that form the word but ultimately, your WORD will be determined by your customers and if it's a good one, it will make its way to your sales/targets.

Song of the day

Let it be me by Ray LaMontagne