Jello & Betty Crocker Get iPhone Apps: Who's Next?

Yes it's true, America's most loved cookbook has gone mobile. A free Betty Crocker iPhone application offers meal suggestions based on what's in your pantry. An even bigger surprise is that the $.99 iFood Assistant from Kraft is one of the 100most popular paid iphone applications. With 19th century brands leading the way, mobile marketing may finally be making some headway.

Mobile marketing is getting a big assist from the iPhone. It's hard to believe but the iPhone won't even celebrate its 2-year birthday until June. That's right, only 18 months old.

On June 30, 2007 Apple sold Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first thirty hours, and has gone on to sell another 17 million globally through the end of 2008, helped by rapid introductions of faster speeds, lower prices and new app's. And there's no end in sight. While iPhone accounts for just 30% of the 'smart phone' category, it has left competitors like RIM in the dust. When we talk about apps for 'smart phones', we all know what we're talking about.

Another amazing statistic: Over half a billion iphone app's have been sold since their introduction in July 2008. I did a little digging on what are the most popular. No one will be surprised to learn that among the premium (paid) app's games rule. (Will GameBoys be the next victim of convergence?) Among the free iphone applications, Apple's list released in December includes many games, but also two social networking apps--Facebook and AOL's AIM. It also includes two travel apps, Google Earth and Urbanspoon. The list also features a pair of entertainment apps, Apple's Remote and The MacBox's Lightsaber, along with two music apps, Pandora Radio and Shazam. Time magazine published its list of top 10 most useful app's. These include Around Me, which tells travellers what is of interest nearby, including stores & restaurants, AP's News on Demand, Wikipanion, and Ocarina (turns your phone into a wind instrument).Notable shopping related app's are Save Benji's which provides comparison prices and Yelp, consumer reviews.

For marketers wishing to reach mobile Millennials (is there any other kind?), iPhone app's are a dream come true. iphone app's are:

1) as targeted as search

2) potentially as close-to-the-sale as in-store

3) as trackable as email

4) as interactive as a web site

According to a recent slide share presentation by Marta Kagan of Viximo, iphone users have higher than average discretionary income and iphone app's enjoy a higher than average response rate. Put all that together and branded app's may be the killer app of all time.

The key for marketers is making a branded app that Millennials will use and will also benefit the brand, which is not as easy as it may sound.

I had trouble finding success stories in this space. Zippo's Virtual Lighter is interesting as a novelty but doesn't really offer any functionality or buzz value. Audi's Driving Challenge didn't get good reviews, even in 2.0. Maybe Millennial marketers need to look at those 19th century brands a little closer? Feel free to send me examples of successful BRANDED mobile app's.

iPhone: Expensive Phone or Inexpensive Laptop?

iPhones at Wal-Mart? If the rumors are true, Wal-Mart is about to become just the fourth place you can get an iPhone. While that would have been unthinkable a year ago, today it doesn't look like such a crazy idea.... According to a new Comscore report, iPhones are fast movers among those making $25,000-$75,000. In the third quarter, iPhones were up 21% overall, but they increased twice as fast among moderate income people, +47%. While a $100 phone and $70 a month calling plan (well, if you are careful anyway), may seem extravagant, it looks like a real bargain as an all-in-one substitute for a laptop and Internet account, and that's before you factor in the cool factor.

"Mark Donovan, senior analyst, comScore, said "These data indicate that lower-income mobile subscribers are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to access the Internet, e-mail and their music collections... the iPhone is appealing to a new demographic... satisfying demand for a single device for communication and entertainment... "

Since getting my iPhone in April, I have found myself leaving home without my laptop more and more. It's just not necessary if all I am going to be doing is email, directions and checking breaking news. For people who are just plugging into the mobile digital life, the iPhone is the perfect starter kit. For Millennials, it may prove irresistible.

New Mobile Media Apps Keep Millennials Moving

In past blog posts I have pointed out that Millennials are big users of radio, the original 'mobile media' (9.09.08, Millennial Media: Radio and Magazine Deserve a Second Look). Last year, time spent with radio by 14-24 year olds increased 11% while time spent listening to iPods decreased 13% (Age Age, 10.20.08). Now I read that Microsoft's Zune is partnering with the radio industry to leverage the popularity of both FM radio and MP3 players. The idea, called 'song tagging', is very cool. An FM radio tuner is incorporated into a cell phone or MP3 player so when consumers hear a song on the radio, they can buy it right from their device. So far, it has rolled out to just 450 stations nationwide, but there is a push to sign up more.

Whether Apple adds FM and social tagging to the iPod and iPhone remains to be seen. However, according to digital media expert, Adam Broitman of Crayonville, new apps for the iPhone that leverage the social media capabilities of the PHONE itself are coming. Broitman writes this week in imediaconnection article, "The Best Branded iPhone App Available", that Obama Team hit all the core elements an iPhone App should posses: Added Value Content, Localized Content, Localized Social Networking and use of the phone's core functionalities like GPS and text. Here's what Broitman has to say:

"The Obama application allows users to call other people (from within the application itself) in order to urge people to vote for Obama. The application records the number of calls made and displays them in the app and on the web. It integrates your phone book right into the app, truly exploiting the most basic function of the iPhone—making calls. Seeing this application was and “ah-ha” moment, as well as “duh-why didn’t I think of that” moment. With the coming of Android applications and the growth in the social networking sector, we are going to see a great deal of innovation in the space—keep an eye on it." (Adam also blogs at amediacircus )

What, you may ask, is an 'Android' application? Android is a year old open mobile software platform that has been subscribed to by 34 handset manufacturers. I also saw it mentioned by Antonio Lucia, CMO of Visa. "...Some of the first reiterations of the user interface will be featured with Android." Android is the basis of the G1 "Google Phone" introduced last week by T-Mobile. I also hear Android mentioned in a report this morning on NPR and in an article about Visa in last week's Ad Age. Get ready for a flood of more articles showing how Android is supporting Millennials' desire for extreme mobility.

Millennial Target: Samsung Instinct

Ordinarily I would have no room for sympathy for Sprint. Last spring I had to pay $800 to switch to an iPhone before my 4-line Sprint contract was complete. However, I do pity them for having to compete with the most Millennial of all brands/products/services rolled into one: the Apple iPhone. According to twenty-something, Sarah Ewing, (recent MBA grad, former Google employee, self-proclaimed Millennial) all may not be lost. Sprint may have a chance of breaking through to Millennials, after all. Here's what Sara had to say about the "Movie Trailer" campaign that has been running on behalf of Instinct since early last summer:

CP: What campaigns have you seen lately that really stand out?

SE: Samsung Instinct, the greatest product placement movie of all time! What is there not to love about this brand campaign? I know it might be hard to believe, but Millennials are on to marketers' product placement game. Since we are on to it, why not publicly call a spade a spade in an entertaining way? It humorously acknowledges the target's intelligence.

CP: What is so engaging about this spot? Can you be more specific?

SE: Instinct's cinema quality film production enables the brand to penetrate at a low level of frequency. The action film characteristics initially attract the audience, who expect a film preview, engaging them with the ad. Once engaged, it is difficult for to tune out. The featured selling points are treated like film stars. I.e. "featuring turn by turn GPS navigation." As one contribution to film attendance is stars, people pay specific attention to the 'features,' thus remembering the selling points.

CP: Is there anything you don't like about it?

SE: The only critique is that I can remember 'Instinct,' but cannot recall if it is Sprint or Samsung. The partnership branding was not consistently communicated, reducing brand equity. But provided one can remember one or the other, one should be able to find the phone.

I suspect one reason the "Movie Trailer" approach is successful for Instinct, is that its attitude is anti-marketing: it pokes fun at 'serious' marketers at the same time as it gets its points across. This approach, dubbed 'murketing' by Rob Walker, NYT journalist , and author of "Buying In", seems to be particularly effective with Millennials. Millennials are acutely aware that they are a target. Acknowledging their 'intelligence', as Sarah indicates, with an insider's wink, is a smart move on Sprint's (or was it Samsung's?) part.

Millennials & iPhones: Where are the Advertisers?

The impact of the iPhone on the way Millennials communicate with each other and with commercial media is hard to overstate. Yet advertisers appear to be slow to catch on.

Here is some data for perspective:

1. iPhone users represent just 1% of the world's 2.7 Billion mobile devices, but iPhone users completely eclipse those using any other mobile device in their data use -- 95% of those who own an iphone regularly surf the Internet, and 65% of those browsing on mobile devices are using iphones.
2. Google sees 50 times the number of searches from iPhones than from any other mobile device!
3. iPhone owners are young. According to a March 2008 Rubicon study, half are under 30 and 15% are students.
4. iPhones account for up to 75 percent of the video impressions in recent advertising campaigns.
5. According to Simmons New Media Study, many consumers say they are ready for mobile advertising. Over a third of consumers who are online for at least one hour a week rate themselves as being interested in receiving ads via their mobile, provided there is a tangible incentive.

With such a young, video-enabled, advertising-tolerant target, one would think advertisers would be clamoring to develop campaigns just for Millennials and their iPhones, if not for the entire mobile market. This is in fact the opinion of Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO. He believes the iPhone will be responsible for exponential growth in the mobile advertising market:

"The iPhone was the first mobile device with a good Web browser, and more such devices will follow. Advertising will then become very personal. In a few years, mobile advertising will generate more revenue than advertising on the normal Web."

Yet from the cases available, it doesn't appear that more than a handful of advertisers -- Zagat and the Weather Channel come to mind -- share Schmidt's enthusiasm. Why aren't advertisers viewing the web-enabled mobile phone as a separate category of advertising, along with the PC, Radio and TV? I really have no idea.