Apples says mobile browsing is not the answer
2008-08-12 16:11
Many marketers still believe that mobile marketing is about browsing mobile web sites. Not so. Rather than steer a consumer to a top-level URL (i.e. www.bestbuy.com), a marketer will be much more successful driving consumers to specific mobile landing pages or WAP sites with measurable calls to action and on-the-go information well suited for mobile.
In a recent presentation, Forrester Vice President Ted Schadler noted that even Apple’s Senior Mobile executive admits that the iPhone is not for browsing, that applets or widgets are much better suited for delivering timely, relevant and easily accessible information. An example cited: Locating the closest Pete’s Coffee store took three times longer through a mobile browser on Pete’s mobile site than through an LBS store-lookup applet.
It’s no surprise that both Apple’s SDK and Google’s Android are oriented toward handset-resident, lightweight applets. These applets will allow consumers to use their small-screen mobile gadgets to quickly obtain location, time-sensitive information, news and rich-media entertainment.
Applets are especially important to advertisers who want to capture the attention of consumers when their emotional interest is peaking. Perhaps applets are less important to media-company and infotainment portals such as Yahoo.
In a recent presentation, Forrester Vice President Ted Schadler noted that even Apple’s Senior Mobile executive admits that the iPhone is not for browsing, that applets or widgets are much better suited for delivering timely, relevant and easily accessible information. An example cited: Locating the closest Pete’s Coffee store took three times longer through a mobile browser on Pete’s mobile site than through an LBS store-lookup applet.
It’s no surprise that both Apple’s SDK and Google’s Android are oriented toward handset-resident, lightweight applets. These applets will allow consumers to use their small-screen mobile gadgets to quickly obtain location, time-sensitive information, news and rich-media entertainment.
Applets are especially important to advertisers who want to capture the attention of consumers when their emotional interest is peaking. Perhaps applets are less important to media-company and infotainment portals such as Yahoo.
