Apps are the new Pogs

Ooo, it’s been awhile. I must have overslept.

Do you remember Pogs? What about those Premier league/WWF (WWE for the young uns)/Street Fighter 2 Panini Stickers? They were the collectible, pocket money eating "thing" of a time twice gone. I think mobile Apps have become their digital successors. Here is why.

Blank Calories

According to these lovely SD snaps, 48% of Smartphone users are "enthusiastic" about Apps, have tons of them and think their Smartphone has improved their life - great, I am SO one of them! However, 26% of Apps are only ever opened once... I can vouch for this many a post install too! SO... we love Apps, download tons of them, but we don't have the time nor interest to use them all - fair. So what makes an App a "reopener"? It sure as heck isn’t just “functionality”.

I actually think it’s more the visual and novelty of certain App that make them keepers and "reopeners". From that icon that sits on your screen, and the Apps coolness/smoothness/eyeball service when you interacting with it. Exclusivity is also a nice icing on that cake is it not? Remember iPhone owners banging on about Angry Birds and Android owners showing off Google Goggles for the sake of exclusivity before they both crossed over? I wonder how often they used them (ok, no replies on that one from Angry Bird fans please!).

So Pogs/Panini Stickers and Mobile Apps? Well, I haven't even played Angry Birds past 8 levels... How many times have you got that Pog collection or Panini Album out to admire since you *almost* completed them? If only I had that last top right sticker of a 6x6...

This is what Apps are for me: short burst use, time killers, things to show off, not essential but nice things to have if you can; trinkets that are in themselves digital currency for their visual presence when executed properly.

Apps & Brands

Now brands and Apps... mixed bag. Take HTC sponsoring the Onion App, nice brands with no relationship or relevance, and somewhat meaningless as a partnership to me (screams MARKETING, SALES) Vs. Rotten Tomatoes sponsoring the Movie App logical, useful, adds credibility to both parties.

I wonder if brands their agencies will start to think of App sponsorship from the perspective of "Why would I want an App from this brand, what would it do, and why would I want it over the other App without the branding that probably does it better". So far, it’s looking like most branded Apps are still being created from the requirement to fill a missing Campaign component > fill it with an App approach.

Remember that Carling iPhone App? A visual treat, yet utterly pointless - how many times did you show it off or have it shown off by one of your iPhone buddies, hmm? YEAH.

Tweet® tweet© baby™

Do you use Twitter? Do you even like Twitter? If the answer is yes to both, here is one more – do you follow a brand on Twitter? If so, do you give a tweet about what they have to say or are you following them for a chance to RT for some goodies? Well, whatever the reason for following them, they will be relevant to you in some way – be it in personal interest or in that you find their tweets informative in a beneficial way.

Very few brands have managed to find a real useful… use for their brand to be on Twitter. We have the broadcast streams, the customer service streams, and the campaign streams, yet the majority simply seem to be tweeting sub 140 character editions of their Press Releases – #Zzz much? Frankly, most seem to focus too much on follower numbers than the importance of engagement - do you really want 100k followers who don’t give a crap about your brand or 10 that will advocate it? It’s no surprise that dang whale keeps making an appearance at the rate that new “dud” streams are appearing!

Some streams however, for me anyway, have hit the proverbial nail on that Twitter whale’s head – examples? Go on then, but I’m not going to mention the Habitats or Starbucks of the Twitterverse because I am sure you are already clued up to them (if not here’s some help -> http://tinyurl.com/34ld28d):

The Good - marvelvscapcom – With a dedicated cult following, this cross cultural gaming franchise has announced its long awaited third iteration. Capcom have set up an official Twitter stream for fans anticipating the games release, tweeting the latest news on the games, having Capcom cult game chatter and offering promotional competitions on their stream – it’s interesting, engaging, not spammy and tweets are clearly written by people with a passion for games and all things Capcom – it even looks the part too. Great stuff!

The Bad - marvelvscapcom – erm what?! Yes, well this is a great example of a brand using Twitter in a campaign by campaign manner – new streams for products from parent companies, in this case for a game by Capcom that appear all the time but are seldom supported past the products release or campaign conclusion. It’s a pity – if brands with multiple streams were able to engage followers on one stream, a community would be in the making. Sadly, examples such as this are akin to Google Wave Beta – nice entry, quick Buzz kill (yes I did). That said, time will tell whether this stream will remain active after the release of the game (I would still assume not after initial weeks of release… Bad times).

And as a Sugi bonus… The weird - national_grid:

Possibly the most logical and direct use of a Twitter stream I’ve seen from a brand – instant updates, pure information and completely relevant to what the company does – also downright boring for the most of us but it made me “lol”. I won’t describe what they tweet, you will have to look for yourself – suffice to say that if national rail provided a stream for train spotters, this is the format they should adopt (and if Ronseal tweeted like this, they would do their adverts of the 90s proud)!

I hope you all follow shitmydadsays, and oh yes, mine too! J #ftw etc.

Radio Twitter

Listening to Capital Radio the other day whilst having a shower, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that they were now accepting requests, shout-outs and comments via Twitter. In the past SMS text and web comments, competition entries and requests were available but I never did get to the stage where I wanted to bother to pay that premium rate text rate or have to sign up to yet another website to use them, however using Twitter to enable listeners to do so is inspired; fast, easy and free (sounds like second houses and taxi rides for MPs no...? Look at the uptake on that one!).

Now it is no secret that I have been sceptical about Twitter. From its place in between Facebook, Windows LIVE Messenger, YouTube and mobile phone text messaging to the amount of “targeted” spam I receive from twitter-ers that have bot randomly adding anyone they spot using key terms. I have been eagerly observing Twitter to see how it evolves past becoming the ultimate opt-in spam channel, and I think it’s getting there...

I think finally actual Twitter exclusive benefits of use are emerging. Here are three I would make use of:

• Tweeting communications, competition entries and requests for entertainment, radio and web shows.
• Information update tickers – Wouldn’t mind opting into a rail service update for a route I use for delays and cancellations to be tweeted to my phone (good one Voda!).
• Twitter competitions – why not have a purely Twitter based competition where competitions are tweeted, and entries are also... tweeted.

Twitter needs to also make an app for mobile phones – thought the SMS text Twitter service is great, I think for the Twitter brand, the potential permanent virtual real estate a Twitter app could occupy would further bolster its mobile digital lifestyle integration with users. Make one for the Nokia 5800 first though please, I’ll even beta test it for you.

Brands – Virtual is Reality

‘Virtual space’ has proven itself to me more real than tangible space. What I mean by this is that, with a magazine or a broadcast advert, the life of the message is as long as the broadcast or however long the tangible is kept; once a magazine is thrown away or once an ad has aired, so too is the message. ‘Virtual space’ is the sanctum for messaging to become immortal.

The Cadbury’s Gorilla ad was aired back in August 2007, yet it still received regular views and discussion related to it. Have a look at the video I have immortalised below, the last comment post at the time of my writing was but a few hours prior). Not only does it retain its buzz but also thanks to its permanent and replicated presence on the internet, occupies potentially infinite ‘virtual’ real estate. Short of framing an advert from a magazine and using industrial grade ink retainer this wouldn’t be possible with magazines – and before the smart alecs start with the microfilm angle, it still wouldn’t be able to reach or more importantly, BE reached by so many from so many places with a click.



Be it on work emails at lunch, on Facebook or through Twitter tweets, the internet has provided us with a central place for sharing and discussion. YouTube links and tiny URL links fly about more frequently than Jack Bauer has bad days. We no longer appear to need tangible media to show and tell intellectual content with our friends; CTRL + C > CTRL + P and broadband does it for us. Social web 2.0.5.81389138612 is brilliant for extending social networks and sharing isn’t it...



I firmly believe that we will soon reach a point whereby brand equity and trust will stem heavier from their online presence and messaging than from the actual products they offer. At present, online offerings from brands help to raise, augment or sway brand presence, offerings, and opinions. With television adverts now showing signs of being designed with digital in mind (yes I am indeed STILL referring to the musical ape – it’s been a draining few weeks so let’s stick to him).

If I were a betting man (or had the money to), I predict mobile applications will become the next focus digital medium for branding to concentrate on. What better than virtual immortality online than, virtual immortality offline! With mobile applications on the iPhone proving to be a hit with the cool kids, even HDTVs are following the PC/Mac suit with them. Gadgets, Widgets, Apps, whatever you wish to refer to them as are occupying many a desktop, home screen and home page all over the globe. I think the first app I installed was the Honda Red H application that was effectively a ticker and media stream for whenever new information and tidbits related to the new Civic Type-R were announced, and occupied my desktop up until my OS gave out – The Power of Apps. The beauty of them is that they are voluntarily downloaded, installed and kept; what better way of knowing if a brand or campaign has flirted with the right tone? I will follow this subject up more soon depending upon certain developments in my life...