App Advertising

The appeal of apps is obvious to anyone with an iPhone, or even one of the other smart phones (Gray 2009). Although, most who have simply held a smart phone or android have been infected with the unexplainable addiction to apps.

According to a study by Knowledge Networks, nearly 60 percent of mobile phone users carry their phones with them at all time, including at home, and a growing number say their device plays an integral part of their daily lives (Dadwal 2009). So basically an app is like a walking advertisement that is always with its target market, hence, the success rate.

 In order for an app to be successful, it needs to be useful. Lardinois (2001) states that users will not be loyal to an app that is just a marketing vehicle, it need to be useful and interesting as well. Statistics say that majority of respondents (57%) noted that apps should be well designed and 74% said that they want apps to be easy to use (Lardinois 2010).

“Movie studios fully understand the influence that word-of-mouth reviews, whether positive or negative, have on box office receipts.” (Mendoza 2009).

For example, Disney Interactive Studios launched the “Alice in Wonderland – An Adventure Beyond the Mirror,” app in conjunction with the movie release.

Screenshots from Alice in Wonderland app.                                 Source: Mobile Marketer

Stephen Saiz, director of marketing at Disney Interactive Studios, the app was “... to drive buzz and momentum for the movie by letting users watch the full trailer, download wallpapers and discover other hidden items, all within the app.”(Kats 2010).

Creating good and memorable apps will help create a relationship between the user and the brand and therefore create brand loyalty. Even if the company creates a silly and simply humorous app, it still manages to get attention and get the brand noticed (Gray 2009).

However, if these apps are too appealing, they very well could contribute to the iPhone addiction that is becoming more and more noticeable. A study by Stanford University indicates that iPhone addiction is real.

In the survey, when asked to rank their dependence on the iPhone on a scale of one to five (five being addicted and one being not at all addicted), 10 percent of the students acknowledged full addiction to the device, 34 percent ranked themselves as a four on the scale, and only 6 percent said they weren't addicted at all (Hope 2010).

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References

Gray, K 2009, How Mobile Apps Are Revolutionizing Advertising, BNET, viewed 14 November 2010, <http://www.bnet.com/article/how-mobile-apps-are-revolutionizing-advertising/343422>.

Dadwal, R 2009, Case study: The Unborn movie campaign for iPhone, iMediaConnection.com, viewed 10 November 2010, <http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/24317.asp>.

Lardinois, F 2010, Mobile Users Want Branded Apps that Are Useful, Not Just Marketing, ReadWriteWed, viewed 10 November 2010, <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mobile_users_expect_branded_apps_that_work_not_jus.php>.

Mendoza, N 2009, Movie Apps Get Social as Studios Integrate Facebook Connect, PBS, viewed 9 October 2010, <http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/09/movie-apps-get-social-as-studios-integrate-facebook-connect252.html>.

Kats, R 2010, Disney releases Alice in Wonderland app to support movie release, Mobile Marketer, viewed 10 November 2010, <http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/gaming/5554.html>.

Hope, D 2010, iPhone Addictive, Survey Reveals, LiveScience, viewed 14 November 2010, < http://www.livescience.com/technology/apple-iphone-addiction-100308.html>.