According to BrandRepublic, Audi in the UK is embracing web 2.0 trends and looking to create podcasts featuring original new songs from top music acts as part of the launch of its latest TT model.
Whilst the US Office of National Drug Control Policy should be applauded for including YouTube as a communications channel to reach young people, there’s no surprises that its films which were created for the safe television environment haven’t exactly been taking off with YouTube users.
Interestingly though, Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project predicts that switched on critics of U.S. drug policies will quickly create spoofs and parodies of these films, distribute them on YouTube and watch them really take off.
Recognising that younger consumers are spending much of their time connected to social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube seems to be behind the brave thinking at ING Direct in promoting is Orange Mortgage to younger, connected, first time buyers in the US.
The financial services company has seeded short and humorous video clips depicting the frustrating side of renting on YouTube. The clips link to a dedicated website called MoveOutMoveUp.com which features content, more video clips and games and effectively communicates that owning a home is more feasible than you may think. The use of these new media channels and marketing tactics is deftly aligned with the media tastes and lifestyle choices of this younger target audience.
The hot news in the music industry this week is that MySpace is planning to sell music - allowing bands both known and unknown, to sell their songs online, for whatever price they want. With the social networking site’s reach (over 100 million registered users), the MySpace music store may well provide a serious challenger to Apple’s iTunes.
Bands (about 3 million are signed up to MySpace) are already finding that MySpace is an effective way to promote their music and reach an ever extending audience. Those 100 million users are spending serious time connected on the site, and when the music store opens, it may well provide the hottest launching pad for the next big things.
It’s well known that marketers are shifting their advertising dollars away from traditional media, and using hip new ways, borne from the latest web 2.0 concepts and technologies, to connect and engage with consumers online. We’re already starting to view a brand experience online in much the same way as we would view its 30 second TV spots of old.
Of course going online in today’s world means using any number of devices from the more conventional laptop and personal computer to souped up mobile devices and the latest mobile phones.
Indeed sales of mobile phones the world over dwarf sales of PCs. It’s difficult to put a hard number on it, but there is something like 1.5 billion mobile phones in the world today. And many of these are equipped with web browsers, cameras to take photos and video, along with email capabilities.
Internet access is already a ubiquitous feature on mobile phones and research recently published by US-based mobile audience measurement company, Telephia, reported that more than 34.6 million mobile subscribers accessed the Internet via their wireless devices in June this year. The findings also showed that email, weather and sports sites were the most frequented mobile Internet categories.
However, far from ideal usability and speed of access have, so far, made the proposition a second rate alternative to more conventional channels. Most websites simply are not ready to receive mobile visitors. Beautifully rendered, and highly usable websites can turn into a complete mess when viewed on phones or other mobile devices.
While the proliferation of sophisticated mobile devices is widespread and Japan leads the world in mobile web usage, Forrester Research’s “The State Of The North American Mobile Web” reports that just 4% of US households are using the mobile web. And that only 10% of mobile web users say that they actually prefer to use their mobile phones to access the Internet.
The mobile web has thus far failed to attract critical mass, primarily because:
Mobile service providers provide direct links to a limited number of sites. Manually entering URLs with no guarantee that they work on the mobile platform is not an optimum user experience.
Sites need to focus on providing just key information, minimising content and load times.
Pages need to be properly formatted and navigation needs to be simplified and designed for the small screen.
However, while many brands which just a few years ago would not have contemplated mobile as a channel, are now clearly considering the need for a mobile internet strategy. Repurposing existing web content that has been designed to be accessed from a PC clearly won’t hit the mark.
However, there are strong signs that brands are starting to take the mobile web seriously. Thousands of companies are flocking to and signing up for the new dotmobi domain name which introduces a new set of accessibility standards ensuring that services and websites under the dotmobi domain are optimised for use on mobile devices.
Now many of these brands already have thinner versions of their websites designed for mobile users, but in the face of unremarkable uptake and usage, the thinking is that a clearly defined standard domain name may well just give the channel the breakthrough it needs, sparking more interest in the mobile web and helping to drive traffic.
Meanwhile, Motorola and Yahoo! recently announced an agreement to pre-load Yahoo! Go for Mobile on tens of millions of new Motorola mobile devices giving consumers an optimised experience with quick and easy access to their own favourite Internet sites, web content and services on their mobile phone (as well as their personal computer).
Google has also demonstrated the company’s commitment to making the mobile phone a more convenient way to access information on the go.
The latest version of Google Maps for mobile features live traffic updates and the ability to save favourite locations and driving directions. Mobile phone users will now also be able to customise the content that appears on the mobile version of their Google Personalised Homepage.
Back home, “The Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index” is a collaborative industry research project carried out by AIMIA, m.Net Corporation and Ideal Interfaces and provides insight into the profile, behaviour and preferences of Australian mobile phone users. The latest report published in May reveals that 59% of those surveyed had used their mobile phones to access information such as news, weather and movies in the past twelve months.
And when asked what sort of information they would like in the future, respondents said maps and directions (35%), weather (34%) and news content (32%).
Whilst these particular responses are hardly earth-shattering, there is certainly much room for exploration, and it will be crucial for companies to give their customers multiple, seamless access points both from a conventional connection and from the mobile platform.
Of course, working out how and when your customers would benefit from accessing the mobile web and developing content accordingly presents a significant opportunity. For instance, cities with large numbers of public transport commuters provide potentially eager and willing consumers of mobile content. Develop content that they want, make it easy to access, and there’s your captive audience.
Certainly content development in this arena is starting to hot up. And it won’t be long until the mobile web is a far more intuitive experience and we’re all using our mobiles for many of the activities that we currently associate with the PC.
HotHouse Interactive has appointed leading business strategist, Lee Hill, to the role of chief executive officer.
With a background in both high profile consumer goods and business-to-business services companies both here in Australia and overseas, Lee’s expertise is in translating business realities and market insights into clear business models with high performance outcomes.
Well known in the marketing industry for his work with Lion Nathan which spans over a decade and includes launching XXXX Gold in Queensland which is now the State’s top selling beer and turning around the Tooheys portfolio into the high performing brand that it is today. His career also includes end-to-end business process re-engineering at PMP’s Pacific Micromarketing.
His business expertise and marketing breadth and depth are a perfect fit for HotHouse which has gained a solid reputation for industry leadership. In his role at HotHouse, Lee will spearhead the company’s business strategy and apply his skills to managing the company’s growth and development, ensuring the company is ideally placed to deliver exceptional consumer experiences using a balance of creativity and technology.
Commenting on his appointment, Lee Hill said: “With the transition of the web from a publishing platform to a fully interactive branding medium HotHouse is at a critical point in its evolution. My job is to make sure we fully leverage our formidable skills and make a profound difference to the marketing landscape in Australia.”
Lee’s appointment to the CEO role means that Simon van Wyk, HotHouse founder, can now fully focus his talents on emerging media channels. This will include helping HotHouse clients which include two of Australia’s biggest marketers - Toyota and News Ltd. - fully explore and embrace emerging media channels to drive consumer engagement and build their businesses online.