The importance of being functional – An introduction to branded utility
90% of advertisers and brands are lured towards using mobile marketing today because of flashing lights and uber-creative gizmos. But ultimately, when was the last time you pretended to drink a beer through your iPhone or used your HTC Magic as a strobe light?
The novelty and fun applications add an element of entertainment and spontaneity to the mobile device, but the real future of mobile applications lies in utilities. Mobile applications allow the user to constantly improve their own experience, and tailor it specifically to their own needs.
Brands are often launching themselves into the application space with nothing other than a gimmick, when there are clearly opportunitites to develop an application that can appeal to the users innate desire to improve their phone’s functionality.
The concept of branded utility in mobile applications is in its relative infancy, however there are significant opportunities ready and waiting to be exploited.
With several major developments in handset technology and hardware over the past year, as well as the emergence of open source operating systems such as Android, there is no reason why advertisers and brands alike should not be looking to branded utility as its first, if not most important venture into the mobile application arena.
So instead of thinking ‘how can we entertain our audience?’, why not start thinking ‘how can we improve our audience’s lives?’
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