BalticMediaNews - Mobile HOT 10 2015

Once again, in 2015, we are presenting you with our annual “Mobile Hot 10“. These trends are, in part, the results of a survey of our IQ mobile team experts – from customer advice to marketing, right through to project … Jätka lugemist →

Once again, in 2015, we are presenting you with our annual “Mobile Hot 10“.

These trends are, in part, the results of a survey of our IQ mobile team experts – from customer advice to marketing, right through to project management, campaign management, media management and quality management – and the opinions of our customers, partners and colleagues in the Dentsu Aegis Network Group. They also come from our findings from national and international blogs, mobile and digital marketing and the media industry.

1)    User first!    

With the battle cry “Mobile first!” in 2010, Google CEO Eric Schmidt heralded the age of mobile computing. Since then, it is hard to imagine life without mobile devices. Already, up to 74% of 15-65-year-olds in Germany, Austria and Switzerland use smartphones. Both parallel media usage and media convergence are rapidly increasing. Users switch from screen to screen depending on the situation and in accordance with their requirement for information or entertainment. Convergent and personalised mobile services and strategies are in demand. Mobile technology is therefore not just a new stand-alone channel, but a new way of life. We see it as “user first”!

2)    Internet of Me    

We are already familiar with the internet of things, i.e., the integration of mini computers into intelligent devices, which are used to carry out a range of online services. Each mini computer (connected devices such as wearables, for example) collects data using a variety of sensors and analyses it or transfers it to other mini computers. This data can then be used as a basis for creating personalised services for the user – the “Internet of Me” is the new major trend. Mobile technology is an extremely important factor in this development. On the one hand, mobile devices serve as data collectors, and on the other, they function as the user’s control centre.

3)    Connected Services   

Even the best technologies and devices are useless without the corresponding services, so valuable services are highly sought-after. Individual industries play a pioneering role: Apple and Android are involved in the automotive industry, for example, alongside major manufacturers such as General Motors and BMW. BMW has launched the BMW i3, which can park in garages automatically via a command from a smartwatch. With regard to smart home solutions, TV channel ScyFy is working on a connection to the Philips hue lighting system. It is now possible for the viewer to sync their hue light bulbs with scenes in the upcoming television series “12 Monkeys” for a more dramatic television experience.

4)    Owned Media & mCRM Boom

The end of traditional advertising with a blanket approach has long been predicted. Consumers want to be addressed personally and receive personalised benefits. Valuable platforms and intelligent CRM systems lay the foundations for long-term customer relationships, and both the health and medical sectors are heading in that direction. While major manufacturers are cautiously developing mobile services, national and international startups such as mysugar, BitBite and runtastic are really shaking up the market. For example, electronic toothbrushes that are connected to a network provide your dentist with information about how you brush your teeth. This then enables dentists to give users personalised dental care tips.

5)    Mobile Retail Revolution    

The mobile consumer is conquering the retail market. On the one hand, mobile technology is developing into an independent sales channel, which facilitates shopping anytime, anywhere. Examples of this are new services such as Amazon Dash, new players such as Google Express Shopping and Amazon Fresh and even new market places. Pizza Hut is successfully selling millions of pizzas via Microsoft’s Xbox. On the other hand, mobile technology is also influencing the entire purchasing decision process. ROPO effects, the interactions between online and offline retail, are already having a positive impact on many industries. Mobile services create orientation, inspiration, personalisation and support at the POS. After initial test runs with technologies such as beacons, they are proving to have strong areas of application and are receiving a positive response from users. Virtual reality is experiencing a renewed surge in commercial applications. The Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset by Facebook is currently being tested by Tesco and Topshop.

6)    App Simplification & Integration

According to a survey by Flurry, mobile users in the USA spend significantly more time using apps than they do surfing the Internet. In previous years, apps were packed with a variety of features, but now there is a re-emerging trend towards simplicity. Furthermore, apps are no longer stand-alone solutions, but instead connect with other apps to share information and communicate with one another. Examples of this include Facebook’s new Messenger app, Uber integration in the Starbucks app and the Apple Healthkit for iOS 8, which allows fitness apps to share data.

7)    Mobile Screen Connector   

A simple Internet connection allows you to create live connections between different screens. This enables you to manage, display or transfer content between these screens to any number of users. The smartphone acts as the control panel for many applications. A touch screen, GPS or camera can be used for this purpose, for example. It is a creative environment for a range of marketing and advertising applications, from interactive quiz shows to playing games, including against other players. In collaboration with Burberry, the luxury department store Printemps has surprised passers-by in Paris with an interactive shop window, for example. Customers can connect to the WLAN to interact with individual scenes in the display and access extra content. They can also change the weather in the shop window via smartphone and play relevant sounds. The scenes can also be transformed into virtual postcards and shared.

8)    Mobile Video Advertising

After taking its first steps, mobile video advertising will establish itself as a leading format for mobile advertising. This is not only due to the existing user acceptance, the increase in available inventory and attractive prices, but is also thanks to the many ways in which mobile video advertising can be made interactive using HTML5. Mobile video banners can direct users straight to the mobile shop or initiate other interactions. In smart media planning strategies, the benefits of the individual screens can be used to increase the effect of the overall campaign and to hit performance targets.

9)    Hyperlocal Targeting   

A perennial favourite among mobile trends will become even more important in marketing and advertising in 2015. This is driven partly by new advertising providers – Facebook, Twitter & Co. are now also jumping on the bandwagon – and partly by the possibility of connecting to a range of technologies such as GPS, WLAN or beacons. Enrichment with user information and other targeting criteria – also known as Big Data – increases the relevance of the message and thus facilitates a tailored personalization.

10)    Clash of the Titans: iOS vs. Android    

Analysts have announced it and now the day is not far off when mobile traffic will exceed stationary traffic. The battle of the mobile operating system titans continues. Although there have been more Android than iPhone users for some time, Android had more active users for the first time in 2014. For marketers, this does not mean, however, that Apple is not an interesting advertising market. On the contrary, iPhone users continue to be attractive to marketers thanks to high conversion rates.