Marketing Musings: This App is Stirred, Not Shaken

Just below I posted about Oakley’s branded surf info application for the iPhone – functional, valuable, interesting, and entertaining – all of which make it a must have branded utility for the target market.

The Quantum of Solace app on the other hand, is nothing more than some widely available movie info crammed into a simple application which has about 1.5 minutes of value to a fan. It is not viral, it is not useful, especially if you already know the plot or have seen the trailer.

What they could have done is a James Bond almanac, or a scene locator that takes you to all the real world places in the movie, or a weapon guide from every James Bond film, or any other insider content that core fans would love, and rave about. Work hard to make your marketing an interesting utility, or don’t do it at all.

Marketing Musings: A New Take on the Prescription Pad: Marketing as Utility

Mass marketing still works for awareness, IF you have enough money. Obama’s 30 minute infomercial the week before the election cost in excess of $5 million, just for the airtime. If like most businesses, your market is a lot smaller than that, you need to reach out and engage this audience and “utilities” are a great way to do this. Nothing magical here, drug companies have been handing out pens and prescription pads for decades. The question is, how are you putting tools (functional, educational or entertaining) in your customer’s hands so they reach out and touch you everyday?

Oakley just released a very cool iPhone application. They are probably paying Surfline for content and offering it to surfers free. Brilliant. Simple. It is like having a billboard in front of the surf community as they check the waves from the shore, only it is interactive, you can put a new billboard up whenever you feel like it and be sure that it will be relevant to 100% of the audience.