Mobile apps: the emerging consumer touchpoint for brands
Publishers have a major opportunity to create a win-win for their clients and consumers alike given the rapid uptake of apps and users’ willingness to accept content from brands, delegates at the 2014 Digital Innovators’ Summit heard.
Speaking on the subject of mobile apps, Ken Willner, CEO of Zumobi (USA), said that, on average, 89 per cent of consumers’ mobile consumption is now accounted for by app use. This, he added, is creating an opportunity for brands to deliver engaging and compelling brand experiences using content.
“The migration of users from desktop to mobile and the rise of ‘mobile first’ is clearly happening at a rapid pace and is not going to abate,” Willner said.
“What’s interesting to us right now is the ability to give users a genuinely good experience in partnership with a brand. Users will engage with branded content and long-form content if it is of value to them.
“As a result, there is a major opportunity for publishers who better understand the value of their corporate apps,” Willner added. “As consumers, we engage with utilities apps or corporate apps, such as airlines and other businesses, on a regular basis. It’s a missed opportunity if we are not using content to enhance those corporate apps and thereby giving users a reason to come back time and again.”
Offering insight into the hot topics around apps at the moment, Willner identified four key areas that his business is focusing on at present: the rise of the in-app experience; brand integration and the fact every band is now a publisher; corporate brand apps and the new owned-media opportunity; and the future of paywalls.
