App vs. WAP & Thai Mobile Marketing

Hi everyone

Interesting to read today that VW in the US is launching the latest Golf GTI car, using ONLY an iPhone application as its sole marketing media

Which raises some interesting questions – like when should marketers invest in an iPhone application (App), as opposed to a mobile web service (WAP)?

And what focus should we put on these strategies, compared to the rest of our marketing mix?

In Thailand, with the lack of a 3G network and slower development of mobile web, getting the answer right has never been more important.

So today I want to look at 3 points when considering the benefits of each:

1. Smart Phone Application
- This presentation App vs WAP – what is a marketer to do? does a great job at comparing the pros and cons of each approach. The key benefits of an app are:

1. Allows you to build a richer experience without impacting data speeds / charges. It’s more focused, fun and faster to use then mobile web.
2. Allows you to take advantage of native phone features (GPS, camera & voice). Localisation services using GPS are often a key to app success.
3. Features can work offline. No problems with bad connections.
4. Integration with other services (i.e. Facebook connect) Works well with many new platforms.
5. Can become a great extension of your brand attributes. It’s useful, fun and they almost always perform very well.

On the other hand, in Thailand with perhaps 200,000 iPhones phones you are only looking at less than 1% mobile penetration. Sure there are apps for BB and Android, but not many yet.

And then what % will find/ take up the app? As good as apps are, the audience reach is still at an early stage, and you need a good strategy to get buzz and generate usage

2. Mobile Web Site (WAP site)
The growth in mobile web sites has been pretty big this year. Most media, technology, social networking, gaming and banking/financial companies have one. Check out this list for an insight into 30 of them. The benefits to mobile are sites are:

1. Can work on 100% of devices. We are not restricted to just iPhones, we can adapt the site reach all mobile users.
2. Experience can be optimized to the highest common denominator. Means we can set a high standard across all platforms.
3. You can publish when you want – no approval process by App store required. No more 1 month delays for app approval!
4. iPhone, new Blackberry, Palm, and Android all share same Safari open source application framework Web kit. Makes developing easier.
5. Easier to drive to mobile web vs. drive to mobile App from mobile advertising networks. Driving traffic to a WAP site is easier for marketers.
6. Content from mobile web is searchable / search friendly. It works more like a Web experience people are used to.

Of course the issue is WAP sites need to be made for phones, they are very different and need to be much simpler than web sites.

And let’s face it, with download times and connection problems and a lack of confidence in transacting over the web here – a mobile site approach needs to be simple, well thought out and highly practical to make it work for this market.

3. The Right Mix?
In this excellent 3 min video from President of Major League Baseball in the US explains why for media organizations like his, you need to have both.

Clearly he makes a lot of sense. With apps you get a great experience, but a much smaller market. Albeit a market you can make money from. But with WAP you can get a much bigger reach. For Thailand it does depend on your industry, but some basic rules apply:

1. For WAP if you’re in media, banking, tech or entertainment you need a WAP first and need it now. Most other industries may not have one yet but with estimates saying a majority of Thais will access the Internet primarily through mobile within 2-3 years – you need a WAP strategy now!

2. For iPhone, apps make sense here and are great for a targeted and quite youthful (20-40), urban demographic. As part of an overall digital marketing strategy though, it is not a silver bullet but a great addition to the digital marketing plan.

Even in the States, some are questioning VW’s iPhone launch approach. And so do I. I tend to a agree with this reader who makes interesting strategy comments then finished with:

“In Volkswagen's quest to be the world's largest car marketer, saving money by launching a brilliant new vehicle with an i-phone app is akin to cutting back on an army's bullet budget...you'll have a little extra cash on hand when you've lost the war.”

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com