It’s the usual story… too many tabs open in multiple browsers, a ton of stuff marked to read later, yada yada. So here’s a few links that I think are worth sharing with you.
Publishing and Media
As some of you may know, I do a lot of consulting work with media owners in the UK and the Nordic region. As such, I have a keen interest in all things publishing and this is a post about innovation in publishing with some very interesting links http://neilperkin.typepad.com/only_dead_fish/2011/04/shorter-and-sweeter.html
Of course, the big question is why all this innovation comes from outside the publishing world and not from within. Is it just too hard to innovate from within?
And some recent conference quotes:
“newspapers must invest in content, sales & disruption – sell or outsource everything else” #linktotherest #naamxc11 #jrc via @jxpaton
#cms2011 percentage of music that is digital: 80% percentage of digital newspapers: 2% opportunity or impending disaster?” A quote from the recent Guardian Changing Media Summit which I attended.
Apps, apps and more apps
The world has gone app crazy. Or at least, the mobile press would have you think so. There’s a disconnect between the reality (90 % of apps are deleted, it’s hard to make money from apps, app stores are still ropey etc.) and the press but it’s still a very interesting area and one that if you’re in mobile, you have to consider seriously. But let’s get one thing straight… creating an iPhone app is not a mobile strategy. And it’s not just me who is saying that. Anyway, on to some app links..
Distimo and MEF have teamed up to publish the European App Store Market Report. Unfortunately, you can only download the whole thing if you’re a member of MEF but there are some interesting snippets they have shared including weekends are top downloading times, folks don’t want to pay more than £2 for an app, in-app payments are going great guns and UK developers are doing very well. More here http://www.distimo.com/blog/2011_03_distimo-and-mef-publish-european-app-store-market-report/
The new report from WIP also shows the growing importance of in-app payments as sales revenues are decimated on the appearance of competitors offerings which are free. Well worth a look if apps are your business and if you want to know more about how to monetise them. http://www.wipconnector.com/blog/entry/april_app_store_report_momentum_shifting_to_in_app_payments
And if you think you could make a million with an app, then take a look at this infographic http://designtaxi.com/news/34297/Who-Wants-to-Be-an-App-Millionaire/ – the app sales world is skewed currently. There’s no money in the long tail (yet) from what I can tell.
And if you’re new to the world of apps and you have an Android phone, then this blogpost about favourite apps might be worth a look. http://www.chromewalker.com/cw_six/?p=2307
As for me, I play WordUp and Solitaire, I use Gmail, Google Maps (although it doesn’t always work), Gentle Alarm, Foursquare (although that doesn’t always work either as it can’t always register my location) and the browser for pretty much everything else – twitter, facebook, train time search in the main. I’m told that my focus on the browser as the route to do all the stuff I want to do is unusual and sophisticated. I’m not sure that’s the case so I’m interested to hear about your phone life too.
Music and digital
We’re fed a line by certain circles in the music industry that it’s being killed off by piracy and the proliferation of digital. I’ve always been sceptical about this. As far as I can see there is even more music around now than when I was a teenager and folks are still as passionate about it. And more interestingly, is that there seem to be even more potential revenue streams and business models for music. That’s got to be a good thing, right? Well, I’m sure there are folks who would vehemently disagree, but a new paper by Joel Waldfogel suggests that my hunch could be right. http://torrentfreak.com/report-despite-piracy-music-is-more-alive-than-ever-before-110325/
Mobile marketing and advertising
Think it’s too tough to plan and buy mobile media? Then you might want to take a look at this new white paper from Mobile Squared and StrikeAd. http://strikead.squarespace.com/white-paper/
Heard the buzzword ‘gamification’? Want to know what that might mean to mobile marketing? Then take a look at this article – worth a read http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2011/03/the-gamification-of-mobile-marketing.html
Mobile Commerce
There are those who think mobile commerce is just a pipe dream. There are those, like Ryan Carson, who thought that people just wouldn’t want to use eBay on their mobiles (yes, I witnessed him say this at a Chinwag event). I knew he was wrong then. And he’s certainly wrong now. Hell, I expect he’s even using eBay on his mobile now. But if you’re in any doubt at all how important mobile is to ecommerce then please take note that PayPal’s *mobile* transactions exceed $6 million PER DAY. Don’t believe me? Then check out the article from their keynote at CTIA which also includes video clips from the keynote.
And when dotcom poster child, Groupon, is getting into mobile, you know this thing is serious http://mashable.com/2011/03/17/groupon-now/ [Let’s see if this will disrupt how we think about location based services.]
And take note, Tesco advises that 1 in 5 of their visits to Tesco.com come from their iPhone app. That’s huge. Quote from the recent Retail Week event via @martinnewman: “1 in 5 visits to Tesco.com coming through their iPhone app #rw20”
I know I haven’t even got through half my links. More to come…
