Hype vs. truth: Mobile apps

If you follow the industry buzz, or talk to app developing agencies, it sounds as if everyone is madly buying apps for their smartphones. However, a recent study found that 45% of smartphone users have never bought an app. Also, more than 38% spoke of their frustrations regarding the cost of apps.

61% of app purchases are music, which narrows the market for app buyers down significantly. Of the customers who purchased apps, 87% spent less than $50 on apps total last year.

So what is the truth? Are apps hot, or not?

Yes, they are hot. But if someone tells you that you have to have one, and it is a guaranteed revenue channel, they're exaggerating. Actually, outright lying. This is how buzzwords are used to manipulate how we view the world. Apple, Motorola, and other device manufacturers are advertising about apps because they are a feature that many customers are looking for. More than a billion apps have been downloaded from Apple's iTunes App Store. The hype is used by the get-rich-quick types to push app development, and next thing we know, many businesses are creating mobile apps that no one wants.

Reality is, a great mobile app can help customers connect with brands, if it is the right fit. The key is to know your audience, and what they want. Follow your customers, not the industry buzzwords.

Does Facebook think about security at all?

I'm not a big evangelist of the whole "personal brand" concept, as I believe many people can keep their business and personal lives properly separate. But Facebook seems to be forcing our private lives into the public eye more each day.

Their newest problem, the Facebook 3.1 app for iPhone scans your address book for phone numbers and emails in your contact list, scans Facebook, and syncs the profile pics with your contact list. Even for those people you are not Facebook friends with.

For an example of how this can be troublesome, an iPhone blog reader shared a story of a coworker who he is not Facebook friends with, but suddenly when she calls he receives a bikini picture of her because it is her profile pic. (The writer of the post was kind enough to mock-up an example image rather than further embarrass the unknowing coworker).

While Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg believes privacy is a thing of the past, how many of you want your profile pics scanned and sent to everyone's iPhones?

Freebie Friday: Not the Droids you're looking for

AT&T & Apple need to strike back at Verizon. As you may have gathered from my previous post, I don't believe the Wireless Wars will be won with vicious attacks but with smarter tactics to entertain and make people feel good. So how does a company go about fighting smarter? Who fights smarter than the Jedi?

My free advice for AT&T: Call George Lucas today to negotiate terms for an ad campaign using the most iconic sci-fi characters of all time.

Commercial 1: A group of storm troopers walk into a Verizon store. They survey the phones available, shake their heads disappointed. A Verizon employee approaches them to offer assistance.

"These are not the droids we're looking for."

Close with storm-troopers carrying iPhones, using various applications to locate the right droids, communicate with the Empire, and view tweets of the rebel alliance.

Commercial 2: A customer walks into a Verizon store which is entirely staffed with Sith lords. A customer is looking at a Motorolla Droid, explaining that he/she wants a phone that is effortless and provides thousands of reliable apps. The customer mentions wanting an app store that recommends apps based on interests and is easy to use. After a short discussion about what he/she wants from a phone, a Jedi knight approaches and waves his hand "these are not the droids you're looking for" and presents the customer with an iPhone.

That's my free ad campaign idea for you, AT&T. But feel free to send a check as a sign of thanks.