Mobile Presence: What's Your Flavor?

August, 2011

Mobile Presence: What’s Your Flavor?

LUON | www.luon.com 1

Introduction

Summertime is that time of the year that many

entrepreneurs start thinking about the future of

their business. It allows just for that little more

breathing space to reflect on what’s to come and

where to put your efforts into next.

If this sounds familiar, you might want to

consider the option of bringing your business

into the mobile space. In 2010, the number of

mobile surfers tripled worldwide, a trend that

seems to carry on in 2011. And although mobile

surfers may only still count for 6% of total

traffic, their numbers are growing rapidly,

probably also in your business’ target group.

So let’s discuss your options for a mobile

presence for a while. Summer-style.

Geert De Laet

Technology Evangelist

Bart Verbeeren

Senior Interaction Designer



Mobile Flavor 1: Stracciatella (aka ‘my-site-with-bits-of-mobile’)

If you already have a deliciously

vanilla flavored desktop

website, you could go mobile

pretty easily just by adding or

adjusting some bits and pieces.

A few tweaks like increasing

font size and link areas could already make a

whole lot of difference for a mobile surfer

visiting your website.

However, in this approach the mobile presence

is a mere carbon-copy of your desktop presence.

And that should never ever be the case. Mobile

users have other needs and expectations than

desktop users do.

Why go with a tweaked version of your

website?

Like stracciatella, it’s an easy choice: it can be

implemented pretty easy into existing sites,

without a large cost

The website’s branding is maintained

You only have to maintain 1 website

Why stay away from it?

It’s not plain vanilla, but it’s not chocolate

either: it offers a far from ideal experience

to the mobile user

Because all of the assets of the desktop version

remain present, a tweaked design website will

suffer longer download times.

The content and navigation (‘information

architecture’) are not optimized for mobile

usage!

Based upon mobile surfing behavior tree

types of mobile users are to be

distinguished:

Repetitive now: users interested in

repetitive information that’s available

fast and always like weather reports,

stock quotes, blog posts, …

Bored now: surfing to kill time: for

example while waiting for the train

Urgent now: find something specific

fast ‘on the spot’, like the address of a

local restaurant or directions to the

airport

(Source: Google)



Mobile Flavor 2: Speculoos (aka ‘my-site-with-transformer-capabilities’)

Speculoos flavored ice

cream is kind of the new

kid on the block. It may

not be fully integrated

yet, but it has all the

elements needed to

become a true classic.

Which is also the case for ‘responsive design’,

‘adaptive layout’ or whatever name you want to

come up with to indicate that your site will

magically adapt to the device used to visit it.

To accomplish this, adaptive layout uses a

feature of the latest version of CSS (CSS3), called

‘media queries’, a way to query which kind of

media is connecting to your site in order to offer

the most suitable interface possible.

Why go with responsive design?

You can build upon your previous efforts of

developing your desktop website. Only the

presentation of the content will change.

You only have to maintain 1 website.

Compared to the ‘stracciatella’ option, it offers a

far more user-friendly experience to the

user.

Content and navigation flow for the

desktop and mobile versions can differ: It

is possible to for example simplify your

navigation in the mobile version. When of

course content and navigation would be

completely different, you might want to opt for a

dedicated mobile website (see Mobile Flavor 3).


The new kid on the block is not very much

welcomed by the elders: Older browsers like

Internet Explorer 8 don’t support Media

Queries.

Because all of the assets of the desktop version

remain present, a responsive design website will

suffer longer download times.

Desktop version of the website.

Mobile version of the website with altered

layout using responsive design.



Mobile Flavor 3: Chocolate (aka ‘mobile-sweetness-for-the-masses’)

Ah, the sweet taste of

chocolate… Such an obvious

favorite. But rightfully so!

If you want to please the

masses, create a decent

dedicated mobile website. You can select content

relevant on mobile, you can offer it in an

optimized navigation structure and perhaps

even throw in a couple of mobile-only features.

Why go with a dedicated mobile site?

Compared to a mobile presence based upon your

desktop website (see Mobile Flavors 1 and 2), a

dedicated mobile site will have a much better

performance.

Since it was created for mobile, it will be more

user-friendly on mobile devices

Being a website, it can be viewed on different

mobile devices (think iPhone, Android

devices, …).


You have to build the dedicated mobile website,

which will lead to a higher development

cost.

You have to maintain an additional website

You can’t make use of all the specific

capabilities of the device like the camera or

accelerometer (which detects the orientation of

the device). A mobile browser can never access

those. So if that’s your game, you’ll have to pick

Mobile Flavor 5 below from our menu…

The LUON dedicated mobile website



Mobile Flavor 4: Dame Blanche (aka ‘even-more-mobile-sweetness’)

We’re in another ballgame

now. We’re not talking one or

two scoops on a cone any

more. We’re talking full

coupes with warm chocolate

sauce and home-made whip

cream. And a cookie.

New technologies are arising

to create such full flavor

mobile experiences. HTML5 and CSS3 already

allow you to create very rich mobile user

interfaces that mimic a true native app (see

Mobile Flavor 5), but are accessible on different

devices through the browser.

Especially for mobile applications, this new way

of working is very promising because it

combines the best of both worlds: it offers great

functionalities (such as working offline) as well

as reach (it can be viewed on iPads, Android

tablets and so on).

Why go for HTML5/CSS3 web app?

Access to more functionalities using HTML5

Richer user interface using CSS3

Bigger reach than a native app because it is

browser based


Both HTML5 and CSS3 are far from fully

supported by mobile browsers. Before picking

this flavor, make sure you’ll be able to reach your

target group.

Although you have more possibilities using

HTML5, you still won’t be able to make use

of all the specific device capabilities.

Example of an iPhone web app built using HTML5 and CSS3



Mobile Flavor 5: Banana Split (aka ‘all-the-mobile-goodies-with-sprinkles-on-top’)

So you want to have it all

now, do you? Even the little

cherry on top…

If that’s the case, you should

build your own “native” application. Native

applications are applications that are built

especially for the device they will run on. They

don’t need a browser to run and can access all

the device’s features like camera and GPS.

Mobile applications are mostly offered via one of

the “application supermarkets”. Apple has its

App Store, Google has its Android Market,

Blackberry has its App World. From there,

applications can be downloaded (for free or

paid).

Why go for a native app?

Optimized in terms of speed and performance

You can use all the native device controls

Higher brand visibility:

Your application will be findable in the application market(s)

Your application will be visible directly on the desktop of the mobile device

You can use notifications to establish a frequent contact with the users

You can charge a little something for your app


High development cost (especially if you

want to support a lot of different devices)

Hard to maintain

Third-party approval is required before the

app is available in stores.

Design for repeat users

According to a recent usability study by the

Norman-Nielsen Group, native applications

work best when they are designed for

customers who are already fans of the brand

and engage with it on a regular basis.

The ‘spinner’ functionality of the Solo Open

Kitchen native iPhone app



So now what’s your flavor?

There is no right or wrong answer to this

question. While Mobile Flavor 1 and Mobile

Flavor 2 might be quick win strategies, they

might not necessarily be the best solution for

your business, the solution that will guarantee

you the highest ROMI (Return On Marketing

Investment).

To find out what is, you’ll have to answer a

couple of questions:

What is your target group?

Try to figure out how ‘mobile’ your target group

is. Start with digging up the numbers of mobile

traffic from your web analytics package. But it

might also be a good idea to do a quick customer

survey.

What are your (mobile) goals?

What do you want to accomplish with your

mobile presence? Is it just a matter of ‘being

present’ –in which case a simple mobile website

will probably do- or do you want to offer

something unique for branding or acquisition

purposes –in which case you’d probably rather

want to create a native app- ?

What is your added value in the mobile

space?

If you have content that is highly suited for

mobile use, try to leverage on it by offering it in

the best way possible. For example, don’t opt for

Mobile Flavor 1 if you’re a site offering flight

information. Instead think of a dedicated mobile

website or even a native application.

One more thing…

Mind you that a mobile presence is no different

from any other marketing effort. Above all, it

should fit your global marketing and

business strategy. Second, it will need a lot

of effort to make it work. People will not just

magically find your mobile site or application,

you will have to actively drive traffic to it. Just

like the ice cream man in the street, you too will

have to make yourself heard. And you too will

have to keep track of what happens on your

mobile site to make sure that your mobile

business doesn’t lose its taste of sweetness.

About LUON

LUON is a customer relationship marketing

agency.

By developing campaigns and programs based

on smart ideas, relevant content and a matching

experience, we help brands benefit from a

fruitful relationship with their customers. It's all

a matter of making the right offer at the right

moment in the customer’s lifecycle, across all

relevant interactive media.

Every project we work on is based on clear and

measurable objectives. Which helps us in our

burning ambition to achieve extraordinary

Return On Marketing Investment, together with

great clients such as Unilever, Sony Ericsson,

Vaillant, Tech Data, Thomas Cook, Microsoft,

Fnac and Ello Mobile.

Want to discuss your mobile presence

with us?

LUON has extensive experience in all flavors

of mobile projects through past projects for

clients like Unilever Solo, Ello Mobile,

Sony Ericsson and Acasa Invest.

We can help you figuring out the best

approach for your business so that your

investments in the mobile space pay off to the

maximum.

Please contact us via [email protected]

or call +32 478 32 46 00

mailto:[email protected]



Contact

Geert De Laet

Technology Evangelist

[email protected]

@geertdelaet

Gert Lintermans

Client Services Director

[email protected]

+32 478 32 46 00

LUON

Brusselsesteenweg 560

3090 Overijse

Belgium

T +32 2 686 00 10

[email protected]

@LUON

http://www.luon.com/


http://www.twitter.com/geertdelaet



http://www.twitter.com/LUON

http://www.luon.com/?utm_source=whitepaper&utm_medium=onlinedoc&utm_campaign=MobilePresence

Mobile Presence: What's Your Flavor?

Business

Transcript of Mobile Presence: What's Your Flavor?