My alma mater (which is also the university where I work) just released an iPad application for its student newspaper, the Optimist.
Of course, the folks at my university (myself included) are excited about this product, and about the chance to explore what publications can do on a tablet device like the iPad. But a few voices (including those of my friend and critic @chrylis, and MediaPost writer Steve Smith), pulled me from my personal revelry long enough to ask an important question: Why choose to make a native iPad app when one could make a mobile-optimized website instead?
In his critique of the iPad and its apps, Steve notes several apps (particularly, apps of publications) that provide more limited content compared to their online counterparts and fail to make up for that limitation through seamless navigation or personalization. @chrylis questions the utility of an app that runs only on one device, as opposed to a mobile website that would run on many.
They're right.
No new product (including mobile applications) is worth buying (or selling) if it doesn't add some value above the products that are already available.
If a new product does the same thing as something else on the market without doing it better, or more easily, or more conveniently, or less expensively, or with greater access, or with more satisfaction, then it has missed its mark as a new product that meets consumers' needs.
If an iPad app looks like its online counterpart, but with less content, more restricted navigation, less ubiquity, and no additional not-available-via-web features, then the web version will prove more useful to both iPad-users and non-iPad-users.
Steve Smith recommends two ways of differentiating iPad apps from their web versions: personalization and navigation. I would add a third: communication.
Personalization would enable an iPad user to configure an app based on their personal preferences. Maybe this means pulling in information specifically relevant to the user's interests. Maybe it means adjusting viewer settings to fit the user's lifestyle. Maybe it means reconfiguring navigation so that the viewer's favorite features are the easiest ones to access.
Navigation on the iPad should work intuitively, should flow gracefully, and should access data simply. Maybe this means simplifying the menu to just a few categories. Maybe it means reducing visual clutter. Maybe it means letting users customize the menu to their own preferences. Maybe it means expanding or hiding extra content with just a touch. Maybe it means taking advantage of two axes for scrolling "deep" into a topic versus "wide" across topics. Maybe it means a visually-logical arrangement of information, instead of only lists.
Communication should enable iPad users to easily share comments, connect apps with social media, and integrate information from various sources. Maybe this means allowing activity on an app to update a user's status on their social networks (as desired). Maybe it means that comments made in an iPad app would show up on web versions as well. Maybe it means that users can collect articles from various apps into a centralized database, so that users can bookmark pieces of information, cross-link them, and add their own notes.
As Steve Smith pointed out with current examples of successful iPad apps, the personalization and navigation pieces are already being achieved by several app makers. I suspect that the communication piece will require additional development and exploration, perhaps even in the capabilities of the iPad SDK. Regardless, these value-adds must be part of an iPad app if the app is to be more useful than a mobile-optimized website.
With your own products, whether mobile or not, are you adding value for your customers? Or can their needs be met just as well (or better) with another item on the market?
Showing posts with label features. Show all posts
Showing posts with label features. Show all posts
Friday, April 9, 2010
Monday, August 3, 2009
DQ: One simple sign, one brilliant marketing tactic
When I see great marketing, I must give credit where credit is due. Today, I give credit to, of all places, my local Dairy Queen.
This haven of frozen-treat goodness has a long way to go on the customer experience side of things. While Dairy Queen serves good food (or at least good soft serve), I am often hesitant to visit my local DQ. The store, despite a recent facelift, always seems a little dingy to me. And ordering hot food there sets the buyer up for an unreasonably long wait. (I only made that mistake twice.)
Oh, but do I love DQ's Blizzards.
And this particular local Dairy Queen uses one simple tool to continually remind me of my love for their heavenly blend of soft serve and toppings: a sign. A simple marquee in front of their building.
The marquee only ever announces one thing: the Blizzard of the Month. I have to pass by it every day on my way to and from town. The marquee reminds me of my craving.
You see, this Blizzard of the Month is an ingenious thing. It's really nothing special; each month's flavor is really available all the time. And the Blizzard of the Month costs exactly the same price as every other flavor that month. But the mere fact that I read, say, "Caramel Brownie Sundae" as the Blizzard of the Month on that little marquee, stirs something in my mind. "Mmm. That sounds good. I want to try that," I think to myself. And I begin to think of ways that I can rationalize buying myself a Blizzard.
The crazy thing is that if "Caramel Brownie Sundae" were not featured on that marquee, I wouldn't even consider it if I walked into a Dairy Queen of my own volition to buy a Blizzard. Instead I would go with one of my two favorites: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or Strawberry Cheesequake. But because "Caramel Brownie Sundae" is the Blizzard of the Month, I want to try it.
Coffee shops do the same thing - they will feature a "Raspberry White Chocolate Mocha" or a "Pumpkin Spice Latte" as a special seasonal drink. But really, a person can order those drinks any time of the year, and at no difference in price. Yet seeing that flavor as a featured pick stirs something in our psyche, and we want to try it.
Can you use this to help your business? Can your company feature a different product every month? week? day? You don't even necessarily have to create any special variations or discounts or promotions. Just draw attention to something of value that you already offer. Maybe a little sign is all you need.
This haven of frozen-treat goodness has a long way to go on the customer experience side of things. While Dairy Queen serves good food (or at least good soft serve), I am often hesitant to visit my local DQ. The store, despite a recent facelift, always seems a little dingy to me. And ordering hot food there sets the buyer up for an unreasonably long wait. (I only made that mistake twice.)
Oh, but do I love DQ's Blizzards.
And this particular local Dairy Queen uses one simple tool to continually remind me of my love for their heavenly blend of soft serve and toppings: a sign. A simple marquee in front of their building.
The marquee only ever announces one thing: the Blizzard of the Month. I have to pass by it every day on my way to and from town. The marquee reminds me of my craving.
You see, this Blizzard of the Month is an ingenious thing. It's really nothing special; each month's flavor is really available all the time. And the Blizzard of the Month costs exactly the same price as every other flavor that month. But the mere fact that I read, say, "Caramel Brownie Sundae" as the Blizzard of the Month on that little marquee, stirs something in my mind. "Mmm. That sounds good. I want to try that," I think to myself. And I begin to think of ways that I can rationalize buying myself a Blizzard.
The crazy thing is that if "Caramel Brownie Sundae" were not featured on that marquee, I wouldn't even consider it if I walked into a Dairy Queen of my own volition to buy a Blizzard. Instead I would go with one of my two favorites: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or Strawberry Cheesequake. But because "Caramel Brownie Sundae" is the Blizzard of the Month, I want to try it.
Coffee shops do the same thing - they will feature a "Raspberry White Chocolate Mocha" or a "Pumpkin Spice Latte" as a special seasonal drink. But really, a person can order those drinks any time of the year, and at no difference in price. Yet seeing that flavor as a featured pick stirs something in our psyche, and we want to try it.
Can you use this to help your business? Can your company feature a different product every month? week? day? You don't even necessarily have to create any special variations or discounts or promotions. Just draw attention to something of value that you already offer. Maybe a little sign is all you need.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Features or Benefits?
In a recent article in MediaPost's Marketing Daily, Best Buy's Shari Ballard (EVP of retail channel management) makes the point that consumers aren't interested in simply acquiring technology products, but in using them to do things. Shari says, "We think one of the reasons we exist on the planet is to help people find connected digital solutions that work with their individual needs."
This is the old "features vs. benefits" question. Customers are not interested in all of the bells and whistles - the features - of a product; they want to know how the product can benefit them and meet their needs.
Customers don't want you to tell them that your brand new, state-of-the-art vacuum cleaner has a super-sonic suction machine and a microfiber carpet brush and a 20-foot hose that compresses to two inches. They want you to tell them that your brand new, state-of-the-art vacuum cleaner will help them clean their homes better, faster, more economically, and with less hassle.
Going beyond the business world, how do you - as a person - benefit others? Maybe you are the best wordsmith who ever lived; your writing communicates exactly and compellingly what you intend to say. That is a gift, a skill, a feature. How are you using that gift to serve the world? Are you helping people to understand one another? Are you inspiring people? Refreshing them? Calling them to action? How are you helping others?
What benefit is your product or service offering to your customers?
What benefit are you, yourself, offering to the world?
You are already strong and beautiful and talented and smart and important and loved; you don't need to prove that. You were created to make the world better; don't just show off your features.
This is the old "features vs. benefits" question. Customers are not interested in all of the bells and whistles - the features - of a product; they want to know how the product can benefit them and meet their needs.
Customers don't want you to tell them that your brand new, state-of-the-art vacuum cleaner has a super-sonic suction machine and a microfiber carpet brush and a 20-foot hose that compresses to two inches. They want you to tell them that your brand new, state-of-the-art vacuum cleaner will help them clean their homes better, faster, more economically, and with less hassle.
Going beyond the business world, how do you - as a person - benefit others? Maybe you are the best wordsmith who ever lived; your writing communicates exactly and compellingly what you intend to say. That is a gift, a skill, a feature. How are you using that gift to serve the world? Are you helping people to understand one another? Are you inspiring people? Refreshing them? Calling them to action? How are you helping others?
What benefit is your product or service offering to your customers?
What benefit are you, yourself, offering to the world?
You are already strong and beautiful and talented and smart and important and loved; you don't need to prove that. You were created to make the world better; don't just show off your features.
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