What is ‘Mobile’ Anyway?
Everyone’s talking about Mobile right now, but I wonder if we’re all talking the same language. What do we really mean when we talk about mobile content and mobile advertising?
Theoretically, mobile content is any type of media that can be accessed via a mobile phone, and mobile advertising is any advertising message using a mobile phone as a delivery mechanism. Depending on who you are and what you’re trying to achieve, this could mean anything from a simple text based SMS message to a full scale mobile TV production.
So if your client demands that you include ‘mobile’ in their next campaign, do they know what they’re asking for? Do you? Are they expecting you to tell them??
The mobile phone can be used as a content & advertising mechanism in many different ways, each suited to a different type of content or message, and each reaching a different kind of audience.
In this article we look at using SMS/MMS, mobile websites and downloadable applications as mechanisms for delivering content & messages via the mobile phone.
Messaging (SMS & MMS)
SMS is a useful medium for delivery of short snippets of information such as weather, wee
kly updates or directory services. Users can subscribe to a regular SMS alert by signing up on a website such as Margaret & David’s ‘At the Movies’ site on the ABC http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/sms/ Customers text the word ‘movies’ to 197 00 222 to receive weekly reminders and movie star ratings via SMS. This type of service is usually made available for a fee, either as an upfront cost (eg. $5 per month) or per SMS (eg. $0 25 per message).
Other services operate on a request/response mechanism whereby users send an SMS to a designated number requesting the information they desire. Bongo is an example of this type of service. Users can send any question to 199 26646 (199 BONGO) and receive an answer in response. Eg. Send ‘Why is the sky blue?’ to 199 BONGO and receive a response back via SMS. This kind of service is usually charged by Premium SMS based on the customer’s request. eg. Bongo charges users $3.50 for every SMS request they make!
MMS can be used to deliver content that is graphical or video based, via either of the above mechanisms, although this depends on a mobile phone’s ability to receive MMS messages.
The Mobile Web
Mobile content that is not alert or snippet based is usually found or made available via the Mobile Web.
an class=”Apple-style-span” style=”"> Mobile websites are simply web pages which are designed to look right on a small screen . Mobile phones are not (yet) as powerful as PCs and bandwith is generally significantly less across mobile phone networks, so mobile websites need to be very simple, with limited graphics & audio visual components in order to operate successfully. Over time however, increasingly complex & interactive mobile sites will be possible, as faster bandwidth & higher-end handsets become available (eg. the iPhone)
The ’Mobile’ web is in fact the same web as the ‘online’ web that most people are familiar with. A mobile web page exists at a URL in the same way as a normal website. eg. http://www.company.com.au Mobile web sites are often given a slightly different URL to make them easily identifiable to mobile users. This is not a technical requirement, but is becoming increasingly common. While there’s no accepted convention, certain standards are encouraged, and the following variations are most regularly applied:
2. http://mobile.company.com.au
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4. http://www.company.com.au/mobile
There is presently a great deal of demand for and interest in .mobi domain names and many brands are securing their web URL as a ‘dot mobi’ just in case. As yet there is no trend towards any one of the above examples, but many well known web sites currently use a subdomain such as m. or mobile. for ther mobile version (see examples 1& 2 above).
Downloadable Applications
Some mobile services are accessed by downloading an application to the mobile phone itself. Downloading applications used to be the preserve of more advanced users, but with handsets like the iPhone, this is becoming more & more common. iPhone users can access an ‘App Store’ from their phone to quickly & easily download applications to use immediately. This ease of download will soon become commonplace, but for most other devices it is still more tedious. To get application software onto a (non iPhone) handset, users can connect to their PC with a USB cable and install the application using the PC software that came with their mobile phone. Alternatively, many services now direct you to a mobile website URL where you can simply click on the ‘download’ link and follow the step by step instructions to install.
Shozu is a photo uploading tool that users can download from the Shozu mobile site http://m.shozu.com. On visiting the URL, you’ll see a link to download the application. Following the prompts will install the app on the phone and set up links to various photo sharing websites (eg. Flickr). Once installed, shozu prompts with a message each time a photo is taken using the camera phone, asking if you’d like to send the photo instantly to Flickr.
Other applications that can be downloaded in this way include email software to allow mobile access to your account, local maps or instant messaging tools. Try visiting http://www.fring.com on your mobile browser and download the Fring application to access your favourite IM service via your mobile, using VOIP.
Some companies that operate mobile websites also develop a downloadable version of their site for advanced users. The downloadable version is usually more graphical, faster & easier to use, and often includes additional functionality not available on the mobile site. Check out the downloadable version of Google maps by visiting http://m.google.com.au/maps on your mobile browser, and click on the link to ‘Install Now’.
Watch out with mobile applications though, as they can churn through a lot more data than a simple mobile site and you could be in for a shock when you receive your next mobile bill. More on data charging and mobile site discoverability in future articles.
NOTE: This article was originally published on Digital Ministry in Feb 2008, but has since been moved or deleted (?) I have reposted it below so that it will have a permanent bookmark.
NOTE: some details changed to update facts / links etc.
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