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/


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