05:47
Unknown
In an article by Tech Crunch recently, it announced the quiet debut of Carnival, a brand accelerating mobile app employing a subscription business model. Brand yearly subscription rates range between low 5 figures to low 6 figures. A hefty chunk to be sure. Yet the overall marketing environment has compelled about 60 large brands to participate in the experiment.
Over the past few years, businesses have been busy creating their own apps. There are so many apps out there now that building a large following is nearly impossible. This is especially true in geo space. What does it matter if you have a bunch of geo fences out there if nobody has your app? Without it, passing users will not see your messages, no matter how compelling they may be. It seems nobody seriously asked themselves why a user would want to open the app in the first place.
Carnival, at least, is asking many of the right questions. But does their solution go far enough to provide an environment users want to engage often? Why would a user want to open the app? For a deal? Groupon proved that model isn't sustainable. To play a cheesy game? FourSquare proved that model can't last. Will extreme push messages compel users to engage? Push messages of any kind will be seen more and more as glorified spam. It will be a turn off. So why will users want to participate in Carnival? This question hasn't been addressed sufficiently to justify 5 and 6 digit subscriptions. But the fact that so many brands are willing to pony up that much clearly proves brands are desperate. We need a solution that creates a communications bridge between mobile users and local businesses. A solution that users are excited to use on a regular basis. I'm not certain Carnival has met the challenge?
People don't want a digital show. They have become numb to spam and push messages. What people want is an environment where they can engage real people in real ways who are physicallly near them. People are interesting. And when people come together they start playing with each other. Think of the last time you went to a football game. What did you notice about the crowd? The mindset of the fans was playful, fun and exciting. In fact, people love to play with others so much that they even initiate crowd waves, jumping up and laughing as each wave ripples around the stadium. This is what people want. People want to engage in crowd play with those around them. People are getting bored of playing with non humans. At minimum, they are starting to hunger for something more.
When you can provide true crowd play in your app, then you have a chance to build a crowd following. Where there are crowds there is opportunity for businesses to engage and influence. In escence, the true answer lies in all local businesses building the same crowd together rather than each building their own indepent following. Only in this way can businesses leverage their visibility and drive down subscription costs to the three digit range.
Will Carnival succeed where others have failed? If they remain on this course I am skeptical. So what can a brand or local business do now? Not to worry, there are those who have been working and have created a solution?
Over the past few years, businesses have been busy creating their own apps. There are so many apps out there now that building a large following is nearly impossible. This is especially true in geo space. What does it matter if you have a bunch of geo fences out there if nobody has your app? Without it, passing users will not see your messages, no matter how compelling they may be. It seems nobody seriously asked themselves why a user would want to open the app in the first place.
Carnival, at least, is asking many of the right questions. But does their solution go far enough to provide an environment users want to engage often? Why would a user want to open the app? For a deal? Groupon proved that model isn't sustainable. To play a cheesy game? FourSquare proved that model can't last. Will extreme push messages compel users to engage? Push messages of any kind will be seen more and more as glorified spam. It will be a turn off. So why will users want to participate in Carnival? This question hasn't been addressed sufficiently to justify 5 and 6 digit subscriptions. But the fact that so many brands are willing to pony up that much clearly proves brands are desperate. We need a solution that creates a communications bridge between mobile users and local businesses. A solution that users are excited to use on a regular basis. I'm not certain Carnival has met the challenge?
People don't want a digital show. They have become numb to spam and push messages. What people want is an environment where they can engage real people in real ways who are physicallly near them. People are interesting. And when people come together they start playing with each other. Think of the last time you went to a football game. What did you notice about the crowd? The mindset of the fans was playful, fun and exciting. In fact, people love to play with others so much that they even initiate crowd waves, jumping up and laughing as each wave ripples around the stadium. This is what people want. People want to engage in crowd play with those around them. People are getting bored of playing with non humans. At minimum, they are starting to hunger for something more.
When you can provide true crowd play in your app, then you have a chance to build a crowd following. Where there are crowds there is opportunity for businesses to engage and influence. In escence, the true answer lies in all local businesses building the same crowd together rather than each building their own indepent following. Only in this way can businesses leverage their visibility and drive down subscription costs to the three digit range.
Will Carnival succeed where others have failed? If they remain on this course I am skeptical. So what can a brand or local business do now? Not to worry, there are those who have been working and have created a solution?
Posted in: Social Marketing
0 comments:
Post a Comment