Category: Mobile

Sveriges Radio Plus

Right now, most second screen experiences push content to the user but do very little by way of two-way interactivity. That however is slowly changing and can already be seen in the TV based second screen experiences from Heineken and Chevy.

Now in one of the first examples of second screen experiences that I have seen with radio, Swedish ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors has attempted to make the whole radio experience more visual, interactive, and shareable.

With a new radio player called “Swedish Radio Plus” they allowed people on computers and mobile devices to listen in on the radio programs and simultaneously add videos, pictures, comments, maps and polls to the radio timeline. All post made on this custom timeline were also shared on the users Facebook profile, with a link to that exact part of the program.

To give it a try yourself visit the demo page here.

Air Check-in

Now there is an app that lets parachutists “check in” on Facebook as they free fall through the sky. 😎

Parachuting specialists Sky Company, wanted to promote their Facebook fan page. So with ageisobar Brazil they developed the Air Check-in app [iTunes Link] that allowed users to take pictures during their jump while recording their height. Then based on their 3G reception at the altitude post the details on the users Facebook timeline or store the check-in for later.

The check-in posts made by the app had a link to Sky Company’s Facebook fan page. So this not only helped boost their fan count on Facebook, but also helped increase the number of jumps with their team by 26%.

The above app also brought back memories of another parachuting campaign that was done by hotels.com in September 2011. This time the campaign was centered around the company’s high-speed mobile booking application, which allowed users to book rooms at its network of almost 140,000 hotels worldwide.

To promote their smart phone app they teamed up with extreme athlete and stuntman, JT Holmes, for a wild and exciting digital demonstration to prove just how easy it was to book a room while “on the fly”. 🙂

Smart Apps: Audi Start-Stop and Reborn Apps

Here are two mobile apps that recently caught my eye…

Audi Start-Stop App

The Audi start-stop system turns off the engine when the car stops at a traffic light and turns it on again when the car starts. Using the same principle, Audi along with DDB Spain creates an Android app that detects which applications have been open longest without being used and sends an alert to the user to close them. Thus saving battery and making the phone a more efficient tool.

Reborn Apps

Many events create their own smartphone apps. But when the event is over, the apps lose their usefulness and are then hardly used. To give these apps a second life, Duval Guillaume gets various Belgium organisations to push out an update which turns their event apps into a registration medium for organ donation.

In European mobile marketing, the strongest brand apps behave like practical utilities first and brand messages second.

What both ideas get right

Standalone takeaway: Both apps translate a familiar real-world idea into a simple mobile behavior change. One nudges you to close what you are not using. The other repurposes what you already have installed.

  • They solve a real friction. Battery drain and app clutter are everyday pains. Low donor registration is a societal pain.
  • They use a clear trigger. “Unused for long” becomes the reason to act. “Event is over” becomes the reason to update.
  • They keep the action lightweight. A close action or a signup action can happen in seconds.

Two different intents, one shared pattern

The Audi app is a utility story. It borrows a car feature metaphor to make an Android housekeeping task feel purposeful. The Reborn idea is a “mobile for good” story. It turns leftover event attention into a meaningful registration moment, without asking people to download something new.

What to steal if you build brand apps

  • Start from a known behavior. People already ignore background apps. People already keep old event apps installed.
  • Make the trigger obvious. If users cannot explain why the app pinged them, they ignore it next time.
  • Design for the next best action. One tap to close. One short flow to register.
  • Let the brand sit behind the benefit. If the utility feels real, the brand halo follows naturally.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Audi Start-Stop App?

It is an Android utility idea that identifies apps left open for a long time without being used and alerts you to close them, borrowing the metaphor of Audi’s start-stop engine system.

What problem does it try to solve?

It targets battery and resource drain caused by apps that stay running in the background after you stop actively using them.

What are Reborn Apps?

It is an idea that asks event app publishers to push an update after the event ends, transforming those unused apps into a simple organ donation registration tool.

Why is the “update instead of download” approach smart?

It removes acquisition friction. The app is already on the phone, so the campaign can focus on conversion rather than installs.

What is the common lesson across both examples?

Make the desired behavior the easiest behavior. Use a clear trigger, keep the action simple, and let usefulness do the persuasion.