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An app needs a purpose. If it’s useful, people will use it. Sounds obvious, but so many brands forget that.
Do you remember the last time you downloaded a branded app from the app store? Are native apps as a marketing tool threatened with extinction due to the advance of 5G? And are companies shifting to web applications, or will there always be a need for locally run ones? If everybody is addicted to their smartphones, it's of the utmost importance we understand what it is they expect to find on their screen. So let’s ask the right questions. Like what is the implication of web apps on user experience, on the use of VR and AR?
As Is
You could probably think of an app for just about any brand. And brands do. Some come in handy—Albert Heijn tells you what aisle to find your favourite cookies in and you’re lost at Tomorrowland without the app telling you who’s DJ’ing where. But a lot of these branded apps are, frankly, pointless. A gimmick, nothing more. If an app doesn’t do anything for its user, it becomes bloatware: taking up space and slowing down other apps.
Duvel doesn’t have an app. If we can’t offer an added value, we’d rather invest in real moments, right in the pub.
could be
The prediction is that apps that are little more than a marketing tool will no longer seduce B2C consumers. Apps, just like any other brand message, fight for your customer’s attention. This means apps will either have to be really useful—think Burger King’s loyalty app or HUMO’s app to find a terrace where the sun is shining, right here, right now—or make you part of an experience. A good example is Colruyt. They promote a healthy lifestyle. So what’s in their app? A pedometer. Simple, but effective. And when people use your app, you use the data you collect on them.
I’m looking forward to my fridge to decide what’s for dinner. But I’m not sure I want my phone to call all the shots for me, or Samsung to know even more about me than they already do.
And then there’s 5G, coming in to change pretty much everything we know. Or maybe not everything. Smartphones are and continue to be the number one device to connect. Two reasons. A, you have it on you all the time. B, phones have batteries that last longer than other devices. This means you have a server in your pocket, allowing you to connect to the IoT. And to use those smart objects, you’ll need what? Right. Apps.
Where things get interesting, is in the shift from push to pull. Now, we’re used to having to ask an app or device to do something for us. In the not so distant future, your fridge will have decided to restock on oat milk, ordering it online, paying for it with your credit card. Will we allow the machines to take over and spend our money for us? Definitely to be continued.
The good news is that with 5G coming, apps can finally embrace AR and VR. Big brands are already dipping their toes into the virtual waters. IKEA, for example, launched The Place App, that uses AR to make that couch you’re thinking about appear right in your living room. L’Oréal has you trying on make-up without lifting a finger. And that’s just AR.
With VR, things go wild. Yes, you’ll need a set of goggles. But they’re coming. And once we all have a pair, we’ll be roaming Google Earth with whole new eyes. Same with YouTube and games we’ll play on the go, right on our phones. We’ll even make art using Quill to paint. Because you know it’s not a gimmick when David Hockney makes a whole series of iPad paintings. Now translate those possibilities to your brand. Getting excited yet?