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Flood of New Entrants To Offer Mobile Apps in 2010

By: Melinda Gipson

December 22, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

To download the study referenced in this article please click here

A groundbreaking study on the current strategies and future plans of more than 600 major advertisers, agencies, publishers and app developers shows social app spending to flatten while mobile app investment soars.

Hold the phone - advertising apps are going mobile in a big way in 2010. An exclusive research study, previewed by DM2PRO.com and sponsor Quattro Wireless at the digiday:APPS summit in Los Angeles December 10, 2009 and released in full today, offers the first in-depth look at the entire applications or "apps" ecosystem. As the mobile landscape continues to evolve, this data provides an essential window into where the industry stands today and where it is headed. It reveals that, among advertisers or agencies who have worked with mobile apps, a third expect their mobile apps budgets to increase by more than 75 percent in 2010, some by greater than 200 percent.
 
As a reality check, more than half of the more than 234 advertisers, agencies and marketers who participated in the survey, said they haven't yet developed mobile or social apps. But, among these skeptics, 65 percent said they plan to develop mobile apps in 2010, with iPhone being the clear winner in terms of platform of choice at 91 percent (followed by Android at 39 percent, RIM at 33 percent, Palm at 19 percent.)
 
Among those who have already developed apps, the leading platform is still Facebook. But iPhone is a close second, showing that marketers are keen to follow audiences wherever they live or work or interact. Branded community sites are the next most popular venue for apps, then MySpace. Android lags this list at just 9.5 percent, though it's more popular in the developer community, and with publishers.
 
For publishers who've developed apps, the inverse is true: iPhone leads Facebook. More than 35 percentof publishers who took the survey say that, even in today's tight times, they expect their mobile application revenues to increase by more than 50 percent. A few other highlights:

  • A little more than half of the advertisers and agencies did not develop a mobile or social app in 2009, but 65 percent plan to develop mobile apps in 2010, with iPhone being the clear winner in terms of intended platform of choice at 91 percent (followed by Android at 39 percent, RIM at 33 percent).

  • For those that do have apps today, Facebook apps lead iPhone apps by about 12 percent.

  • A third of advertisers and agencies expect their budgets to increase by more than 75 percent in 2010 - some by greater than 200 percent.

  • For the smaller number of publishers who've developed apps, the inverse of advertisers' social to mobile apps preference is true: iPhone leads Facebook! More than 35 percent of publishers say that - even in today's tight times - they expect their mobile app related revenues to increase by more than 50 percent in 2010.

  • Social-only developers focus mainly on Facebook (74 percent), but 90 percent of this group are going mobile in 2010, with 75 percent working on iPhone apps and 55 percent on RIM.

Considering that more than half the total advertising/agency respondents who participated in the study represent agencies (130), presumably with multiple clients, the number of branded mobile applications entering the market next year could be substantial.
 
State of the Industry Surveys are developed alongside DM2Events' targeted digiday conferences to give digital media and marketers insights on what their peers are really doing in that environment. Quattro Wireless's collaboration in the study brought key insights from developers who develop apps as entrepreneurs, or for ad agencies, brands or publishers.
 
Developers who work for advertisers or agencies said they expect mobile development budgets to increase sharply, while their counterpart social-only developers report their spending for next year should be roughly flat. At a time when online advertising is inching downward, 58 percent of agency mobile developers expect increases of more than 40 percent.

Overall, developers' apparent inclination to ramp up Android development could make the market interesting; however, advertisers appear convinced that iPhone apps are their best clear pathway to consumer connections.
  
The most engaged brand categories with apps, according to active respondents who represent them, are: CPG, retail, automotive and entertainment. Lagging brands - those represented by advertisers or agencies who haven't yet developed apps, in order of response by least engaged: B2B, health/pharma, media and retail. The full research is linked from the front page of DM2PRO.com and is available for download to members. You can join for less than $20/month, so treat yourself to insightful research and more than 100 videos from our recent events.