Charles Haggas

With Facebook’s recent purchase of the popular, 18-month-old photo app Instagram for a cool 1 billion dollars, the arms race in the world of mobile app development has officially begun. Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram will set in motion a tidal wave of perceived opportunity for current and aspiring app developers. Venture capitalists will be foaming at the mouth to create the next hot app that they hope will be quickly purchased by the most paranoid and deep-pocketed company in the newly forming mobile app bubble.

 How the purchase of Instagram will affect the mobile app market:

1. More investment flowing into the app sector

Demand generates value and one thing that’s certain is that the demand for mobile applications and development experts is in fact growing. Companies will be looking to purchase apps with a large user base more quickly, before they get beaten to the punch by another investor and before the application reaches a value where it is no longer beneficial to the company to sell. Furthermore, this means the app bubble will continue to grow. Venture Capitalist will continue to overpay for apps. Yes, that’s right the app bubble has just started.

2. Inflated pricing and costs in the app economy (this means for development to purchase of a company)

Quality development will become even more crucial in creating a graphically-appealing, bug-free app that has a great interface and is, most importantly, fun to use. As demand increases the price of marketing agencies, app development companies, and advertising networks will increase, thereby increasing the cost of doing business. Gone are the days of .10 cent downloads and mobile app develpment that costs less than 10Gs.

3. More innovation and fresh ideas

Competition spurs innovation and uniqueness of the idea will become the crux of a successful mobile app. A fresh idea, or a new spin on a common theme, will help the app stand out from the crowd. Developers and investors are realizing it’s not just about making a great app, it’s about making a distinctive app. The bar has been raised and the stage has been set, a new generation of innovative apps are about to make their way to our mobile devices.

4. More pointless fart apps

What can we say, some people will just never get it. The desire to create pointless fart apps is a strong one that will only grow stronger in the new mobile app landscape as more people try their hand at app development.  God speed fart apps. God speed.

5. More competition from new app developers looking for a big pay day

No matter what it is, when something is doing well everyone wants a piece of the pie. It is human nature, so it’s no surprise that there will be an increase in competition among new developers, all looking for their quick million…or billion. Luckily competition is generally a good thing, it promotes growth, forces us to be more creative, and makes us more goal-oriented. Seize the day app developers, we’re looking forward to seeing what you create!

What are some other effects the Instagram purchase will have on the app economy?

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Space Chimp Media | What The Purchase of Instagram Means for App Developers

Amidst rising privacy concerns, Apple has decided to begin rejecting new apps that utilize a device’s UDID, (Unique Device ID), a code used to identify a user’s mobile phone or tablet. If you are an app developer, this will have a significant impact on how you market your app and how you track and measure your iOS app downloads. As business owners, managers, developers, and marketers, we are all aware that the environment in which we all work is constantly in flux, progressing rapidly, and requires us to adapt quickly, so have no fear, Space Chimp Media is prepared to help you navigate this changing landscape! Find out more below.

UDID’s and Congress

UDID’s, more specifically, are a string of numbers unique to every Apple device that enable app developers and publishers to gather important analytics including, how many people have downloaded their app and in what capacity they are using the app. Additionally, developers can use UDID to grant access to specific users and devices during the all-important beta testing process. When used appropriately, these are great benefits of UDID and with the mobile app marketing flourishing right now, the analytics gained from UDID help to level the playing field.

Congress had privacy concerns, and rightfully so. With the growing popularity of social sharing apps and location based services, more and more apps are requesting access to your personal details. On many of these popular apps users’ demographic and location information, habits, and preferences are easily collected and the details sent to third party-sources for marketing purposes.

According to the App Store Review Guidelines, “apps cannot transmit data about a user without obtaining the user’s prior permission and providing the user with access to information about how and where the data will be used.”

Space Chimp Media has been closely following these developments. We have conducted extensive research into alternative solutions and are prepared to ensure that our advertisers can still actively track and target their campaigns driving app downloads on iOS devices.

Moving Forward: How to Track Conversions on iOS Devices

Using the MAC address is the most widely accepted conversion tracking alternative being adopted by the industry right now. While this alternative may not be a long term solution, it does offer all of the same benefits previously afforded by the UDID.

To ensure that we are not 100% dependent upon MAC address and to assist in a smooth transition, Space Chimp Media is also working to provide additional alternatives, such as through an integrated browser experience, cookie tracking, and approaches using the iOS pasteboard.

Get in touch with us if you have concerns about tracking your app in the wake of Apple’s UDID decision and let’s move into a more user-friendly, secure future together!

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Space Chimp Media | Apple Puts the Brakes on UDID

In case you haven’t figured it out, videos are the preferred method for start-ups to garner some attention. Being that the intertubes are flooded with videos nowadays, start-ups have to have a video that is engaging and can go viral if they want their business to get some funding. Humor seems to be the most plausible approach, as well as clearly identifying the target audience. Though some of these vids are intentionally humorous, some aren’t, and crash like a lead balloon. Check out these 6 must see start-up vids to discover who did it wrong and who did it right.

“Share The Air” Presentation

Hardly Working: Start-up Guys

DollarShaveClub.com – Our Blades Are F***ing Great

Forts & the Inbetween

Double Fine Adventure! // Kickstarter Pitch Video

Your Business Card is Crap!

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Space Chimp Media | 6 Funny Videos Every Tech Startup Should Watch

“What was the ROI?” In today’s business environment, the answer to this question is becoming more and more difficult to quantify. Businesses want a smorgasbord of cold, hard data in order to help them make informed decisions with regard to their marketing budgets. But do the numbers tell the whole story? What’s more, in our effort to maximize returns, are we killing creativity?

As far as the numbers are concerned, we can hardly fault any business for wanting concrete data. Data makes us feel comfortable and confident and gives us something tangible to hang our hat on. Analytics serve a purpose and will continue to play an important role in today’s ROI-driven world, but if you are focusing exclusively on the ROI of your latest campaign, you may be missing the bigger picture.

If we begin to believe that the focus on ROI is truly diminishing the importance of creativity, we need only look to YouTube , and Old Spice’s “Man Responses” campaign, to be reminded of the reach and power a truly creative campaign can have. The creativity of this campaign created something extremely important to potential Old Spice consumers, it created an experience. This intangible, this experience, proved more valuable to Old Spice than any banner ad or magazine inlay could have. It doubled their sales.

Of course, developers of the “Man Responses” campaign were eventually able to obtain audience data through site analytics, thus allowing them to calculate a probable ROI on their investment, but we must remember that these calculations take time. Creative marketing begs you to engage with the advertiser, to experience, share, and ultimately remember the campaign. While Old Spice could attribute an increase in sales to their YouTube presence, they could not quantify the impact consumer change in perception would have on their product, and many times this brand perception and awareness can prove to be the most valuable outcome of a campaign.

So, how is the focus of ROI killing creativity? Creativity gets killed when we allow ourselves to be courted by data. We must remember in this new “flat” world, where the internet has created a level playing field, that creativity is what allows us to break through all the noise.

Creativity is important; it is important to your consumers and it is important to your business. Maintain a balance of results driven by both data and creativity and ROI will follow.

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Space Chimp Media | How the Focus of ROI is Killing Creativity

03/07/2012

Mobile app of The Associated Press will host booth with product demos of new app, live interviews with industry professionals

AP Mobile, the award-winning mobile app from The Associated Press, will host a booth at the 2012 SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas, March 12-15. The AP Mobile team will feature demos of the new app on iPad and iPhone and will stream live interviews with industry professionals at the booth. The latest version of the app was released earlier this week.

“The SXSW Interactive Conference is the ideal place for us to showcase AP Mobile,” said Matt Cluney, director of marketing for the Associated Press.  “We’re confident that the latest version of the app places it among the other heavy hitters of SXSW Interactive, and its new features are going to make it a buzz-worthy topic.”

The interviews will stream live on www.getapmobile.com and other websites. The AP Mobile team will announce the interview schedule at the start of each day via the AP Mobile website, Facebook and Twitter.

AP Mobile will also host a daily contest at the SXSW booth where attendees can submit story ideas to be featured on www.getapmobile.com.

AP Mobile will be located at booth 846 in the Austin Convention Center.

About AP Mobile
Developed by the Associated Press, the AP Mobile app is an award-winning multimedia news portal providing anytime access to international, national and local news from AP and other trusted sources.  In the four years since its first release, AP Mobile has been downloaded by more than 3.5 million iPad, iPhone and iPod users.  The AP Mobile app is available for free from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch at www.iTunes.com/AppStore.  The previous version of AP Mobile remains available across all other mobile devices, including Black Berry, Android, and Windows Phone 7.

For more information on AP Mobile, visit the website at www.getapmobile.com.

Contact:

Carson Barker
Space Chimp Media
855.821.3233

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Space Chimp Media | AP Mobile to showcase new app at SXSW Interactive

03/TK/2012

AP Press Release

Award-winning AP Mobile app now features “Big Stories,” local coverage from 1,000+ sources, customization and embedded social media tools

NEW YORK — The Associated Press today released a major redesign of its popular award-winning mobile news app, AP Mobile, featuring an all-new look, in-depth coverage of major stories and enhanced local news presentations from AP member newspapers and broadcasters around the country.

The new app has a powerful visual design that goes beyond the latest news headlines to introduce rich content experiences curated by editors just for the app. Two new enhancements in particular seek to differentiate it from other offerings: Big Stories and Local News. The new features are available exclusively at launch for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users.

“AP Mobile is now the most robust and easy-to-navigate app for news,” said Tom Curley, president and CEO of The Associated Press. “It combines customizable news feeds, news stories from local publications and breaking news from around the world all into one interface. The new design and feature set of the AP Mobile app set a new standard for how people consume news on their iPad, iPhone and iPod touch in what is sure to be an extraordinary year for news.”

Developed by The Associated Press, the AP Mobile app is an award-winning multimedia news portal providing anytime access to international, national and local news from AP and other trusted sources. In the four years since its first release, AP Mobile has been downloaded more than 3.5 million times by iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users.

The “Big Stories” section of the new app will feature in-depth major stories, told through text, photos, videos and interactive graphics. The app also includes a direct link for users to send news tips to AP. Throughout the year, the new app will give “Big Story” treatment to the national election and the Olympics, among other scheduled events and breaking news stories that capture the public’s attention.

“The application that first put all the news, from global to local, together in one place is now even better,” said Michael Boord, global director of AP Mobile. “Our goal is to give iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users unparalleled access to the breadth and depth of multimedia content from the AP and its membership.”

The Local News section will enable users to view stories from their favorite local publications by brand as well as by geographic location. Users can easily find local sources by entering the city or Zip Code of their choice. For the first time, content will be curated by participating publishers and broadcasters, who will be able to select the stories they feature from their own news reports.

In addition, the app provides enhanced display for both national and local advertisers. “Along with our goal of adapting to how people want to get their news, we believe our new look opens up exciting opportunities for sponsors and advertisers,” said Boord.

The app also represents the first external display of AP’s new visual identity and logo – the first in more than 30 years. The new logo will roll out to other AP properties in the coming months. The new brand platform will help unify all of AP’s business lines under one consistent look and logo and increase its market recognition as the definitive source for news.

“That’s why AP Mobile is so exciting,” said John Gullion, managing editor, the Citizen Tribune, Morristown, Tenn. “The knowledge and skills of the Associated Press team building cool new features while consistently improving existing ones combined with our local news content gives us a powerful tool to remain relevant. It’s a combination that we feel can help our paper – and our advertisers – increase our reach into the ever-growing digital market.”

The AP Mobile app is available for free from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch at www.iTunes.com/AppStore. Current users of the app can update to the new version through iTunes on desktop or via the App Store app.

For more information on AP Mobile, visit the website at www.getapmobile.com

About The AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half of the world’s population sees news from AP. On the Net: www.ap.org

For more information, contact:

Charles Haggas

Carson Barker

Space Chimp Media

855.821.3233

Paul Colford
AP Director of Media Relations
212-621-1720

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Space Chimp Media | AP launches redesigned news app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch

You’ve gotten lost trying to find contact information on a confusing website, or followed a link to a site you expected to provide you with answers to your burning questions–but were met instead with something that looked like 1998. Maybe you’ve even had one of these sites, and wondered why you weren’t making any sales? Maybe, you still have this site, and you’re still wondering.

It is Space Chimp Media’s goal to make the internet a safe place with web design that converts. If we had our way you would never have to stumble upon an all-black website with lime green text and a picture of the owners dog ever again. Here’s our list of the essential stuff to help you design an attractive and effective landing page. Think of this as the waiting room where your customers can learn everything about your company in one simple read page which compels users to take action.

Pitch Graphic

It’s difficult to know what to pay attention to when you land on a page with multiple competing graphics and information. The eye needs to be drawn in to one focal point, this is easy to accomplish with an image that will communicate to the user what it is you do.

Main Feature

The pitch graphic will prep the user for your main feature–you, your business, your product, basically the reason they came to your site in the first place.

Benefits

What are the benefits of your product or service over that of another company, or just compared to not having them at all? Use your website to communicate to your potential customers the benefits of your product or service, but keep it brief. The landing page is a map that the user can look at and instantly see how to get from where they are to where they want to go via the roads you’ve outlined. Your products and services likely have their own pages, but those pages should be easy to find and introduced in such a way that people want to click through.

How It Works

Do people know what you do, or are they always asking you what, exactly, a “Cloud-based Application Interface Designer” does? Or maybe your product isn’t self-explanatory, either; this can especially be true with new mobile technologies that are not yet house-hold names. It’s important to explain to your potential customer how your product or service works, so they know if it’s right for them.

Pricing Tables

When you go to a new restaurant, open the menu, and realize there are no prices what is your first reaction? To kick the person you’re with under the table and try to invent a graceful way of leaving? Most people, when they don’t see a price tag, imagine the worst. You don’t have to post prices on your landing page, but let people know that they can find your prices without calling and then feeling embarrassed to admit you’re out of their price range. Just making the price list available may make you look more affordable because you’re not trying to hide anything.

Credibility

Why should someone choose your business over another? Now that your customer has been familiarized with your product, take a moment to introduce yourself. Should they buy because you’re a small mom and pop shop that has been trusted in your local community for over 50 years? Or should they trust you because you’ve been backed by celebrities? Because your product has become an industry standard? Because … it smells good?

Contact Forms

There’s an annoying phrase that comes up a lot in marketing: Keep It Simple Stupid. Keeping your forms simple removes barriers between your potential customer and a conversion. It’s a lot easier for someone to fill out a contact form, or hit “add to cart” than it is for them to pick up the phone and call. The form is there to make the sale easy, don’t undo all the work it’s doing for you by over-complicating it.

Secondary Call to Action

Okay, they acted, they came to your site, they clicked around and now you want them to DO something. Maybe it’s to call you for a consultation, or to buy a pair of pants, or even just to like a pair of pants and share it on Facebook. In any case, there needs to be a next step, and you need to make it EASY for them to make.

Did we miss something? Leave a comment below.

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Space Chimp Media | 8 Fundamental Parts of a Great Landing Page

For the low-low price of $20 you can get your own horrible jingle and logo from HorribleLogos.com.

With our clean, classy, established logo, why would Space Chimp Media (APPSPIRE.me’s parent company) pay anything for the trash you see (and hear) here? We’ve gotta tell you the truth, we did it for the links. Not just the click-through that we hope to get from other people browsing HorribleLogos.com, but for the increased traffic we get to our site from higher search rankings.

More links to your site means higher search rankings. You can also think of backlinks as votes to your site. The more votes the better. The higher the quality the vote, the bigger the impact will be on your site. This is a great example of how to buy links without getting in trouble with Google or Bing.

Did you get a horrible logo or jingle? Share it here or on our Facebook page.

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Space Chimp Media | Our Horrible Jingle and Logo

Leisure has a value of its own. It is not a mere handmaid of labor; it is something we should know how to cultivate, to use, and to enjoy. – Agnes Repplier, “Leisure”

At the end of most yoga practices there’s a segment called “Savasana,” this posture involves laying on your back. Really, just laying there. These few moments of rest are meant to help all the postures that came before it be integrated into the muscles, to let the effect of the practice take hold. Recently, authors Connie May Fowler and Patrick Madden gave a lecture that suggested a similar idea, but for the brain. The lecture is titled, “The Importance of Wasting Time“, and was performed online, through Facebook, of all places. The general idea: How can we come up with new, innovative ideas, if we’re constantly focused on what’s already going on?

A lot of us pride ourselves on being workaholics, multitaskers, and do-it-ourselfers, all of which have their merits–but what ever happened to quality over quantity?

Now, this idea of doing too much doesn’t just apply to your brain or your body, but also to the health of your company, and it call comes down to budgeting. Budgeting time, money, and resources. Running a business is like running a marathon, not a sprint, so it’s key to make sure that you’re budgeting your resources to be there for you over time. Resources include employees (there’s the age-old saying that you can treat employees well and pay them badly, or you can treat them badly and pay them well, but you can’t treat them badly and pay them badly), industry contacts (don’t wear out your favors), and of course cold hard cash (don’t blow it all in one place, pace yourself and diversify).

Of course each company is different, some small businesses don’t have the funds to hire employees, others are in the hectic phase of trying to find their niche and establish their brand. There are certainly reasons to be busy and reasons why a strong work-ethic has long been admired–no one is suggesting you shirk your responsibilities, rather, I’m suggesting that you stop feeling guilty when you sneak away from your to do list to get a sandwich.

So, now that you’re ready to make the most of your wasted time, just don’t try too hard.

What do you think? When do you get your best ideas?

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Space Chimp Media | Are You Doing too Much?

Everyone is on Twitter, facebook, linkedin, tumblr, pintrist, googleplus, high-five, Friendster, myspace—and the list goes on. And most of us believe we need these social media tools to have a successful business. So, after you’ve branded your business, opened 500 social networking accounts, and friended as  many people as the internet would let you … what do you say to all those people?

Let’s look at it from the other side.

We all want to feel like we’re best friends with our favorite brands—that Justin Timberlake and The New Yorker like us as much as we like them—but that doesn’t mean we want to know when the intern who is running their facebook account wants a sandwich. If you’re a restaurant, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to be posting updates about your favorite sports team. Every brand is an authority, or striving to portray themselves as such, and what we—the fans–want to know is: how did they get so cool? What do they have that made us want to follow them in the first place?

So how do you share your authority and coolness with your fans? Go off on tangents. And by tangents, I mean, of course, topics that are tangentially related to your business. You have a shoe store specializing in athletic footwear? An interesting article about your favorite runner could make a great relevant post.

Remember, also, that people sign into facebook to see if the guy or girl they have a crush on has liked their new profile picture, and that noticing your post at all is a gift of their attention. Keep it brief, keep it relevant, and at least try to keep it interesting.

Do you have other suggestions for brands running social media accounts? Leave a comment below.

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Space Chimp Media | Toeing the Line in Social Media