Mobisodes – a chance for mobile marketers?
We almost lost hope that there would be a next big thing after Web 2.0. But there it is, making the Google search engine explode and marketers rejoice! Webisodes have made big waves in the web world for a while now. These small TV series, short in duration and produced exclusively for the web, are a hit amongst numerous parties, who are being all excited about it.
Producers, because they finally get the money to create experimental stuff that would never be aired on television. Brands, because they can market their products to specific target groups. And content partners, because they get traffic to their site (Source). A win-win situation – even for consumers, who enjoy watching short clips that are most apt to their Internet usage behaviour. Moreover, web- or mobisodes are viral by nature, providing consumers with the possibility to easily send the video on to friends.
The step from webi- to mobisode is quite small, as all webisodes can be easily converted to mobile formats. (Source). Still, most Mobisodes are created exclusively for the mobile channel. Vodafone was among the first who used small films that were made for mobile only, and used the term to describe a mobile offering of 24 one minute spin-offs of the Fox series 24, which were used to popularize the start of Vodafones 3G service in the UK in 2005 (Source). But are mobisodes really a thing of the future or will marketers eventually run into problems?
Problem 1: Screen size
The bigger, the better? At least most mobile phone companies seem to think that this is the case, as mobile phone screens are growing larger in size. Watching a video on an iPhone screen is quite a good experience, but when it comes to a smaller screen size, consumers will hardly be able to see anything from the video. Producing a video for mobile phones must therefore subject to different rules. It needs more close-ups and less dialogue, as the quality of the speakers may vary. Moreover, smart- or multimedia phone owners are still a small percentage, at least in Germany, so if marketers want to target Abby Normal, mobisodes might not be the best way to do it.
Problem 2: Streaming
Streaming still takes up a large amount of time, and if you want to watch a clip in one flow, you should better forget about it. As some statistics by Nielsen Research reveal, mobile video usage is still low. In the U.S., only 10% of all consumers use mobile video, and I guess one cannot expect numbers to be higher in Germany (Source). True, a rise in mobile video usage is predicted, but not unless operators lower data tariffs and streaming will be more reliable in the future.
Problem 3: Storytelling
There are different ways to tell a Mobisodes story. They can either be spin-offs from popular shows such as Lost, they can be made especially for mobile, they can comprise scenes not seen before, as in The Simple Life, or they can work via different platforms, providing the consumer with a certain amount of interactivity (Source). But, they always have to be short and include a cliffhanger which animates the user to continue watching it. If a brand wants to reach its consumers with lengthy marketing messages, webisodes are not the best way to do so. And, as usual, big names work! As more and more popular producers such as Steven King start exploring the new format, it could be quite expensive for brands to produce a high quality video that will find an audience (Source).
So do mobisodes really pose a chance for marketers, if barriers are resolved and problems identified?
They already do pose a chance, not only for broadcast companies or TV stations who want to market their series. LG used mobisodes to promote their LG Chocolate for the South African market. Initially sent out to 20 000 phones in six weeks, LG reached 4 million people by the end of the promotion (Source). Toyota partnered with Fox in their marketing campaign for the Toyota Yaris. They created a mobile spin-off of Prison Break, only with a slightly different angle and different actors. At the beginning of each episode, a ten second Toyota Spot was shown and the car appeared in every episode (Source). And there are even more examples to be found.
Still, what bothers me is that one can hardly find any results how successful these campaigns really are. And, the hype seems to have come to an end, as most resources that can be found are from 2007. It could be that creating a mobisode is just too expensive for the mobile market, and rights issues might pose another problem.
In theory, Mobisodes are a valuable marketing tool to reach a brand’s target audience and spread the campaign message virally. But practically, it is quite an expensive endeavour for both brands and consumers, so one has to assess if this is really worth the costs or if the campaign message can be spread more effectively with the help of other tools.
Still, brands should use mobile video as a way to promote their marketing message to consumers. And they could do so by adapting Webisodes for mobile. They serve the same purpose as mobisodes and a dual distribution would keep costs low. Distribution would be secured, as most video services such as YouTube or the German portal for webisodes, 3 min., already offer their own applications for mobile. But, brands have to make sure that the quality and fun factor of the videos on mobile is as high as it is online!
Tags: LG Chocolate, mobile marketing, Mobisodes, Toyota Yaris, Webisodes