Tag Archives: mobile in marketing

Mobile Churches Are/Aren’t Global Churches

A good brother in the faith, who also has a unique niche towards social media use in ministry recently published an article titled Mobile Churches Are Global Churches. I happened to be in the midst of travel when reading it, so I had to hold my pause on the title until I got to reading the piece. When I did, I didn’t so much see how mobile churches are global churches… but I didn’t see how they aren’t global either.

Caston starts off his article with the analogy of the oft-connected believer:

With more smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices being produced and sold than ever before, people are staying connected, from the office, the dentist, the chiropractor, the grocery store, and everywhere else that their busy day takes them. If not already the case, there will soon be more mobile internet users logged on at any given time than those using stationary personal computers and laptops combined.

Its a pretty normal thing in developed nations to see people connected to several streams of content via various computing devices. Depending on the region and the level of economic development (economic class), how those mobiles are being used to stay connected, informed, and entertained does indeed vary. The question that sits there for ministries is whether the person who is always connected looking for a specific engagement (or brand) of faith, or is faith seen in a distinctly separate space from places they would consider mobile (or other connected) technologies to be useful. Ministries would like to say “yes, everyone is looking to connect to God always and its our job to make sure they have a road into spiritual transformations by whatsoever media we can use.” That might be the right perspective for a ministry, but how about for the consumer (re: believer who doesn’t create content, just consumes it).

Caston then goes into the one of the frequent entry points people have towards doing something on their mobile that’s not simply talking on their phone (remember, we are talking about developed nations that have a consistent communications infrastructure and many media channels for their audiences): mobile websites. His perspective here implies that every public facing ministry needs to have a web presence that’s accessible on a mobile device. However, the first segment of the population that is spoken to are those who already have a website:

To do this, you will have hire someone to reformat your site for a variety of devices. You can then employ a “sniffer” program that will immediately detect what kind of device is accessing your site, and it will present the most readable site format for that particular device, whether it is a PC, laptop, cell phone or tablet.

Now, I’m not opposed to hiring someone for the purpose of redesigning a website, nor am I opposed to seeking consultation towards what might be the best methods to apply within an existing website to make it mobile friendly, I don’t think though that you first look at hiring someone for this. There are plenty of resources and guides, and even better, there are several web services that for free to low to high costs, can give you the tools to make your ministry website mobile. Sometimes, that includes getting a mobile app or two made alongside it.

But, none of it guarantees that you will get global Gospel penetration, only that those who know to search for you will find you. And if your content is only written to your local faith community, well, you can have it on a mobile, but it will only be a local church being served.

Caston’s article finishes with a look at some location-based (LBS) activities which can be done on a mobile which are able to ignite some of that mobile juice that marketers tend to love a bit more than the rest of us ;)

Certain applications allow a user to check in, via the GPS feature in a smart phone, virtually broadcasting where that user is. This allows nearby businesses to send them coupons and discount offers, along with letting their friends know where they are, in case they happen to be nearby and want to connect. When people check in to announce that they’re attending your church services or special event, this brings a great deal of positive exposure for your organization.

Personally, I’m only a fan of location-based services when they add definitive contextual value to something that I’m doing. When we level up that experience beyond small groups to community-sized levels, we’ve got a lot more to consider rather than just being the target of a broadcast by that community manager.

We’ve also got to consider that there are others who would appreciate that information for their efforts, that there might be device or service constraints that aren’t apparent when we get started (for example, have you ever tried unsubscribing from some of these services), and that there are some legal issues that we have to answer as a community as there are personal and civil liberties which come into play once we start allowing for the recording of demographic data.

The other side of things is that LBS as a genre isn’t a global poke, its always a local one. And its always one that should meet the person in a specific context without taking or offering anything else. Normally, LBS services fund themselves either by reselling the user’s demographic information, adding ads (costs for posting ads and selling analytics from those ads), or by freemium models (free for some time or small set of features, then you pay for more). While the service availability might be global (for example Nokia and Google’s mapping services), the relevancy of that information is always right now and local. How much does your faith community publish about local events that you need a dedicated service on your mobile for just what they would recommend? Or, would a city guide be a better place and avenue for this content? Is your faith community’s mobile efforts being put towards being in those existing databases, websites, or app directories?

That all being said, is going mobile a prescription for making faith (or a faith community) global? No, not really. Global considerations are a lot more than mobile websites and LBS. If you are looking to utilize for a global impact, here are some of the items you need to consider as being truly global issues of relevancy:

  • supporting multiple languages in text, audio, and video content
  • marketing and building for least common mobile experiences (SMS, MMS, WAP, Web, then App)
  • less reliance on reading content and more on visualizing content (less text more story)
  • is your audience subject to religious enabling or persecution because of what you’ve produced that they would consume
  • will you travel to those places your content goes in order to meet the people whom you say your global content is for
  • how many people are included when you say the global church; do you talk currently to any of them

Jason’s article is solid enough to start the conversation. The thoughts here should continue things along that end and endear you or your ministry to not just consider going mobile because others are doing it, but because you’ve got a clear and defined plan of utilizing the best and unique features of mobile to live a Gospel that’s present and relevant beyond the screen and keypad.

Quickie on QR Codes in Ministry

MMM logo with QR Code to RSS feed
Its probably not great taste to keep turning emails into content, but this is another one of those cases where it just makes sense. Especially if you are interested in using QR Codes in ministry.

QR Codes in Ministry

QR Codes have been used for more than a decade in Japan and SK. Essentially, its an old technology now, as much so that even many on the side of ministry and tech have essentially moved past simply using QR codes and integrating them into fuller, mixed media efforts.
 
We’ve published several articles on the subject. As for a getting started guide, there aren’t any – you can go to several websites to create QR codes such as Mobile Barcodes, Kaywa, and even Google. From there, implementation takes on whatever makes sense for your organization.

As for applications of it, there’s been QR codes used in tracts, business cards/flyers,cover art and bulletins, and even bibles. If you are doing to do something useful with it, make it distinct, and do more than simply point to a link. The effects of these kinds of augmented digital expereinces tend to have effects beyond what we design.

To that end, we enjoy working with QR codes and other trans-meta media tech. There’s always a neat conversation that develops when we are able to instigate different behaviors by the way we use mobile tech.

A Beautiful Mobile Experience

Screenshot of Communication Arts Magazine from Kindle Fire HD

One of the complaints that I hear from time to time is how religious apps (and services) are functional, but lack beauty. If you will, many are pretty in functionality, but not always in asthetics. That’s not always the case, but it happens often enough that one has to wonder what happened to all of those skills that did the Sistine Chapel and other works of art we admire so much.

Per my usual travels through the web, I wandered into Communication Arts Magazine and some of the events/competitions they have going on this year. I made it through a few items and started wondering when we’ll start seeing mobile apps from faith/religious organizations get nominated (in the Interactive category). As we talked about before, there are several design trends that do mark some items, but I wonder when we’ll see some more.

Some beautiful apps/services in this domain? Here are a few:

Those are just a few which come to mind. I’m sure there are others (well-know and not so). What are some of those beautiful apps and services to you?

Beyond the Usual Choice

Nokia N950 w/Keyboard open

The other day, when we posted about this idea that you have a choice when it comes to your mobile device, we didn’t really get into what kinds of choices that you have. With that so fresh in memory, and some people looking at what kinds of options they will have at some point this year when it is time to look for a new mobile, let’s put out there some platforms that are worth taking a look at – platforms beyond the Apple iOS and Google Android ones that are essentially the usual choice in these moments.

Windows Phone
Back when MMM began, Microsoft was the large and reaching PC arm that made life all kinds of difficult for many mobile companies. They were successful in part because of their strategy of attacking phone-like mobiles with their Windows Mobile Smartphone platform, and the PDA/PC-like devices with their Windows Mobile platform. After the iPhone, such a strategy was nixed for something more coherent, and largely a forshadowing of the kinds of changes all of Microsoft’s products would see. The result is called Windows Phone, and depending on your perspective, its either a really good idea, or one that needs a bit more to be complete.

The major companies selling Windows Phone devices are Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and a few more up-and-coming companies. The base experience with Windows Phone devices assumes consistent connectivity, and something of an attachment to or trusting of Microsoft’s cloud services and developer-enabling to knit a solid experience. Social networking integration is played up big, but done in a manner that relies on hubs to information, rather the apps-per-service. I had some extended time with one Windows Phone device and cannot say that I came away totally convinced that it was perfect for me. However, I have come across several people who have Lumia devices and really do like them. I get why they do, and given the way their lives are connected around people and events, Windows Phone does make for a decent choice there.

BlackBerry
Like Windows Mobile, BlackBerry was around even before MMM got started. Then, it was all about the super-professional who used it to keep connected, or the kids of those professionals who received the hand-me-down and utilized BBM and the tight messaging experience to stay connected. And also similar to Windows Mobile, the BlackBerry platform is seeing a reinvention of itself. In about a week, the first all new BlackBerry devices in over a year will be unveiled (during the Super Bowl for those USA football fans out there) and these will be a radical departure in everything except the attention to security, typing, and getting things done that has always marked this platform.

BlackBerry is only made by one manufacturer (RIM, the parent company), yet sold through carriers. Generally, its been a very friendly platform for carriers to carry. Developers have also found the BB platform a bit of a hidden gem (one of the little known facts about applications for BlackBerry is that they constantly make developers more money than on other mobile platforms; those who own a BB are more likely to pay for software, and more likely to have the money to pay for it).

The closest device in my stable to this upcoming BlackBerry is the Nokia N950 (pictured) which uses the MeeGo operating system. BB10 (the new platform for BlackBerry devices) shares some with it, and refines a good bit of things along the way. The gesture-based interface to peek at notifications and running applications, the separate work and personal modes, and even the ease at which it will integrate with automotive and big-screen experiences goes a long way towards making this a platform to not count out. Sure, you can get a BB7-powered device right now, but that won’t be upgradable to BB10, and you will certainly miss much of the energy that developers and carriers will put towards making sure this new one is a huge success (webcast tomorrow too, so yea, peep that energy).

Several Other Choices
The other thing that 2013 seems to have under its belt is the rising of many open source-based mobile platforms either being announced or even to the point of having devices available. Here’s a small summary of the notable ones:

  • Tizen: perhaps the only one of these other choices that has a ton of muscle behind it. Tizen is an Linux-based open source effort that has its foundings in the previously mentioned MeeGo initiative. Samsung is the primary company behind Tizen and has promised that at least one Tizen-powered device will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in a few weeks. Aside from integration to Samsung’s other product families (TVs?), there’s not much known yet about its targeting or what the aim for this platform will be from them. Given Samsung’s abilities, they could literally pull off anything.
  • Jolla: another movement/project/initiative which comes from the ashes of Nokia’s Maemo/MeeGo efforts, Jolla has already announced their platform, called Sailfish OS, and carrier agreements in Finland and India. Its assumed that the initial focus for devices will be in Eastern Europe and Asia, with other markets getting attention as they ramp up production and marketing. Thing is, Jolla doesn’t so much want to be like HTC or Samsung, they posture more as a movement, and I wonder how that will influence the uptake of devices – especially by those in the mobile ministry sect.
  • Firefox OS: from the folks who brought you the web browser that literally changed the game, the Mozilla Foundation seeks a similar disruptive performance in mobile with Firefox OS. Firefox OS is the web-based entrant of this group, borrowing lessons from Palm/HP’s webOS, Nokia’s Maemo, Intel’s Moblin, and even some from Apple. At this point, they’ve already announced the platform and a developer preview phone. What remains to be seen is the kind of effect Firefox OS will have as its being pointed at areas that are still getting 3G up and running, and the Internet while there, isn’t a primary aspect of being on a mobile device.
  • Ubuntu Mobile: the last platform worth keeping your eyes on, and one in which has a bit longer of a gestation period, is Ubuntu Mobile. Very much like the full Linux distribution, Ubuntu Mobile is designed to shift the power of the mobile device into the hands of the user, not so much the service providers who might offer the hardware. Right now, there is a preview version of Ubuntu Mobile available (a) for those with certain Android devices or (b) those with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and want to go the route of building from near scratch. The first official devices should be here in 2014, and there’s much work happening on the OS, but its also one to watch as it will be similar to Tizen and Jolla in that there’s Linux on the back and lots of leveraging web frameworks in the middle.

And Then There’s…
Honestly, there’s not much more out there. Yes, you can make the argument that there’s just too much happening in terms of this focus on smartphones and there needs to be something said for non-smartphones. I won’t disagree with you. I’ll just point out that its a lot simpler, you might be happier, and things just work. Non-smartphones are still very solid choices, even if becoming a limited option if you shop through a carrier store. Your best bet is to seek out a mobile phone brand you are familiar with, and then use sites like GSM Arena to compare similar models.

You also might be like a few folks and find that Android is a better place for your mobility than Apple, which also isn’t a bad decision to make. You just want to be sure that you also count the costs in terms of applications you might need to repurchase, getting used to a different form factor, or getting acquainted with some of the niggles between tablet and phone experiences. Its different to move to something new, even if it does seem like a near-copy of what you used to use.

Having said all of that (and if you got to the end of this), I hope this helps you make a decision this year or upcoming when its time to look at mobile devices. I’m not of the opinion that mobile is no longer about devices, but I do think that its a better environment when we know our options, and exercise the freedom to go mobile in the best way possible.

Perception of Religious Mobile Users

I think this latest ad by Samsung poking fun at BlackBerry’s “platform for professionals” ads that were going for sometime is pretty neat. Lots of people who use BlackBerry devices testify to their continued use of them on the strength of being so profitable for getting things done. And in doing so, they point to something that kind of happens pretty often – we frame one another by the mobiles in our hands and what we think those mobiles are most likely able to enable us to do.

I can remember years ago that the appeal of the iPhone wasn’t that “it had so many apps,” but that it had so many games. A distinction made by many who only saw the platform for the fun that it induced, not for the work that it could enable to get done. You can argue that such a perception still exists, and because it does, many of the application and service makers for the platform, do a hard job towards making sure the platform keeps a sense of seriousness amongst this ease of play that it continues to have.

When I tell people about MMM, I still am asked one core question, “what’s your Bible app like?” Then there’s that looking for a cross or some other kind of religious symbol on my device(s) that shows that I’m not just a mobile user, but the brand of faith that I have is also to be pushed out in front. Folks won’t find it, but I wonder if there’s a overriding perception of religious mobile users that developers, organizations, and even ministries tend to put forth… perhaps unintentionally.

Gaudy or pastel colors, pale skinned front-persons, or darker-skinned persons with looks of melancholy or need in stock images. Crosses, halos, and that neat inner-glow filter from Photoshop. English-first, and perhaps a biblical quite that is KJV before any other. Do our mobile services and apps posture the faith that we live, or a perception of religious mobile users that doesn’t look much like the people using them?

Are we guilty of building into mobile ministry these perceptions of religion that don’t lead to much of anything at all except a passing fad of faith that never pointed towards the grace that Jesus offered? Leaves me much to think about concerning MMM (am watching the inauguration as I type this, so you can figure some of that context).

Presenting from An Apple II

Apple II ad

I thought this was interesting, and something that many tech/creative pastors and speakers would find interesting. This idea that even the antiquated Apple II can be used for making a suitable screen for presentations seems like it follows right along with some of the ideas we’ve posed before towards making the presentation screen something a good bit different, yet approachable by audiences.

A co-worker used an iPad to give a presentation. I thought: why take a machine as powerful as an early Cray to do something as low-overhead as display slides? Why not use something with much less computing power? From this asoft_presenter was born.

The code is a series of C programs that read text files and generate a large Applesoft BASIC program that actually presents the slides. All the code can be found in my dos33fsprogs package.

The venue was the ICL Lunch Talk. ICL is a high-performance computing group; you’ve probably heard of the Top 500 Supercomputer list that they release each year.

They have a 3-projector setup for talks. The Apple II hooked into the composite input of the center, while I used an eeePC to project “higher quality” slides to the outside two screens (mostly in case people wanted more details on the graphs). This worked well.

The machine I used was an Apple IIe Platinum. It has a CFFA3000 card in it instead of floppy disks. I did the initial code development under Linux and an emulator, but used a real live Apple II at the talk.

Read the rest of Apple II Presetnation at Weave’s World
What would you consider as being innovative and approachable uses of tech for presentations? Have you tried anything similar (or weirder)?

Shifting Perspectives

mesh network graphic
Part of the challenge towards any paradigm shift is coming out of the mentality that the old perspective needs to dominate the newer application. Thing is, its hard to get out of such thoughts when we are so entrenched in what some sociologists would call our behaviorial plateaus – that state of development where we pretty much settle into whatever will become our norm. Even still, we oftentimes find ourselves challenged by another perspective, and from that, we should endeavor to press forward:

…Is it time for agencies to rewrite their manufacturing processes around the most responsive and data-rich medium?

Designing an identity around a logo is as strange a notion as building your house around a sink. It just doesn’t make much sense to allow one small part of a system to dictate the overall course. The same insight needs to be brought to marketing campaigns.

Many organizations have missed the boat by treating digital as an add-on to an advertising concept. But this is starting to change. Instead of trying to plug in a technology, or throw away the traditional part, we need to bake in digital from the very beginning. It might even be time to put digital at the core, and then work everything else around it…

Read the rest of Working Backwards from Digital at Ideas on Ideas

And it makes sense to most of us. If mobile has its own unique qualities and features, then it stands to make sense that mobile ministry would also foster some of the same. Shouldn’t it?

To that extent, I wonder if we are taking advantage of mobile by making downloadable applications, instead of a series of embedded services. Much of the Bible has been translated, and where there isn’t text, we plug into audio. That means more working together for a common access format… or even a common access browser. But, that means something different than the paradigm of the mainframe and punch-card that mobile apps seem stuck in (not needing to be poked that what I described is nothing more than an abstract client-network architecture). Screw another social service, or even the existing ones, where’s the church community of developers that builds the sharing API that turns our devices into a mobile mesh network?

When unique becomes common, mobile is no longer a layer, but a part of the DNA of how #mobmin is done
(@mobileminmag)

Shift your perspective… or rather, find that stream of life that’s not exactly like what media did previously. And create a new strand of the kind of DNA that makes sense when done with mobile or any other tech-bending perspective.

Are These Your Design Trends

A site that I was reading recently (The Industry) noted 13 design trends for 2013. Are these some items that you are implementing ino your mobile applications and services:

  1. Flat Design
  2. Fewer Buttons/More Gestures
  3. Animation as Affordance
  4. Hamburger Menu Drawer
  5. Native over Web
  6. Responsive if not Native
  7. Wider Websites
  8. Larger Fonts
  9. Larger Search Inputs
  10. GIFs as Design Elements
  11. Designing for Humans
  12. New Colors
  13. Vector Graphics

Read the explainations and see examples of these at The Industry

As a side note, changes done here will reflect #1 more than any other, an probably #13 if we can pull of something the web isn’t doing normally. The rest of these don’t fit the context of this type of site. Unless a designer can convince us otherwise ;)

Glorystone.TV and Shifting Mobile Video Habits

One of the things that marketers, advertisers, and content producers are beginning to come to grips with in viewing mobile is that not everything that happens on these devices happens when people are in motion. It happens on a mobile device, just not in motion. More often than not, the attention required by what’s happening on the screen puts people in stationary states, and therefore what becomes mobile isn’t the device or the person watching it, but the channel or the content has its being shared from one person or entity to another. From that viewpoint, it makes it seem as if mobile is nothing more than a portable, on-demand TV – and if you were to take the approach that many have taken so far in terms of being a content provider, that’s pretty much all mobile is to them.

But, what if mobile and broadcast media took more advantage of not only a state of mobility (the device, the context, etc.), but also the needs of the marketers, advertisers, and existing media producers that have audiences, but not necessarily the digital savvy to make it work great. Could it look something like this:

Glorystone.TV is a different, and in my opinion better take, on the idea of a media platform. Essentially, its a platform of tools and services that enables consumers to find relevant Christian media, marketers to understand and target markets with the best product, and content producers to better find and reach areas of opportunity for their content. All in all, its not like much else out there.

With research coming out saying that over 60% of folks who view videos on their mobile/tablet devices, do so when at home, you’ve got something of an opportunity if you are in the space of creating content. And at the same time, traditional models of broadcasting don’t do a decent job of helping you better target and understand your audience. If this sounds like something you/your ministry could get involved with, get in touch with Glorystone.TV and see what a realized digital solution looks like.

Disclaimer: Antoine is one of the members of Glorystone.TV’s advisory board.