Another app?

 
Responsive instead of app
 
A hasty project planning of apps and social media channels is not advisable. In mobile communication, companies should first concentrate on another area instead of designing an elaborate app and being present on all social media channels. For example, there are still extremely few corporate websites that are also responsive. In this respect, mobile communication in Switzerland is still very much lagging behind. That's why in most cases it's much more worthwhile to optimize the company's own website for mobile communication, to make it responsive, so that the problem of the different devices is also eliminated. This way, the website runs ideally at all times, even when new devices come on the market. In most cases, that makes the most sense. And there is still a lot of potential in this area, especially since mobile usage in Switzerland is enormously high. In concrete terms, however, optimization does not just mean that the website is suitable for all screens. Above all, the content is important. Often mobile websites are extremely reduced in content. However, this is precisely how a company blocks the user. Instead, one should definitely retain all functionalities, but present them differently. For example, certain topics could be brought more into focus on mobile, such as the location or news. These should be visible first, while other topics are central on the standard website. The user simply wants to see other data first, depending on the device.

App trend is already on the decline again

Many customers are now keen to do something in the app area. However, this trend is slowly declining again, especially internationally. But most of the time, the customer hasn't really thought about what the benefits would be for the company. An app is also associated with relatively high costs. However, since the project planning and implementation of an app is very time-consuming, it often doesn't make much sense.

Apps are not used often

Consumers have to download an app first, which is a big hurdle, especially for end customers. Before someone installs an app, it must actually be of interest. You can also see this in the app store: There are tons of apps from companies floating around, but nobody uses them. Because the effort is simply too great for the user.

Do apps still make sense at all?

There are certainly apps that make perfect sense, says Feurer. For example, the SBB app. It also has a very clear benefit and functions that would not be possible on a mobile website. For example, the connection to the store or the option to buy tickets*. In addition, these functions are needed very often and nationally. It also makes sense if you can access the camera with the app, for example. For these reasons, users are then also willing to install such an app. However, the introduction of a new app often fails due to poor implementation. If an app is not user-friendly, simple and easy to use, it will immediately be discontinued. The user experience is essential here. Internationally, the standard of apps is relatively high. Measured against the standard of Facebook apps or WhatsApp, apps that are less well designed quickly fall out of sight. Good implementation must not be underestimated under any circumstances.
 
* How exactly SBB integrates its mobile communication into the overall communication strategy and how it plans to make even better use of the possibilities of mobile communication in the future, is what the SBB media office wanted to say in detail. However, despite more than 3 weeks lead time, there was no concrete response to the questionnaire.
 
The digital agency Y7K is still in its infancy - it was founded about a month ago. Nevertheless, the young entrepreneurs Yves Sinka, Ruben Feurer, Samuel Alder and Joris Noordermeer are digitally up to date. They develop web apps and websites of the latest generation. They also bring experience to the newly founded agency: Ruben Feurer (Art Director) most recently helped build a design team in London at the digital production company UNIT9 and managed projects for companies such as Google, Nike and Salvatore Ferragamo. Yves Sinka (Business Development) has implemented advertising for clients such as Adidas, L'Oréal and Tabasco as an account manager and worked as a producer on the relaunch of the Ministry of Sound website. Samuel Alder (Interaction Design, Development) gained his practical experience as a developer and designer in Zurich-based digital agencies such as Hinderling Volkart. Joris Noordermeer (Technology) worked in Tokyo at the media production agency Augment5, where he was involved in projects for Google.

Y7K: Digital projects

In addition to commissioned work, Y7K also develops its own products. For example, a digital style guide. This offers templates for the design and construction of responsive websites and apps. The digital style guide should contain all the building blocks for this. For example, all updates can run through the same instrument and then have the same effect for the entire responsive website. "The digital style guide is actually the same thing that the corporate design template is in the print sector," says Feurer. Y7K is currently developing such a template for a client. Another major project is "NeverlandSpace.com." Digital art is exhibited on this site. The aim is to appeal to the Net Art movement, which is developing online, explains Feurer. When Yves Sinka was working as a curator for a pop art gallery in Zurich, for example, he noticed that this type of art wasn't really being curated yet. It could be found on Tumblr and blogs, he says, but there it was actually in the wrong context - between cat pictures and selfies. Neverland-Space now has various monthly exhibitions with different artists from all over the world. This way, he says, digital art can be presented and curated united in one place. "It goes from moving images to interactive stuff," Feurer tells us. As a result, they already have relatively well-known artists, such as Yves Netzhammer, who represented Switzerland at the Biennale. The whole thing is a kind of gallery, but digital, Feurer explains. This project will certainly be developed further.

Y7K's third major project is a tool that companies can use to make corporate design more flexible. These then no longer have to be so static, says Feurer. He is referring to Swisscom's CD, which has a moving appearance. However, this has been taken one step further, with a kind of generative design. This allows companies to generate their own corporate identity, eliminating manual processes. A letterhead, for example, is generated with this tool and always looks a little different without having to do anything. A simple example would be a square that rotates, with a certain color gradient and three different structures.

Do apps still make sense at all?

Instead of approaching the new possibilities of mobile communication in a considered and cautious manner, PRfact prefers to go its own way. Nevertheless, it would be the wrong strategy to simply project an app because you have to have an app today. Instead, the focus is always on the story. First, the client must define the goals of the measure and, above all, the content - in other words, the story. This can be seen very well in Migros' 'MiniMania' collection campaign. Here, too, the story was first in the foreground: 'Migros is opening 100,000 new stores.' This story struck a chord. An app is simply the logical consequence of this story. Because every app downloaded is a new store. Nevertheless, I am convinced that companies should definitely make their data available on mobile first - preferably in responsive design.

Integrated communication

Digital measures only make sense in mobile communication if they are also consistently integrated into the company's communication strategy and at the same time offer additional value. According to 65 percent of the ECM respondents, the introduction of mobile communication is also the greatest challenge. Good solution approaches are in demand. In Switzerland, only two out of three organizations have optimized their websites for mobile devices. And only just one in four Swiss organizations has a mobile press area for journalists."

This is also the view of Swiss Post: "It has never been more important for companies to coordinate their communication measures and thus maximize the impact," it says on its website. Swiss Post was unable to respond to specific inquiries about leveraging the potential of mobile communications, apps and an integrated communications strategy by press time - despite a lead time of three weeks. It is not clear whether there is still no definitive strategy in place to answer ten questions on mobile communication or whether Swiss Post is coming up with a major restructuring of mobile and integrated communication and is still silent on this. When asked about this, Swiss Post's Head of Communications, Marco Imboden, was told by telephone that unfortunately he had not found the time to answer the questionnaire.

Ursina mason

PRfact: Digital projects

A technically well-implemented app that is integrated into the entire corporate communication is not only complex, but also expensive. Therefore, PRfact has developed an app that integrates the entire intranet of SMEs. The in-house newspaper, the bulletin board or even the entire intranet: SMEs can unite their entire internal communication in one app. This means internal information, news, but also search functions as well as the entire functions of the SME website are behind the app as a hybrid CMS. In this way, every employee has access to the latest messages, even in their free time, without having to open their e-mails. This eliminates the problem of expensive app development as well as the further development and updates of the app.
 
Another mobile communication project of PRfact is the "mobile newsroom". This is a platform that makes large amounts of mobile data available responsively on any device in all networks and integrates social networks. In the individually created customer newsroom, for example, all digital content of an online media corner (documents, photos, videos) is compactly combined under one online umbrella. This is for the most diverse reference groups, from media professionals to interested consumers. Thus, not only press reports are united on the website, but also videos, social media and end customers. "In this way, journalists can find a story on Twitter, for example, which would not have been enough as a media release," explains Marc Schlittler. This cloud-based social media platform for content and user management was implemented with video conversion software from Pixel.