In Focus

Michael Leis
Apps Posted on March 07, 2007

Introduction

Branded desktop applications (BDAs) are now the quiet revolution in marketing because of their free reach, outrageous frequency and industry support. Windows Vista has made this technology a cornerstone with its Sidebar technology, looking to mature an audience that is already growing at 1.8 million per quarter on Macintosh (and soon, the iPhone) and is showcased on competing platforms from Yahoo! and Google. BDA technology is so competitive that Adobe recently announced the development of its own BDA platform, Apollo.

Right now, most BDAs are user generated, making desktop conveniences out of useful services like recently posted Digg articles, the status of your computer processes or watching a dancing hula girl.

But big brands are starting to catch on, dipping their toes in this exciting new channel.

So how can you make this work for your brand? Let's start at the top. In this piece, we'll take a quick look at five big brands launching into the desktop space, who's doing it well (and not so well) and learn some takeaways for your business.

Author notes: Michael Leis is VP of Publishing Dynamics. Read full bio.

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Comments

Michael Leis
Michael Leis April 7, 2008 at 5:36 PM

Hey Grant -- thanks for taking the time to read and consider the article.In terms of a call to action, I think you're interpreting it in a way like a banner, with a headline and a link.What I'm talking about can be, in execution, nothing more than a clickable image, logo, or "more" button.All that being said, this article was written over a year, ago, and the landscape has certainly changed during this time.

Grant Bernstein
Grant Bernstein April 7, 2008 at 5:32 PM

I completely disagree with your point abot the corporate call to action. It is not necessary. Not everything needs to have a hard sell somewhere in it. In fact, the act of giving the user something useful, without trying to sell them something will build much more brand loyalty and good feelings about your company than adding in the little hard sell you are encouraging.I do agree that it could have used a VW somewhere in it. But the silver rabbit is on the car, so if you knew that you were going to know this is a VW widget.