Web-based apps aren't tied to the desktop anymore. Find out how your brand can leverage these more robust programs and how they can lead to more impactful campaigns.
As the development environment changes, interactive agencies are taking advantage of a new class of tools to build custom applications that go far beyond traditional notions of web applications and widgets. For marketers, these apps make it possible to blur the distinctions between browser and desktop, online and offline, thus creating a relevant, engaging, high-value brand experience that's integrated more seamlessly than ever into consumers' daily lives.
For these apps to fulfill their potential, though, both agencies and marketers need to understand what's now possible, why it matters and how best to leverage these technologies to execute successful campaigns. The following principles are drawn from our experience at Organic, working on the front lines with our clients on the next generation of interactive user experiences.
First, a few notes on the tools we're talking about:
- Adobe AIR, the clear frontrunner in this space, lets developers use their existing skills to build web-based apps that don't have to stay on the web. HTML, JavaScript, Flash and Flex can be used to make the apps as interactive and animated as you want, with a completely customized look.
- Google Gears extends browsers to enable richer web applications and lets you interact with Gears-enabled websites, even offline.
- Mozilla Firefox 3, expected to arrive this summer, will offer similar offline availability.
The emergence of these tools comes in tandem with the realization by marketers that the browser is not going to be the only medium in the digital space. As brands seek to build a closer, more relevant relationship with consumers, mobile and offline environments will play an increasingly important role, as will a more holistic way to think about digital experiences.
To help you prepare for your journey down this path, here are five things you can do with this new class of apps on steroids.
Think big
As brands begin to come up to speed on the latest interactive tools, clients are asking their agencies for "widgets" -- often without knowing what they really mean. The definition is vague and implies limited capabilities. When you tell the client that you're building a full-fledged application -- with its own icon, real security, the ability to save things locally -- with the same tools used for a website, they almost don't believe it. The biggest challenge can be grasping the full range of what's now possible.
Take online banking, for example. Frequent travelers know there are certain things you can do on a plane (write emails, work on documents), and other things you can't (send messages, browse the web). Banking has traditionally fallen squarely in the latter category, but if it were possible, it would be a great way to make productive use of your time in seat 7A.
With AIR, you now have the capability of building an application that allows you to do your banking offline, using personal data, account information, etc., synced from your last active internet connection. Pay a bill or make a transfer no matter where you are; the next time you sync, your transaction goes through automatically without bothering you for a confirmation. The app would even live on your desktop, launched the same way as Excel or Quicken, with no need to open a browser.
Worried about security? With AIR, it's arguably even stronger than a website. Transactional data is encrypted the same way, but your personal information is even more secure because the first time you sync, it gets saved locally to your machine, along with your history, and stays on your PC instead of constantly jumping across the network.
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