Sunday, June 24, 2007
Regionals have to wake up to the mobile opportunity
What do you see young (and not-so-young) commuters doing all the time as they travel to and from work by public transport?
Using their mobile phones to communicate. And how many of them are finding out their local news and other info via the website or mobizine of their local paper? Answer — not enough!
So far the attempt to exploit the market for mobile content has only been taken seriously by a few visionary women’s magazines and News Group Newspapers, with their mobile version of the News of the World, and the BBC.
But if local papers want to continue to be a major part of the information-gathering network of the people in their areas they too will have to make their content easily accessible via mobile phone.
Why? Because in the increasingly cash-rich, time-poor society we live in it’s the most convenient way for working people to get the info they need as they commute. Papers are ok as far as they go, but they can’t beat a mobile for being space efficient on the bus or train and unless their signposting is excellent it’s a lot easier to find what you want on the BBC mobile website than in the local morning paper.
Which is why every local paper has to have a great mobile-friendly site, with news, sport, travel, TV listings etc which local people can go to as they would the paper.
If they don’t, they’ll simply be left behind by competitors who do.
Using their mobile phones to communicate. And how many of them are finding out their local news and other info via the website or mobizine of their local paper? Answer — not enough!
So far the attempt to exploit the market for mobile content has only been taken seriously by a few visionary women’s magazines and News Group Newspapers, with their mobile version of the News of the World, and the BBC.
But if local papers want to continue to be a major part of the information-gathering network of the people in their areas they too will have to make their content easily accessible via mobile phone.
Why? Because in the increasingly cash-rich, time-poor society we live in it’s the most convenient way for working people to get the info they need as they commute. Papers are ok as far as they go, but they can’t beat a mobile for being space efficient on the bus or train and unless their signposting is excellent it’s a lot easier to find what you want on the BBC mobile website than in the local morning paper.
Which is why every local paper has to have a great mobile-friendly site, with news, sport, travel, TV listings etc which local people can go to as they would the paper.
If they don’t, they’ll simply be left behind by competitors who do.
Labels: mobile Web, newspapers, strategy
