A Phat App if you’re Fat

I’m fat.

No need to sugarcoat it. I’m fat. It’s been 3 1/2 years since my daughter was born, so I can’t blame it on baby weight, either. No, I’m afraid my current portly state is the result of too much indulgence on cheese dip.

Granted, this might not be the best subject to bring up in the height of holiday baking season. And, you might be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with emerging media?”  Just bear with me.

A few months ago I joined Weight Watchers. I’ve had some past success with Weight Watchers, but attending the in-person meetings simply wasn’t an option for me this time around, so I decided to give the online version a try. The online tools are pretty useful—if you’re around a computer a lot and have the time to calculate and record every meal. But what I’ve found the most useful thus far is the Weight Watchers mobile app.  The mobile app, for me, has been the key to sticking with the program (for the most part –I MIGHT have cheated a little on Thanksgiving).  The Weight Watchers mobile app lets users search, calculate and record foods at the most critical time—right before they eat.

Yesterday, I read about a new Weight Watchers app for the iPad, the Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion, which teaches users healthy Weight Watcher recipes and even helps users modify their own recipes to make them Weight Watcher friendly. According to Mashable, the free version of the iPad app is limited to 10 featured recipes and also allows users to save up to 10 additional favorites. For Weight Watchers Online subscribers and Weight Watchers members with access to eTools, the app integrates with thousands of Weight Watchers recipes.

One of the reasons Weight Watchers has continued to be successful is the program’s ability to adapt to emerging media to meet the needs of consumers. Realizing that it’s not always practical to attend in-person meetings, the company developed Weight Watchers Online. And now, the company has even gone a step further with the development of mobile apps.

Weight Watchers just happens to be my brand of choice, but there are tons of other useful diet and exercise apps out there—many of which don’t require a paid subscription. A friend of mine has been using Runmeter for iPhone, which tracks his running progress that he shares through Facebook. Another friend has been using an app called Daily Burn to record her meals. What about you? Do you have any diet or exercise apps that you use?

Set Your Sites on Mobile

Most of you reading this blog are interested in some aspect of emerging media (otherwise you wouldn’t be reading). So, I figure that many of you have smartphones and are pretty comfortable with browsing the Web on your mobile devices. Like me, I’m sure most of you have had the nightmarish experience of trying to navigate through a site that was built for the Web rather than your phone. For me, this usually results in zooming in, scrolling over, accidentally clicking on the wrong link, going back, zooming out, zooming in again—you get the point. Compound that with my iPhone’s inability to support Flash-based sites, and you can appreciate my frustration.

Thankfully, many brands are now introducing mobile versions of their Web sites—most of which are much simpler in design and offer consumers considerably easier navigation and an overall better user experience.  According to a report released last month, Web retailers could increase consumer engagement 85% by having a mobile-specific Web site. The survey found that “nearly one in two consumers are more likely to do business with a retail store if the store has a mobile Web site.”

For the current leading mobile retailers including QVC, Amazon, and Williams Sonoma user experience has proven key. One online article quotes Matt Poepsel, VP Performance Strategies at Gomez, who says, “Shoppers with smartphones and other devices are looking to research and purchase products online, so many retailers are jumping into the mobile game. However, any mobile website that fails to perform a transaction at speeds that mimic shopper behavior—standing in line, stopped on a sidewalk, or sitting in a bus—is unlikely to get consumers to use the mobile service again.”

Despite the fact that 51% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from retailers that have a mobile site, the report found that fewer than 5% of retailers currently have such a site. This surprisingly low number shows a huge opportunity for retailers who want to jump in on the action and engage consumers through mobile, as mobile advertising spending is projected to surpass $6.5 billion in 2012.

They key takeaway for retailers? When it comes to mobile sites: Do it now, make it clean and simple, and for Heaven’s sake leave out the Flash!

Foursquare Take 2

I haven’t been shy about professing my love for Foursquare. In one of my previous posts I discussed reasons why I think Foursquare is a better location-based app than Facebook Places. The main reason I prefer Foursquare is its gaming component. Simply put, Foursquare makes checking in fun. That hasn’t changed. What has changed, however, is Facebook’s launch of Facebook Deals, where users who check in to locations receive special deals from participating businesses. Now, I know what you’re thinking … Foursquare offers deals, too. This is true, but now it looks like it’s going to be a race between Facebook and Foursquare over who can win over businesses the fastest. And I’m betting that with over 500 million users, it’s ultimately going to be Facebook. I mean, who doesn’t want a free pair of Gap jeans?

Foursquare might have one potential advantage over Facebook—privacy. The way Facebook Places is set up, users have no choice but to post check-ins to their Facebook walls in order to receive deals. And, as one article points out, “that’s great for businesses that want to spread the word, but possibly not so much for Facebook users eager to save money on deals at the local Botox clinic or adult-toy emporium” (extreme examples, but you get the point). :)

In just the last month I’ve seen the tide shift, with an increasing number of friends using Facebook Places. I’m betting that this is more reflective of the category’s overall growth than users abandoning Foursquare, which continues to grow and now boasts over 5 million users.  For the most part, my friends who started off with Foursquare have stuck with it. We’ve invested a lot of time checking into different locations to become a Mayor or oust others out of their Mayorships. One thing is for certain, this will definitely be a race worth watching in the upcoming months. You know who I’ll be cheering for.