There’s a tendency to obsess on devices. But if you’re in the content business devices are only channels of distribution for that content.
The real challenge and opportunity for media brands is to spread content across all popular platforms in a form and a context that fits that platform.
To chase a device is to miss the forest for the trees.
For example, do you need iPhone and Android apps?
Not necessarily, but you do need a mobile strategy. Because as consumers spend more time online with mobile devices your content is either part of that time stream or it isn’t.
Do you need to worry about the car dashboard?
Not necessarily. You need to have content that “pops” – content with “pull” – on that and all other platforms. To simply have a storefront on the “new dashboard” isn’t sufficient because presence alone doesn’t mean you’ll attract customers to that storefront. It’s the content that does that.
Perhaps the best way to illustrate the dangers of device obsession is with a device that doesn’t yet exist but possibly will (in some form) soon. And that’s the long-rumored “iWatch.”
This is, of course, an artist’s very fine conception of what this gadget might look like (and that’s a big “might”).
The first thing that should strike you is that this device does not necessarily replace the one in your pocket. Just as an iPad doesn’t necessarily replace an iPhone, an iWatch may be a new must-have and not replace an existing must-have.
The second thing you should recognize is that this device could easily drive a “radio” experience through Bluetooth, just as your iPhone might – but in an easier to carry, always arm’s length away, package.
What is the significance of the desktop radio or the car radio when either device is powered from your wrist?
There will be an endless variety of distribution channels built in every shape and size.
What has always been and always will be scarce is the content worth seeking out on those gadgets.