Each major
advance in distribution technology over the past 100 years has spawned a class
of media upstarts that grew into giants.
Now a new era
of media innovation is under way, one with mobile at the center. The disruptors
in this category are capitalizing on four powerful trends: local, social,
photo-centric and mobile -- or, as I call it, "LoSoPhoMo." As this
group establishes a beachhead in your pocket, it's pivoting into more
traditional formats. Let's look at four examples:
LOSE IT
Lose It is a
disruptor in health and wellness media. It debuted in 2008 as an iPhone app
built around a simple premise: It calculates the number of calories you need to
maintain your weight and then you can use its service to help track what you
consume -- ideally, a slightly lower number -- and tap into your social network
for support. The app, which is free, has millions of users and its parent
company, FitNow, is bringing the Lose It brand to other platforms.
Amazingly, Lose It didn't have a
web app when it launched, but has since added one. This year the founders also
published a brand-new diet book as well. Android and other launches are in the
works. And it recently linked up with Withings, a bathroom scale that connects
to wireless networks and can even tweet your weight.
TWIT
Leo Laporte is no stranger to
tech media. He saw it bloom with ZDTV, a tech-focused cable network that later
became TechTV and then faded once it couldn't find an audience.
Since 2005, however, he has built
This Week in Tech, or Twit, from the ground up into a tech-media powerhouse,
thanks to a suite of shows that attracted a strong following and advertiser
loyalty. The company started with a focus on mobile, its popular audio podcasts
riding the coattails of the iPod wave. Later it added video (live and recorded)
as more sophisticated devices gained in popularity, and now Laporte is building
beyond mobile to become a significant position on set-top devices, such as the
Roku.
ANGRY BIRDS
In 2010 it
was virtually impossible to miss Angry Birds. The year-old mobile game has been
downloaded 50 million times since launch and is already a global addiction.
Every day people collectively play the game for an astounding 200 million
minutes, according to Rovio, its publisher.
While its roots may be in mobile,
it's now a popular desktop download in the Mac App Store and the birds' status
as pop-culture icons led to a line of plush toys and a forthcoming Mattel board
game. So it's no surprise that a movie and TV show could be next for the flying
birds and pigs, making it arguably the first pop-culture juggernaut to
originate on mobile devices.
INSTAGRAM
Finally,
there's Instagram, a mobile social network for photos that can be styled to
look like an old Polaroid or Kodachrome. The service, only 10 months old, already
has more than 1.75 million users. Media companies such as NPR have jumped in
and now Instagram is also attracting brands.
These four examples illustrate how "mobile first" can be a
blueprint for media disruptors, and with the market for smartphones set to
explode, there's no doubt we will see others. But whether pure plays will
continue their reign or whether traditional media companies can use their
brands to create new models, a la News Corp.'s The Daily, will be worth our
attention, too.
@adage