It's Only A Little, Fussy TV... Relax

Mobile carriers are slowly releasing the ability for folks to watch videos over mobile phones. To some, it seems like Star Trek-level technology. To others, it seems like a ridiculous passing fad.

To those of us here at The Offices of Kevin Glennon, we see it as a powerful communications channel that deserves a bit of attention and respect. Otherwise, it could make you look really, really bad. Your clients ARE GOING TO ASK YOU ABOUT MOBISODES/MOBILE VIDEO, so learn about this now. (Or, when the time comes, hire us. We'll gladly take your money.)

Remember the good 'ole days of wrestling a TV for reception?

Calm Down, It's Only A Little, Fussy TV
A mobile phone is really just a little, fussy television set. Just like in the old days when you'd have to bend antennae this way and that in order to get good reception (which usually required your standing behind the set for the entirety of the show so everyone else in the room could watch it), mobile phones have their own quirky reception problems. We all still complain about getting reception on the front porch, but not in the living room. We get only "two bars" at work, and how there's a few "dead zones" on the way to work that always cut off our calls.

Think of your mobile phone as the fussiest little television set you've ever owned. Once you are comfortable with that, you'll have overcome the biggest, ugliest hurdle that nobody making mobile video content right now is thinking about.

Remember, It's Not In A Living Room
When mobile owners take some time out to watch mobile video, you've gotta remember they're not going to be in their living rooms. These people are going to be on trains or buses, sitting in a doctor's office, waiting for a friend at a restaurant, in the park at lunchtime, or one of a billion places outside of the home. Perhaps more important than their location, however, are the viewing constaints forced upon them by such things as time, ambient noise, moving around, and reception quality.

A very verbal show, such as The West Wing, is going to be hard to enjoy on a noisy train. Even if the mobile viewer has earbuds or a headset to hear better, it's hard to hear anything on a train. Likewise, someone may only have about 3-5 minutes to kill, and a 15-minute mobile video is just out of the question -- even for folks sitting in the park at lunch (afterall, they need their hands to eat, and you can't do soup with one hand).

You need to set up a structure in which your video takes place that recognizes and caters to these aspects.

Vending machines are hungry for your quarters

Dude, The Machine Ate My Quarter
Just like when vending machines "eat" your quarters and give you nothing back, mobile video could potentially be a nightmare for this phenomenon. Imagine paying two bucks to watch some video, only to have it cut out after 15 seconds because you hit a cellular "dead zone," killing your mobile reception. When you get a few bars of reception again, you log back in to watch the video, only to find you have to spend two more bucks to watch it "again!"

Until better advancements in mobile reception go into place (such as Fixed-Mobile Convergence), this is going to be the rule, not the exception. To get around this immediately, I suggest implementing one or more of the following:

1. Distribute your videos for free to the user. Don't necessarily reach for the low-hanging fruit of having them watch an ad first. If you're really smart, you'll use stellar product placement to achieve the same goal. (note, simply using product placement doesn't make it "stellar" at all)
2. Co-host your videos on the Web as well. When a user purchases the video on their mobile phone, make it available to them on the Web for a limited time. That way, if they get cut off, they can view it again.
3. Work with your carrier to make it not a per-view cost, but rather, a limited time rental of the video. When the user "purchases" the video, they're actually purchasing something like a one day license to view it.

You should have a series of complimentary marketing channels

Lastly, Remember That CONTENT IS EVERYTHING
There needs to be a reason to watch mobile videos. The great masses won't watch them simply because they're mobile videos, nor will they watch them because they're that bored. Just like with television shows, the content has to be what compels them.

The best mobile videos are going to be those that offer unique, valued content. For example, there are natural "spaces" built into television shows for commercial breaks. Mobisodes are great "fillers" for these, as viewers can use their mobile phones to see what happened during the commercial break. Similarly, characters are constantly walking on and off screen from other places in a regular television series. Mobisodes could show us what they were doing when they were "offscreen."

Some say that the real treasure is in shows that exist only on mobile phones. I think that's just ridiculous. When it gets down to it, a mobile phone offers a tiny screen, and terrible sound quality. Mobile video is complementary content, not primary content.

Besides, you want to excite people with your mobile content to drive them to do something, such as visit a web site or a store. Mobile videos are just one crayon in what is hopefully your big box of integrated ideas that make up your campaign or media group. Just like with life, it's part of a team effort, and the best results are going to come from focused, well-planned and integrated pieces that make a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.