Ten of Europe’s brightest ad and marketing agencies, including Ogilvy, LBi and McCann London, have formed a partnership with leading cross-platform app developer Grapple to help develop high quality cross platform mobile applications for their brand and retail clients in a clear demonstration that ad land is finally ‘getting’ apps.
Grapple’s platform allows agencies’ existing development teams to write applications in HTML, CSS and JavaScript that can then be translated across all major mobile platforms, including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG. The app can then be downloaded to any of the leading handsets either through an app store or a dedicated URL.
“Clients are aware of the increasing opportunity presented by the mobile channel and are keen to enter this space. However until now it has been a lengthy and expensive process, often only targeting the iPhone audience which offers limited scale,” says Jethro Ferguson, Head of Digital, OgilvyOne. “Grapple’s approach enables us to develop high quality mobile applications for our clients, accessible on all the leading smartphone handsets, quickly and within budget”.
Grapple is working closely with each agency for all app builds – sharing knowledge and learnings while also ensuring applications are submitted to app stores in the shortest possible timeframe.
“This collaboration makes it possible for top brands to leverage the full reach and scale of mobile applications,” adds Alistair Crane, CEO Grapple Mobile. “Until now there has been a blinkered approach to developing apps, with a heavy focus on the iPhone, but in line with the latest impressive app statistics other platforms such as Nokia and BlackBerry are now being given equal attention and recognition”.
Grapple is also in discussions directly with brands and many of the leading content owners including major record labels, publishing houses and broadcasters.
