CeBIT 2012 Taps Mobile Web
Apr 12
When you consider the scope of CeBIT 2012—the show has 4,240 exhibitors and more than 1,500 seminars and workshops spread over 19 halls at the Hannover Exhibition Grounds—you can quickly see how having a map of the halls and info on exhibitors, products, conferences, etc., in the palm of your hand would be very helpful.
CeBIT2go was offered via the mobile web as and through iOS and Android apps. This mix of mobile media ensures the widest possible use.
CeBIT prominently promoted the mobile guide both on the home page of the show website, and via email. Promotion is important to driving adoption. However, what really caught my attention was what they promoted.
On the home page of the show’s website, CeBIT featured the following promotion for its mobile website: “The official App ‘CeBIT2go’ for ALL smart phones is browser based, online, no download required! You will enjoy free Wi-Fi to use the CeBIT2go web app on the CeBIT fairgrounds on-site.”
The fact that they featured the mobile website vs. iOS and Android apps should certainly be noted. The “no download” and “ALL smart phones” are the key points here. They are advantages of a mobile web site vs. native apps (see this blog post for a more detailed discussion of this).
As mobile data costs can add up very quickly when travelling outside of your home country, promotion of the free Wi-Fi is also worth noting.
In the last email I received from CeBIT on March 5, one day prior to opening day, CeBIT2go was featured in the introductory paragraph. In fact, it was the main point in the paragraph. This level of promotion in the final pre-show email says a lot.
CeBIT2go included banner ads. One of the benefits of offering mobile media to attendees, and scaling these programs, is that you can monetize the traffic by selling ads to exhibitors and sponsors.
A social media icon bar was also part of CeBIT2go. What is interesting to note here is that it was part of the master page layout i.e. it was on virtually every page I visited.
Posted on April 12, 2012
