Berlin Mega Event Expands Mobile Platform

For the past few weeks, the film industry turned its attention to the German capital for Berlinale 2011’s constellation of events, including the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and integrated global trade show, the European Film Market (EFM). Nearly 300,000 tickets were sold to the public program. Film professionals from more than 125 countries were on hand, along with some 4,000 journalists to attend 11 days of events, film screenings, world premieres, meetings and parties. As it says on the event’s Web site, “The Berlinale is truly a mega event.” The scope and diversity of this event makes mobile a great tool for attendees.

When I visited Berlinale 2010, I found their mobile Web sites very helpful. Why? There was a lot happening, including hundreds of film screenings. The event was staged in multiple venues across the city. It was my first time in Berlin, and I do not speak German. The ability to access the key info I needed while at the event in a format designed for mobile devices enabled me to quickly navigate the site, plan my schedule on-the-go and get from one venue to the next without wasting time—a benefit which was made that much more valuable when you consider the freezing temperatures, snow and icy sidewalks.

I decided to check back to see if Berlinale was doing anything different in the mobile area this year, and noticed they expanded their mobile platform by offering a new iPhone app. The order of their mobile roll-out is a key take-away here. Berlinale launched their mobile Web sites first and then their mobile app. While both channels provide the on-the-go attendee with content packaged for mobile devices, they do it in completely different ways, and present different issues for event marketers to consider.

Should you offer a mobile Web site, mobile app, or both for your show—and if both in what order? Well, that depends on a number of variables, such as your audience, the type of user experience you want to provide, how much you want to spend, or not spend, and so on.

Emerging technologies are changing the mobile playing field but here are some differences you should certainly consider at least for now:

(1) A mobile Web site can be designed to work on any device with a Web browser, while a mobile app only works on the mobile device that it was designed for.

(2) A mobile app can provide a richer user experience because it can leverage a device’s native capabilities, for example, GPS.

(3) A mobile Web site requires a connection to the Internet; mobile apps don’t necessarily require connectivity.

(4) A mobile app will most likely cost more money than a mobile Web site.

(5) A mobile app needs to be downloaded whereas nothing needs to be downloaded to use a mobile Web site.

Posted on February 17, 2011