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Trends Assessment
“Mobile Applications”
October 3, 2012
HT-344 Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales
By: Jordan Flasch, Josh Gehring, and Lauren Flory

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Background
To understand how the mobile applications have changed our industry and are causing an
organizational shift we must first look at how the mobile applications came to be. The mobile
application has been around since the dawn of twentieth century but has not risen to fame until
the last ten years. Before major iOS systems were used in smart phones most mobile applications
were found in small arcade games, calculators, and computer editors. A mobile application is
simply computer software built to help the user preform one simple specific task.
Up until 1983 the smartphone also known as a mobile application or operating device was
unheard of because of a specific lack of available technology. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X is
debatably the first commercially available phone that incorporated a mobile interface and basic
mobile applications. Its retail cost was $3,995 dollars not including high monthly fees and
unreliable service. The reason for communication companies to invest in such a device is
because there was a proportional shift in growth of technology at the time and consumers wanted
more mobility, choice, and opportunities that only technology held. Themanufacturer’s
corporation was the major group that looked to expand value content to its consumers and give
freedom to developers to create new application for a growing future trend. First time
applications like Snake, Tetris, and Pong started to appear on mobile devices leading consumers
to look at communication differently. This information overflow is what pushed mobile
technology into the next age when businesses started to realize the potential of mobile
information.
By the late 1990’s mobile consumers wanted more from their mobile devices. With the
progression and growth of the World Wide Web a foreseeable connection between the two
would be made. The bridge between the two was finally made with the creation of Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP). WAP allowed the breakdown of HTTP internet Web sites which
had full color and used text, images, and various other media. This breakdown allowed mobile
devices to connect and display simplified Web sites to mobile consumers. However, Wireless
Application Protocol was not a stable and compatible system for the growth of Web usage and its
limitations began to show. WAP had been replaced by more modern and compatible systems that
supported computer interfaces and Web design such as Windows mobile and Linux.
Case Studies
The power of these new iOS systems helped lead to modern mobile devices that give users
unlimited freedom, choice, and mobility. With this continuous growth of consumers, businesses
started to use mobile applications such as Mobile Web pages and sales applications to sell their
services and products. This generation of the late 1990’s is the consumers of today that look to
speed and mobility to conduct their business, unlike earlier generations that connected through
personal interactions which are now starting to disappear. Businesses such as Delta and British
Airways are using mobile ticketing to sell tickets to mobile users that allow faster mobility and
sales as well as instant baggage checking through mobile phones. Hotels are using instant
booking and restaurants use mobile reservations and menu viewing outside the restaurant. In
Europe mobile applications have allowed customers to order groceries from their mobile devices
and have them delivered right to the front door. Juniper Research estimates by 2014 the direct

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and indirect revenues from sales of mobile applications will total $25 billion dollars, which is a
lot of consumers that businesses should be selling products to. Apple reports that the
Application store sold $1,782,000 in the 2010 fiscal year and Apple projects this number to
grow within the coming year. Mobile devices have changed the way we use applications to
increase our own mobility, functionality, and freedom. With consumer’s desire to be everywhere
at one time businesses and consumers must connect through technology. Businesses inside and
out of hospitality industry change the way they market new items and ideas for a growing digital
age.
“The IT future lies in more personalized approach” says Victoria Moores of Air Transport
World (ATW) magazine. In her article Victoria Moores talks about how the Airline industry is
making a Herculean organizational shift in its marketing approach to consumer’s sales on
smartphones. SITA director Nigel Pickford’s research shows that after 2015 airlines marketing
sales will be brought in by two ways, first through website and second though smartphone
applications. The reason for this shift in sales approach is because of the costumers themselves,
“Passengers have an insatiable appetite to have more control, more personalization” Nigel
Pickford ATW article. By 2012 airlines plan to spend a total of 1.65% of total revenue to be put
back into IT instead of other departments because of the increase in Smartphone directed sales.
Channels for direct sales beyond 2015 are estimated to be 81% by website and 70% from smart
phone applications; these two sales forms are estimated to become dominate in the future. Most
airlines agree that traditional direct sales like kiosks are either dying or have already died and the
time frame to join the growing smart phone application trend is closing. With the information
collected from the article and other sources, airlines have a golden opportunity to jump on the
new information age trend of mobile applications, but they must act fast to beat the curb and
work together. The only way airlines could really improve their direct sales is to put more
revenue into their IT department instead of waiting until the last minute to jump on board with a
new trend. This trend can be seen from a long ways away so why hold onto older less successful.
Major Airlines should drop old unproductive methods of sales and use their resources to power
up future investments in new technology.
In a world where technology is continuously changing businesses face the challenge of adapting
to advancements being made. It seems the United States is always on the go so; one thing you
can count on is people having cell phones. Cell phones now more than ever have become part of
people’s everyday lives. With smartphones people can download software updates and
applications in only minutes for a variety of services and needs. With the continuous rise on cell
phone reliance, phones can be used as a huge marketing tool for many companies and
businesses. On the contrary phones can also act as a tool that turns people away from your
business.
Looking for ways to help people with services and needs has become extremely easy for
smartphone owners. For example, if on a trip looking for somewhere to stay users can simply
download an application with consumer ratings and compare costs of the nearby hotels. Hotel
Tonight is a trending application being downloaded. On this application one can view ratings and
prices on hotel rooms. Not only can they find information on the hotel but in many instances this
application provides a promotional code for a room at a discounted price. After viewing and
deciding on the right hotel a person can book a room in seconds by two simple clicks of a button

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or screen. Hotel Tonight and other applications has become a huge tool for people looking for
hotel services. With good service and reviews this can be a great thing for hotels looking for
customers. Ratings are viewable by the time they were posted from most recent written review to
oldest written review. This means that one slip up by a hotel staff can turn into a bad review
turning away potential customers the very next day. This puts a lot of pressure on hotels to
maintain a good service level. Having good reviews and service and this tool is a great marketing
tool for a hotel or other hospitality properties. Having bad reviews and service can mean losing a
great amount of business. This kind of marketing for the hospitality industry is based on
consumer’s perceptions of hotels.
Hotels can also market by making their hotel’s services accessible through consumer’s
smartphones or tablets. Having tasks easily done by smartphone such as ordering room service
or calling a maid to clean a room is greatly appreciated by most consumers. Companies such as
Intercontinental Hotel and Holiday Inn have been experimenting and trying to implement using
smartphones as room keys. Being a guest where this is available would make some guests feel a
little uneasy about the security of the room and belongings because of people finding ways to
open rooms that may not be theirs through their smartphone. An application called LodgeNet
allows guests of a hotel to use their smartphones as remote controls. Not only does this
application act as a remote but also as a channel guide with channel listings and scheduled
programming, a tool that can be very useful when not knowing what number your favorite
channel is. You can also preview and rent pay-per-view movies through this application.
According to an article in USA today 40% of consumers aged 18 to 34 would rather use their cell
phone then a remote control. The article later goes on and describes that 2,000 hotels across the
United States have updated and adapted their services to allow the LodgeNet to be accessible at
their hotels. People enjoy using their smartphones away from home because they feel a personal
connection to their phones in a place that they are not used to staying routinely. Hotels need to
maintain to adapt their way of doing business to support smartphones because consumers
appreciate being able to use their phones to accomplish tasks. Whether it is actually easier to
pick up your phone then a remote control is irrelevant because either way consumers simply
think that it is cool that they can use their cellphone for the tasks mentioned earlier.
Although there are many applications with consumer handled marketing, there are ways for
hotels to market their business the way they want it to be perceived. It seems that almost
everybody has an application called Pandora which allows people to search for music by genre
of music or even by artists. The way an application such as Pandora makes money is by having
advertisements after every three or four songs. People are forced to listen to these advertisements
in order to keep listening to the current station they are on. Advertisements are kept short so
people actually listen to the message instead of turning on a different station. Most people will
listen to motel 6’s “we’ll leave the light on” slogan then to take the time to choose a different
station that would potentially take more time then actually listening to the advertisement. Instead
of relying on good consumer reports hotels and other companies can advertise on applications in
the entertainment industry. Most of the entertainment applications make their money off of
selling time slots for advertisements or having an advertisement show on screen for a certain
amount of time. People really enjoy these types of applications and don’t mind that
advertisements may take them away from their game or music of a short amount of time. An
application can also be a form of advertisement. Domino’s pizza has an applicationwhere you

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can make your pizza. The application sees how fast you can make the correct type of pizza and
compare scores with friends. Most time these types of applications are for ages 4-12. Kids love
easy fun applications and so do parents because it distracts the kids for acouple of hours, but it
also if a form of advertisement.
Interview Results
“To stay ahead you need an understanding of your customers and how they use the stated
technologies,” stated Jeff Bruss, president of Cole Publishing. Cole Publishing is a publishing
firm that is out of Three Lakes, Wisconsin, has eight publications, and serves some 275,000
readers in the district. These publications reach readers from more than 50 countries around the
world, and attract more than 12,000 visitors to their annual Pumper & Cleaner Environmental
Expo International. The publishing company also offers 7 online digital offerings which include
news, equipment, directories, and more. When asked if the increase of smartphones have
changed the marketing strategy for the company Jeff replied with a definite answer. He replied
with, “Right now approximately 15% of our web traffic comes through mobile devices and that
has doubled each of the past 3 years. It is estimated that by 2014 mobile web use will surpass
desktop usage. So staying on top of that trend ensures the company is not left behind like those
companies in the 1990s that failed to embrace the Internet.” Jeff feels it is important for the
company brands to be available and seen on social media sites. He said it is so important for their
brands to interact in social media that the company has a dedicated Social Media Director. The
Social Media Director keeps Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest updated with their latest
photos, stories, and news. He also expressed that Facebook is currently their number two
referrer, only behind organic Google searches. Since smartphones are becoming popular,
applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are easily accessible. There are over
600,000 applications to choose from in the Apple’s iTunes App Store. Social media applications
have helped companies to get their names out in more locations and provide referrals back to
company’s websites. Although Jeff believes that smart phone applications will not last long he
believes that at this point social media is a trend that needs to be kept up to date. 50% of
Facebook visits are by mobile and during this year 6 billion iOS applications are expected to be
downloaded and 8 billion Android applications are expected to be downloaded.
As the interview continued the question, would you consider creating an application for the trade
show for such things as check-ins, updates, etc. Jeff replied with “Yes, we have, but you have to
look at your demographics and do a cost-benefit analysis. Our demographic is older, less tech-
savvy. As that demographic changes (and it is) we will look more closely and begin
development. More than likely though we would opt for a mobile web solution over native.” In
this case Jeff believes that mobile web will outlast native applications in the business world and
will prove more cost-effective for both big and small companies. 88% of iPhone users use their
phone to surf the internet where only 75% download applications. He gave the following reason
as to why he believes this by using an airline boarding check application, “If you are flying
United, are you going to go to the application store, search for a United application, download it,
launch it, put in your flight number, get the information, then keep that application until the next
time you fly United? Or perhaps would it make more sense to access United.com and do the
same thing? Now next time say you fly Northwest, it is the same process to download a native
application and store it on your phone? I submit this would only be a smart option for frequent

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flyers on consistent airlines.” In Jeff’s opinion developing a native application for a group of
people who may or may not even have smart phones is a waste of resources. He explained that
the shelf life for most applications is less than 30 days, then never accessed again; therefore it is
not a worthwhile investment either. Cole Publishing has a mobile website for their Pumper and
Cleaner Expo that has an exhibitor search tool, a schedule of events for the expo, a link to
connect to Facebook and Twitter, and an interactive map to direct attendees and exhibitors to the
tradeshow in Indianapolis, IN. When asked if Cole Publishing has ever considered an application
for the company or annual expo Jeff stated the following, “Native is best utilized for recurring
events that require consistent user interactions, provide entertainment, or provide timely
information, and their company is better suited for the mobile web, where people are searching
to fulfill a need, be its products or information.”
Looking at the overall picture of smart phones and applications Jeff believes that these devices
will continue to impact the future of the business landscape. He said, “Especially as just in time
interactions, mobile payments, location awareness, and other items that start to develop and
evolve.” In the end Jeff believes that the mobile web will outlast native applications in the
business world. Mobile applications currently have better usability than mobile sites, but
forthcoming changes will eventually make a mobile site the superior strategy. So what the future
holds, only time will tell, but it seems that mobile applications will be a short trend and mobile
web sites will be the next.

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Sources
Apple. Apple: increase App Store revenue by 70% in 2012. N.p.: Boy Genius Report (BGR),
2012. N. pag. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bgr.com/2012/09/21/app-store-revenue-
2012-ios-6-apple/>.
Bruss, Jeff. "Marketing Assessment Interview." Message to the author. 1 Oct. 2012. Web. 2 Oct.
2012.
Clark, John F. Theory and Practice of Mobile Applications. N.p.: John F. Clark, 2011. 1-25.
University of Kentucky, School of Journalism and Telecommunications. Web. 2 Oct.
2012.
<http://www.uky.edu/~jclark/mas490apps/History%20of%20Mobile%20Apps.pdf>.
"Facts and Figures." We are Apps. N.p., 2011. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.
<http://weareapps.com/app_facts.html>.
“Last-minute hotel deals. Tonight.” Hoteltonight. Web. Oct. 2. 1012.
“New app turns smartphone into a hotel room TV remote control.” USAtoday. Barbara Delollis,
Web. Jan. 1. 2012.
Reisinger, Don. Mobile app revenue set to soar to $46 billion in 2016. N.p.: CNET, 2012. N.
pag. Web. 2 Oct. 2012. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57379364-17/mobile-app-
revenue-set-to-soar-to-$46-billion-in-2016/>.

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Interview
Jeff Bruss; President of Cole Publishing
1) I understand one of Cole Publishing’s main principles includes providing extraordinary
personal service, how important is it for employees to interact with customers through
social media?
I don’t know that it’s necessary for employees to interact with customersas much as our brands
must interact. In fact, it’s so important that our brands interact that we hired a dedicated Social
Media Director. She keeps Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest updated with our latest
photos, stories and news. This helps our SEO efforts, gets our name out in more locations and
provides referrals back to our sites. Facebook is currently our number two referrer, behind only
organic Google searches.
2) How many social media websites are employees expected to be connected to?
Employees are kept in the loop from our SM Director. She aggregates and sends pertinent
content to the employee it pertains to. They are expected to be connected wherever possible.
3) Do you feel that social media websites are making an impact on the company?
Absolutely, see answer to question 1.
4) Another of Cole Publishing’s main principles includes constantly striving for
improvement. Is social media and mobile web sites an area to look to improve?
You shouldn’t interpret our website “mission statement” so closely. Of course we are always
looking to improve, who isn’t? Yes, social media is certainly one of those avenues.
5) Has the increase of smart phones changed the marketing strategy for Cole Publishing? If
so, how?
Without a doubt. Right now approximately 15% of our web traffic comes through mobile
devices and that has doubled each of the past 3 years. It’s estimated by 2014 that mobile web use
will surpass desktop usage. So staying on top of that trend ensures the company isn’t left behind
like those companies in the 1990’s that failed to embrace the Internet.
6) I know Cole Publishing has a mobile web site for the Pumper and Cleaner Expo, have
you ever considered a cell phone application for the company or expo?
Native apps have been considered, but we don’t deliver information that would be best formatted
for native. Native is best utilized for recurring events that require consistent user interactions,
provide entertainment, or provide timely information –Angry Birds, the weather, maps,
Facebook/Twitter native, etc. Our business model isn’t that of say, a daily newspaper that might
be better suited to a native application. We concentrate on mobile web, where people are
searching to fulfill a need, be it products or information.
7) Airlines are offering cell phone applications for electronic check-ins, mobile boarding
passes, notifications about flight status, and so on. Would you consider using such an

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application for the trade show?
Yes, we have, but you have to look at your demographics to do a cost-benefit analysis. Our
demographic is older, less tech-savvy. As that demographic changes (and it is) we will look more
closely and begin development. More than likely though we’d opt for a mobile web solution over
native.
8) Looking at the overall picture of smart phones and applications, do you believe these
devices will continue to impact the future of the business landscape?
Absolutely. Especially as just in time interactions, mobile payments, location awareness and
things like that start to develop and evolve.
9) How do you believe the trend itself with change moving forward? Is it worth getting
involved in?
What trend, smartphones? Not sure I understand this question.
10) What do you think will be needed to stay ahead of competitors in the area of cell phone
applications and social media?
To stay ahead you need an understanding of your customers and how they use the stated
technologies. For example, creating a native app for a group of people who may not even have
smartphones is a waste of resources. Furthermore developing a native app, when the shelf life for
most apps is less than 30 days, then never accessed again, is not a worthwhile investment either.
I believe the mobile web will outlast native apps in the business world and prove more cost-
effective for both big and small companies. You used a boarding check as an example earlier... If
you’re flying United, are you going to go to the app store, search for a United app, download it,
launch it, put in your flight number, get the info, then keep that app until next time you fly
United? Or perhaps would it make more sense to access United.com and do the same thing? Now
next time say you fly Northwest, same process to download a native app and store it on your
phone? I submit this would only be a smart option for frequent flyers on consistent airlines,
hence my opinion on web surpassing native in the business environment.
Regarding social media, you have to stay on top of what’s trending. We may be early on
Pinterest, but it’s hot right now. The social media landscape changes rapidly and you need to be
ready. Today’s 300 pound gorilla may be Facebook, but tomorrow’s might be something else. As
your professor states, you only need to look at MySpace to see how quickly the tide turns.
Facebook is in a mature stage at this point and is struggling with monetizing on the mobile
platform, perhaps the end is near? Hard to tell, but that’s why we try to stay on top of all social
as best we can.
Hope this helps Lauren, let me know if you need anything else!