submit to reddit

Fortune-50-Mobile-Study_INFOGRAPHIC.jpgBy B.L. Ochman
According to a new study, “Fortune 50 Use of Mobile: If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It” 62% of the Fortune 50 have mobile websites, mobile apps, mobile payments, and QR Codes – but they’re not flaunting them.
In fact, the study finds, only 39% announce their mobile offering on their corporate websites.
The study, by global communications firm, Burson-Marsteller, and my employer, WPP-owned Proof Integrated Communications, notes that making web content easy to read and interactive via mobile allows companies to connect with the ever-increasing number of smartphone users any time, anywhere.
Why mobile offerings are hidden
That’s why it’s baffling that companies wouldn’t be anxious to showcase their investments in mobile corporate websites, mobile apps, SMS/text messaging, mobile payment transaction capability, and QR Codes.
My guesses for the most likely reasons so many Fortune 50 companies aren’t taking advantage of the business and marketing opportunities and the hipness/coolness factor of their early mobile adoption:
o corporate silos pitting IT against marketing (as in, “ok, we’ll build it, but don’t go shooting your mouth off about it until it’s really mainstream)
o fear of the (perceived) risks of change (i.e., many pioneers got shot)
o fear of technology snafus
o fear of being different (or of not being different enough)
Specific findings
Specifically, the study found that 38 percent of the Fortune 50 companies have mobile-optimized websites and an even higher proportion (58 percent) of companies offer a mobile application on the iPhone, Android and/or Blackberry. Companies were most likely to develop applications for the iPhone (58%) followed by the Android (32%) and Blackberry (26%).
Other findings include:
• Twenty-two percent of Fortune 50 companies are communicating with stakeholders via SMS/text message.
• Forty-three percent of the Fortune 50 have mobile websites or applications that are enabled for mobile transactions such as shopping, updating account information, refilling prescriptions or transferring money.
• Twenty-two percent of the Fortune 50 are placing QR codes in magazines, on billboards, or at any convenient location to deliver relevant content to smartphone users. (QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that are encrypted with information. Smartphone users who install a QR Code Reading application can scan the codes with mobile phones and in return receive any content ranging from photos, videos, and product data to applications and instructions.)
The research team looked at Fortune 50 corporations’ optimized mobile website presence and application deployment on the Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and iPad. The team also examined the companies’ communication of mobile activities and SMS programs, as well as the companies’ use of QR codes.
The infographic accompanying the study was designed by Flowtown