Mobile is more than a channel

I spent Tuesday evening at the British Computer Society, attending the latest mashup event - Investment Opportunities in Digital. This was certainly one of the better entrepreneur events I have attended in London. Offering a good blend of expert insight and early stage entrepreneurial ventures.



One of the macro trends that was discussed was the importance of mobile. This struck a chord with my recent thinking around football fandom and betting. Responding to a comment from the audience Sean Seton-Rogers (PROfounders Capital) made a case for mobile as a channel extension of existing web based services. This view is supported by the current mobile betting applications which allow people to place bets on the move. A simple extension of the operators website.

However, mobile offers unique capabilities that move it way beyond being just a channel:

1. People carry their mobiles with them all the time.
2. Mobiles have cameras for taking photos and video.
3. Mobiles know where they are.
4. Mobiles can detect and transmit noise.
5. Mobiles (at least Iphones) know when and how hard they are being moved.

How can we leverage these capabilities to generate novel mobile based services? Watch any Premiership football game and you see 50,000+ passionate fans supporting their team at the game. Mobile offers the unique opportunity to recreate that intense fan experience online. Something that really doesn't exist. So what features could be created that leverage the unique capabilities?

a) Fans taking and uploading content Live from the game and sharing the content with fans who can't be at the game. Either on a website or with other mobile users.
b) Fans talking about the game on their mobiles.
c) Fans showing their passion through the movement of the handsets. Imagine an online chart (could be shown on the big screen at the game) displaying fan excitement levels based on cumulative movement of the handsets held by each group of fans.
d) Same as 'c' but based on cumulative noise coming through the handsets.

By creating a mobile fan application the mobile becomes much more than just another channel. Mobile becomes an entry point feeding a real-time fan experience. And how do we make money from this? Betting. Where there are fans their are selling opportunities for operators. Furthermore, tapping directly into fandom helps build a connection between the fans and the brand.

Want to know what this kind of mobile app might look like? Check out some of the startups playing with the concept like Fan Chatter.