Going Moibl(E!) – Entertainment on the Go

In an age where interest in celebrity culture is more present than ever, and stories are breaking left and right, regularly posting to a website and airing a daily news show are simply not enough. This is where E! Entertainment’s mobile app, E! Online, comes in.

MOBILE MARKETING STRATEGY– Mobile Application:

As one of the leading sources for entertainment news, E! Entertainment has mastered breaking news to the masses through their mobile app, simply titled E! Online. Through this app, the journalists are E! are able to push breaking stories directly to anyone who has downloaded the app. For example, all phones with the app downloaded received a push notification when Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their second pregnancy, Bruce and Kris Jenner first announced their separation, and when various celebrities’ children are born.

The app features sections devoted to all content by time of post (main page), as well as specifically: news, photo galleries, videos, television, fashion, E! shows, and red carpet coverage.

(Examples of the some of the different pages of content offered on the E! Online app)

The app makes sharing content to social media, and directly with friends much easier than its online counterpart. When you are reading a story, there is a button in the top right corner that brings up the options to share the story you are reading via Twitter, Messages, or Mail- all of which are integrated seamlessly through your phone. The lack of Facebook’s presence on the share menu goes further to show the target through this program. More and more, it seems as though younger demographics (18-30’s) are naturally drawn to twitter, while older demographics, who might not be as interested in pop culture, are more drawn to Facebook.

The app’s appearance is consistant with E!’s online site and branding as your “POP” of culture, taking design inspiration from the phrase “pop of color.” It has a sleek black and white design with pops of color to excentuate certain aspects, such as a story’s exlusivity. Then, when the sections menu is opened, each section has a designated color for identification.

The app is available for iPhone, Android, Windows 8, and Blackberry smartphones.

MOBILE GOALS:

The overarching goal of this app is to solidify E!’s reputation as the “go to” source for news in the entertainment industry. This was a necessary expansion in order to compete with other popular entertainment news sources such as People, TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, and The Hollywood Reporter. However, E! has one feature that is unique to their online and mobile presence- streaming capabilities and a daily live show known as Live From E!.

Live From E! began in July 2013 as a live, online only talk show, starring E! News anchor, Jason Kennedy, and several E! News correspondents. This show aired live, daily, at 12:30pm ET/9:30am PT. This was identified as a prime time for viewers on both coasts as it is either a common lunch time in the east, or a common “water cooler chat” time in the west. Although this show is available to stream on E!’s full website, its ability to stream via their app is what ultimately sets E! apart from its competitors. This allowed viewers to access the show without being tied to their desk, which many viewers would not have access to given the office times E! has identified. About one year after the show’s premier, it had gained so much popularity, largely due to mobile streaming, that E! decided to air an additional segment of Live From E! on cable, directly following Monday night’s E! News broadcast, and eventually expanding further to Tuesday and Wednesday nights. E! also utilizes these streaming capabilities for special occasions, such as award show red carpets and red carpet pre-shows.

Given the nature of the app, it appears as though the main goal of the app is to retain customers (or viewers in this instance.) The people most motivated to download the app are people who already turn to E! for their regular entertainment news updates, and are seeking a deeper level of connectivity. By providing a mobile counterpart to compliment their full website, E! is fulfilling that promise. They then continue to build on it by adding features beyond breaking stories such as the previously discussed streaming and sharing capabilities, by improving access to online videos, such as the regular “E! News NOW” updates and clips from E!’s catalog of television shows.

There is also no external advertising presence on the app. When a commercial does precede a video you are trying to watch, it is always a promotion for one of E!’s own shows such as Khloe and Kourtney Take the Hamptons, The Soup, or Total Divas.

EVALUATION:

Overall, I believe that E!’s mobile app is successful at their mission. It features excellent consistency with their online website and offers its users a seamless experience that allows them to stay constantly connected with the E! brand and the latest news from Hollywood. It would appear to be most in line with two mobile user profiles- the up-to-dates and the Social & Curious. This is consistent with the users who have an innate interest in the entertainment industry, so it is an extremely appropriate and beneficial audience to target through a mobile app.

I also believe that the lack of an advertising presence is a key benefit of the E! Online app. This ensures that there are no third party ads that may annoy the user while they are trying to browse through multiple stories and drive them away from the app. The only presence, which I noted previously, is E!’s own. This is most likely not a concern of the users, as they are already linked and a fan of E! enough to download the app, so their own content is not likely to drive users away from the app.

The success of the app can largely be attributed through it’s original defining feature- the streaming capabilities.

E!’s app does an excellent job at achieving it’s goal- retaining viewers/users and getting them further integrated and invested in the E! brand.

#eonline