I was recently playing with an app on the iPad made by Nissan called the Nissan Juke.

It’s a very cool music making app (albeit simple in structure) with lovely visuals and equally impressive samples to mix with. It was made and launched to promote Nissan’s latest vehicle, the Juke.

With the mixes you make, you can record them and send it to Nissan where it gets converted to a ringtone which is then emailed back to you. The cute part is where the ‘deck’ is on top of a building and the dials are mini versions of the Juke.

I haven’t tried that yet but I did have some observations of the app which I think others (and Nissan) can learn from:

1. Apps are the future (or at least the forseeable future) – they are proving to be amazing marketing tools which can be used for almost anything.

2. It’s all about quality. The app has clean, clear graphics and plenty of high res images of the Juke. The sounds are top notch and usability is ace. Overall, it’s a well made app with a fairly limited purpose.

3. It doesn’t have long replay value. There aren’t too many samples to choose from and apart from choosing when to stop/start a sample and how loud/soft it will be, that’s about it. What will make me pick it up and play with it again? Not much at all.

4. It would be good to use it as a tool to capture email addresses and keep people informed about the Juke and other Nissan news.

Now, the Juke isn’t available in Australia and this is also why I hadn’t heard of it (only found the app because I was looking for music making apps) but I wonder what sort of promotion went on in places where the Juke was available? How did they promote the app at dealerships? how about TV and Radio? Let’s not forget online..

This interesting article on the Guardian’s website talked about why most branded apps are a flop – and this is a statement coming from Deloitte. Citing poor quality, failure to establish themselves and a heinous lack of promotion are just some of the reasons why many branded apps fail in the app market place.

Brands get complacent. They feel like their name is enough to warrant a download. I don’t drive a Nissan and have never driven one but was curious as to what the app was about and its music making abilities. I don’t plan on buying a Nissan anytime soon even after playing the app. So to me, this is a weak spot for Nissan in its promotion of the Juke. Nevermind its non-availability in Australia – where were the selling points? Where were the reasons why I should sell my Toyota Camry and opt for a Nissan equivalent? Totally invisible. If the Juke was an amazing music making car then perhaps the app has worked well but I highly doubt it.

It’s left me agreeing with all of the points in the article above and once again, wondering why more and more companies don’t hop onto the app bandwagon with more preparation and foresight.

I’ve talked about the potential of apps by peope like Bunnings and Super A-Mart but I know it’s falling on deaf ears. We have so few apps dedicated to Australian business/corporations, it’s obscene.

I plan to write more about it as it’s certainly the way of the future.