PRWeek Gets App Development Insight from Hellerman Baretz Communications' Social Media Trainer Viveka von Rosen, Other Top Experts

With half a million apps up and running on the iPhone, a hundred thousand on the iPad, and nearly one million apps available across the top four smart phone platforms, it's tempting to believe that your organization needs to develop one of its own. But is there a genuine reason to do so beyond keeping up with the Joneses?

To find out, PRWeek questioned a select few of the nation's top social media strategists, including Hellerman Baretz Communications' (HBC) Director of Social Media Training Viveka von Rosen. On PRWeek's “Master Class” panel with online marketing chiefs from Ford Motor Company and Dell Computers, von Rosen tackled the question: “For brands seeking to make an impact, is creating an app always the best plan?”

Von Rosen, who has taught more than 10,000 business executives how to maximize their LinkedIn experience and conducts social media training seminars for law firms and individual lawyers through HBC, notes in the article that apps have become a virtual necessity for the on-the-go professional. Those that allow the sharing of information, increase productivity, and create a space to build relationships and reputations are the ones that have become a mobile lifeline for von Rosen—who realized she'd become an “app addict” after her iPhone was out of commission for a few days.

Von Rosen and HBC initiated an exclusive relationship this fall, bringing von Rosen's expertise to the legal profession through accessible, customizable social media training sessions tailored specifically to attorneys. Von Rosen's sessions build on HBC's history of pioneering work in the social media field that won it a Platinum MarCom award last year.

Von Rosen's fellow PRWeek panelists echoed her point that if an organization is to devote the resources necessary to creating an app, it should go well beyond entertainment value and surface appeal:

• Jared Hendler, the Executive Vice President and Global Director of Digital and Creative Services for MWW Group, said that a critical threshold question for organizations deciding whether to embark on app development is: “will creating an app help achieve your business goals?”
• Rishi Dave, the Executive Director of Online Marketing at Dell, said that apps should make boring experiences fun and make people's lives more efficient.
• Scott Monty, the Global Digital Communications Manager at Ford, pointed to a study showing that 95% of those who download apps use less than ten of them; it bolsters his argument that organizations need a better reason to develop an app than “because we can.”
• Graham Gunn, the Senior Vice President and Digital Creative Director for MSLGroup, noted that mobile Web access will surpass access via desktop by 2014, making the development of quality mobile brand experiences all the more important.

Viveka von Rosen hosts the popular weekly #LinkedInChat on Twitter and has been named one of “25 Women Who Rock Social Media in 2011” by the Top Rank blog. Her customizable social media training seminars include group and individual sessions on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms, with CLE certification available. For more information, visit www.hellermanbaretz.com/coolcoaching or contact Caitlin Fisher at (202) 274-1839 or cfisher@hellermanbaretz.com.

Working with the world's leading law firms, consulting firms, and financial services companies, Hellerman Baretz Communications (www.hellermanbaretz.com) creates PR-fueled business development campaigns that turn professionals' expertise into new business opportunities. Recently, the firm won a Platinum MarCom award for Best Use of Social Media for an innovative campaign on behalf of the JDSupra social-networking service.