Jon Sheldon introduced the topic last year in HTML5 – Where are we? The discussion continues to brew in developer’s corners, at trade shows and interactive agencies. What about marketers? You know the marketing directors, brand and product managers. In many instances these individuals manage paid, earned and owned media budgets. Constantly feeling the pressure to generate ROI, these folks must have an ear to the ground listening to peers and the buzz tied to the latest revenue generating trends. This post will feature a marketer’s approach to HTML5.The HypeWhat is HTML5? It’s a language for structuring content on the World Wide Web. In May, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) positioned the language to be recommended as the official web idiom by 2014. A big step in moving towards wide spread adoption. HTML5’s key benefits lie in its ability to power rich web experiences and the latest multimedia.
Multimedia is key to the discussion that follows.
Adobe Flash is the legacy multimedia platform used to add animation, video and interactivity to web pages. Flash is also often used in web advertisements (banners, video) and games. Adobe, estimates that 85% of the world’s most-visited web sites use flash, 75% of all web video is powered by a flash player and 70% of web games are based on flash technology. Flash should then be the unequivocal choice for web developer’s right? Enter HTML5.
In many circles HTML5 is being positioned as the preferred alternative to flash technology. As of March, each of the top five web browsers was HTML5 compatible. That’s Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Opera. Some video companies have also recently activated the technology, namely You Tube and Vimeo. Why? Because “the internet is in your pocket”, that’s why!The Game ChangerApple owns arguably three of the most successful product launches in recent memory. First there was the iPod in 2001, then the iPhone in 2008 and more recently the iPad, 2010. Their success has been well chronicled. Kleiner Perkins, ComScore, Nielsen, name a research firm that hasn’t studied their hockey stick surge in consumer adoption.
Coincidently Apple does not use flash technology. In-fact former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has gone to great lengths to advocate against using flash. Going public in 2010, Jobs mentioned comparable alternatives were on the horizon and he was directly referring to HTML5. It’s no surprise then that Jobs sits on a panel (WHATWG) whose goal is to evolve HTML.
So what’s in it for Apple?Back to BrowsersLet’s take a step back and talk about browsers. Remember when I said that each of the top five web browsers were HTML5 ready. It’s clear that with portable mobile devices like the iPod Touch, smartphones and tablets, HTML5 is the dominant language. Across platform, Apple is the decisive leader in reach. Android has a slight edge in phone adoption, but like Apple they too are building in HTML5 for nothing more than to keep up with their older brother. What does this all mean? It means mobile devices are the ship’s captain and we are all along for the ride. But wait there’s more.Mobile Web vs. Mobile AppConsumers continue to use both apps and the mobile web. Apple, Android and Blackberry each have a dominant app store with tens of thousands if not more apps available for download. Apple aside, many apps are built using flash technology. Will there be a breaking point? Will HTML5’s adoption result in the mobile web becoming the dominant engagement tool on mobile devices? Can’t answer that yet, but what I can tell you is that the HTML5, flash debate will continue. So what does this mean to you?Digital Marketing ImplicationsIf the platform is a mobile device marketers should seriously consider HTML5. This includes websites, banners, videos and games. They should also consider their target audience, platform (Apple or Other) and most importantly cost to go-to-market. The true implications right now are scale and cost. Acsys Interactive can help you make these decisions. Reach out to us and please feel free to leave your comments below.
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