Have you ever heard of PowerMat? It’s a small ‘mat’ that charges your phone, iPhone and more by just dropping the device on the mat’s surface. When a small company with a new product like that evaluates its advertising options today, they’ll be choosing from expensive options like print, television and radio, or web opportunities like banner ads or Google Adwords. These all have their advantages and disadvantages, but if they really want to make a splash with ultra-savvy consumers, the type that they’re clearly targeting, they’re going to look to something like MyTown.
Keith Lee, the CEO of MyTown, told the audience at Inside Social Apps in San Francisco, that the application is currently at 1.9 million registered users and is growing by 100,000 users per week. Those users also spend an average of 70 minutes in the app per day. Take that Foursquare! During the “Monetizing Mobile Apps” panel, there was an overwhelming consensus that free applications have a much more effective business model. As Jason Oberfest of ngmoco pointed out, paid applications tend to have a very steep revenue decline while while free apps have a flat and steady revenue stream.
Booyah, creators of the increasingly popular mobile social “check-in” game MyTown — currently exclusive to the Apple iPhone — have added another campaign partner, this time the Travel Channel for their Food Wars TV show. Food Wars travels to different cities and has two establishments battle it out over who serves a best particular dish, such as the town’s best chicken wings.
