Kickanotch CEO Andy Lynn has described what his Kansas start-up does as "building mobile addictions," being the "Wordpress of mobile" and "kind of like Build-A-Bear." In still other words: it simplifies things.
The company builds mobile applications for media companies that want to move into the mobile space and quickly see the rewards of their efforts. Kickanotch — which this May started out helping radio stations convert their wares into mobile offerings and is now focusing more intently on publishing companies — is a one-stop shop, connecting media outlets with both apps and the means to moneztize them. This month it introduced RevKick, a dashboard from which clients can mange their applications and the ad campaigns running in it. Don't have ads? Kickanotch can provide those as well.
Kickanotch designs for iOS, Android and BlackBerry platforms ("BlackBerry is still a very large part of it," Lynn told MobileDevPro, "especially worldwide,") and the RevKick dashboard enables platform managers to manage advertisements, announce events or last-minute offers, target and track advertisement engagement via "crazy-smart analytics," and try for greater revenue through text marketing campaigns and push notifications. Tools that are particularly helpful for smaller organizations with otherwise limited staff for such efforts.
"You can get so many calls that are just about little tweaks and changes — it can be a rabbit hole with no end," said Lynn. "This frees up the developers' time, letting them focus on core developments and expansions."
Lynn adds that Kickanotch, which is comfortable building video and audio streaming into apps, is an enterprise-grade solution, which is why the company can focus on also larger media outlets. With an outstanding mobile app in place, the company asserts in press materials, "companies no longer need Websites." Which, studies show, consumers are visiting less often than applications anyway.
According to Nielsen, owners of Android handsets now spend an average of 56 minutes a day interacting with mobile apps and the mobile Web, with two-thirds of tjat time going to the former and a just a third to the latter (MDP: At Least on Android, Most Users Focus on Just a Few Apps).
While the apps are simple to use, they've very in-depth, said Lynn, adding, "Native mobile applications are exactly where the client and the end user are going to get the very best product and the most reliable product."
