»  bytes from the bird

Sure, the iPhone has become a cultural icon of our digital age, but for companies eager to put their brand directly into the hands of consumers, an interesting trend has emerged.

Choose utility over entertainment

Snowglobes are nice, (and Volkswagen has sold more than 2 million copies of their GTI Racing game in Apple's App Store), but if you're going to convince your target market that your app is worth downloading and will make our lives slightly easier, birdsong gregory thinks you need to provide something of value.  

• Lancome and its mobile shop, Publicis Groupe's Phonevalley, use the iPhone to help women in the aisle choose makeup.
• Amazon's iPhone app lets you take a picture of a product you see at the mall, and then they'll try to match it and beat the price.
• The North Face's Snow Report App is #5 in the App Store weather category.
• And my personal favorite: Zippo's dead simple application that gives users a digital representation of a lighter, marking a new way to signal for an encore at concerts. Launched a while back this app is still one of the platform's most popular. Check out this demo: