The apps-leasing platform helps brands to tap into the ever-growing mobile marketing space with branded apps, enabling them to enter the markets faster and cheaper by up to 50 per cent than conventional customised applications.
The first of the apps is the OmniList, a GPS-enabled location-based merchant listing application available for the iPhone and Android platforms. The application is also currently being adapted by a few brands.
The ‘apps for hire' platform enables brands to lease an application's programming code from Mindshare's group of partner developers, which brands can localise for individual countries and purposes.
This allows brands to build an application from scratch, which would normally take six months or more, depending on the complexity required.
On the initiative, Jimmy Lim, head of invention for Mindshare Singapore, said: "We understand many brands only use branded apps for tactical purposes. So it would be more cost effective to lease an app than to invest in one, especially when your campaign only lasts for a couple of months."
He added: "The OmniList app is the first of many apps co-developed with partners like Omnitoons. We are in the process of co-developing more ‘lifestyle-enhancing' apps with other developers as well."
Karen New, managing director of Omnitoons said that brands are facing constant pressure on costs and razor thin timelines to get ahead of the competition. "We are glad Mindshare has the foresight and innovation to set up such a platform, as it benefits all stakeholders in the mobile economy; developers, brands and even consumers," she said.
