Nearly three years to the day that media consulting firm Jacobs Media announced the formation of jacAPPS, the company has reached a significant milestone in mobile application development, its 500th application release. JacAPPS Vice President and General Manager Paul Jacobs tells Radio Ink, "when we started the iTunes Store was 3 months old. I don't think anyone had an idea - except maybe Steve Jobs - that apps would take off like this."
Jacobs says getting into the App business was a risky move that has reallp paid off. "Less than a year after we started jacAPPS we met with an investor friend of ours - a really smart, successful businessman. He told us he thought apps were a fad. Even a smart guy like him got it wrong. But I have to tell you, we launched the business in the fall of 2008 as the economy was cratering. And we sold our first twenty apps in the first 60 days. So there were some signs that we were onto something. We dove in headfirst and haven't stopped since."
JacAPPS started selling Apps to radio and continue to sell a good percentage of our apps to radio stations but have also expanded accoring to Jacobs. "With the support of radio, we've been able to invest in people and processes so we can build even more sophisticated apps for radio and non-radio clients. Moving ahead, we are merging all of the skills of our company - app development, research, strategy, and social media and are creating a full-service mobile business to help our clients with all of their needs."
And, to generate revenue for radio, Jacobs says, among other relationships, his partnership with Verve Wirelss is key. "We've integrated display ads through our partnership with Verve Wireless. We selected them because they enable stations to benefit from ads that Verve sells, but local stations can also sell ads locally and traffic them to the app through Verve's network. Stations are starting to integrate audio pre-rolls from TargetSpot also. Looking ahead, we are working on a major feature that provides stations with a scalable opportunity to have an app that works like a combination of Groupon Now and AroundMe. We think this is going to really unlock revenue for stations because it's so scalable, and enables stations to compete directly for mobile dollars."
What is Jacobs' prediction for where JacAPSS will be in another 3 years. "I hope we are the largest full-service strategic consulting, research company, and mobile app development company in America. That would make me very happy."
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