• Adweek, Forbes CMO Network, Monday, November 30, 2009 10:42 AM

It was clearly the year of the mobile-device "app" but "like any new channel," Brian Morrissey writes in Adweek, "efforts have been a hit-and-miss affair." He and Laurie Burkitt, writing in Forbes CMO Network, agree that the most important feature that a branded app must possess -- and something that traditional marketing is not necessarily known for -- is "utility."

"Gimmicks are fun, but brands ultimately need to create something people can use," Brandon Evans, managing partner and chief strategy officer of social media agency Mr. Youth, tells Burkitt. Two other must-have attributes, she reports, are audience and speed.

Tops apps on the Adweek list: Amazon Mobile, Bank of America, Kraft, The North Face, Pandora Radio, Pizza Hut, Virgin Atlantic and Volkswagen.

On the Forbes list: Pizza Hut, Charmin SitOrSqat, DirecTV, Nestle's Purina Petcentric, U.S. Open, Dunkin' Donuts' Dunkin' Run, Johnson & Johnson's BlackBag Medical Resources, ZipCar, Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear, Colgate-Palmolive's Colgate Max White Photo Application.

Read the whole story at Adweek, Forbes CMO Network »