“Canoe Mobilizes News Content”

“Canoe Mobilizes News Content”
Marketing Magazine (online via: marketingmag.ca)
By Kristin Laird, September 26th, 2008
· Canoe.ca offering ‘on-the-go’ news to Canadian cell phone users
· available for those who have basic Internet access
· providing this service through their news and content portal, Canoe.ca Mobile
· the site will current news from sports, entertainment, technology, finance, travel and lifestyle sections
· content will be available in English and French
· Canoe.ca’s mission is to be “the Canadian destination for news content”
· feel they can achieve this by being accessible on multiple platforms and becoming mobile is the only venue they were missing
· the news information is extremely easy to access, users just text “CANOE” to 22022 on their cell phones or they can bookmark the “m.canoe.ca” page
· he information on the site is light, which makes it easier and faster to download and helps to keep data download charges to a minimum
This breakthrough technology will have an impact on both consumers and agencies. I think it will be beneficial to the average consumer who is time conscious. It will allow the consumer to stay up to date and on top of current news without putting in as much time to learn about it. People are so attached to their cell phones and “crack berries” that they never put them down. This is a perfect way for those to access the news since they will already be on their phones, its just another website to go to.. also, it allows them to get their news at any time, when its convenient to them. They can up-date themselves in real-time when they are on the run. I think this service offered by Canoe.ca is just another way for the company to keep up with the need for convenience which is embedded within Canadian culture.
I think this could have a negative impact agencies, simply because it is just taking away from other space within other mediums. Agencies that rely largely on newspaper, radio, or their print now have something else to compete with. Since this service provides the consumer with a new level of convenience they may give up their traditional medium for getting their news for this fast, easy and efficient way.
Here's a link to the article, feel free to check it out yourselves for more information.