Citrix?s 2015 mobile analytics report said subscribers have more than doubled the amount of sports video content they consume over mobile in just six months, from 21 percent in the third quarter of last year to 50 percent through the first quarter of this year. The results suggest that mobile operators need to prepare for the growth in sports video content that is expected between now and the Rio 2016 Olympics, a huge marketing opportunity.

?Consumers want and expect video content,? said Mark Davis, senior director of product marketing for service provider platforms with the Citrix Cloud Networking Group. ?We knew this already but this [report] adds further points of validation. 

?Put your energy there,? he said.

The Citrix Mobile Analytics Report addressed both mobile subscriber and business mobility trends, drawing on data from a global cross-section of mobile network operators and enterprises. 

The report offered more proof that video and sports go together well. 

During the World Cup game between Brazil and Germany on July 8, regional ESPN traffic over mobile increased 20 times. Once Germany took a 5-0 lead, data volume returned to normal, according to the report.

As video becomes ubiquitous on mobile, video optimization will play a key role in ensuring an acceptable experience for both consumers and enterprises. Marketers need to take steps to prevent video ads from stalling, an undesirable occurrence for a represented brand.

As mobile data consumption grows, the mobile user experience is, increasingly, a video experience. The top five mobile games ranked by data volume now all contain video, compared to only two of the top five in first-quarter 2014. 

In other findings, mobile subscribers that own an iPhone 6 Plus use twice as much data as iPhone 6 users ? a difference attributable to more video viewing on the larger screen. Both subscribers and enterprise IT departments need to be aware of how phablet-sized devices impact mobile data pricing plans and enterprise budgets.

A mobile data subscriber is typically engaged for 4.6 minutes at a time. Engagement periods peak at noon, 9 pm and 10 pm, when engagement can stretch to nine minutes.

In consumer findings, fitness has increased its dominance of mobile health applications, with 78 percent of mobile health app users using fitness apps, up from 39 percent in 2013. 

In enterprise findings, the number of devices managed in the commercial world nearly doubled, growing by 72 percent over the past year.

The top blacklisted apps included Dropbox and Mail, revealing both the tendency of employees to seek out productivity related apps, and the attempt by IT to get the usage of unmanaged, non-secure third party apps under control.

The most commonly whitelisted apps are PDF and Notes, again underscoring the importance of productivity and collaboration apps for mobile productivity.

The report pointed to how mobility has changed how people do business. It is no longer possible for either mobile network operators or enterprise information technology to maintain artificial boundaries of personal and business mobility. 

Personal and business usage can occur at any time of day, any day of the week, in any setting.

Consumers and enterprises need to make the right decisions about their strategy and operations for implementing mobile into their workforce.

 

?More so than other content categories, sports equals video (just look at the GoPro channel on YouTube),? said Mr. Davis, who leads marketing to communications service providers for brands. ?It makes sense for sports marketing to focus on video, as well.?

Final Take

Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York