Archive for September, 2009

I came across this very interesting September 25, 2009 post offering results of a Smartphone application “Loyalty” survey.  Flurry, a mobile analytics provider, sampled 2,000 live applications over 200 million user sessions tracked across all popular devices –  iPhone, iTouch, Android, Blackberry and JavaME.

Flurry displayed their data in a very Gartner Magic Quadrant-like way, that lends insight into the types of applications that find the most use and are retained over time.  Aside from helping marketers set their expectations for how adoption of their mobile application will play out, this type of research also should help advertisers hone in on the applications they want to associate themselves with to reach the on the go consumer.

Although the alignment of application categories to this taxonomy is a bit intuitive, the data is what is really useful to marketers interested in leveraging mobile applications most effectively.  If a marketer’s business is not about News, Reference or Weather, how do they create an often used and retained application?  They can’t change their business, but they can change their perspective on mobile applications.

Considering the Mobile Customer Experience and a business goal ahead of an application project can help marketers penetrate the upper right quadrant regardless of their industry.  The key is developing effective calls to action that propagate intelligently across mobile marketing techniques such as text, mobile web and applications.

In the past I have labeled mobile marketing an enabler of “active direct response” due to the immediacy of interaction, but another new term, “Direct Branding” I think equally applies.  In this context, Direct Branding is the application of direct marketing techniques by brand marketers to reach their customers in nontraditional ways.  It was the subject of this article on ChiefMarketer.com and while not specific to mobile, Direct Branding is certainly a mobile application increasingly used by marketers.  The reasons for brand marketers to embrace direct customer marketing concepts are underscored by this quote:

“The shift from traditional advertising or marketing to direct branding will help you confidently point to measurable marketing milestones and outcomes. Whereas branding and the classic direct marketing used to be separate disciplines, the two have discovered that they need to merge. Marketing accountability becomes the norm and is absolutely necessary to compete and survive in this day.”

The article contains interesting examples by Consumer Packaged Goods makers using digital media to launch new products and capture interaction data to evaluate the effectiveness and return on their investments.   It’s a brilliant idea, but the article makes no mention of mobile as an interaction channel actually preferred by many consumers, especially in and around the point of sale.

Brand marketers would be wise to embrace Direct Branding as a strategy but should build mobile channel considerations into their plans to reach consumers on the go – especially given the generally higher response rates for mobile programs and the need to continually justify marketing investments to top executives.

“Today, branding and measurement are not mutually exclusive. Great branders understand that they need to add the measurement metric of direct marketing to their work in order to prove ROI. The C-suite expects marketing to show a positive impact to the bottom line, and those marketers that can will not only survive, but thrive.”

Augmented reality is moving fast from a novel form of Smartphone interactivity to a killer application as demonstrated in this article today on MobileMarketer.com.

Few marketers would argue with the value of giving customers the ability to use their mobile devices as literal gateways into all their business has to offer, and that is exactly what a company called GeoVector has done via an application called World Surfer, available for the iPhone and Android platforms.

“With its technology, GeoVector can attach any type of data to a place on Earth or via latitude and longitude coordinates.”

This capability has the potential to transform any storefront type business into a “mobile business,” by connecting a store with its customers and customers with relevant advertising messages.  The possible applications are endless, as noted in the article, yet all of this rich interactivity is designed to encourage commerce on a level unheard of before.

Static signage, hoped for brand awareness, billboards and the Yellow pages will no longer matter once every business is represented in a database such as GeoVector’s.  Customers will still need to opt into this environment.  But applications like GeoVector will facilitate and manage consumer “commerce networks,” ironically an idea I blogged about after seeing Motorola’s Cliq and its focus on social networks.

The real killer app will be the one that seamlessly blends the social and commerce side of the mobile customer experience.  It’s also important to note that this is ultimately about data.  While the application layer is not entirely an incidental piece of the puzzle, a focus on data ensures a company like GeoVector can take its value proposition to any kind of device in the future.

As a leading mobile marketing solutions provider, we offer clients flexible ways of engaging with their customers.  One of the ways we do this is by offering a fast path to doing so via the use of a shared short code – a shorthand of sorts for letting on-the-go consumers quickly participate in a text dialogue without entering a full length phone number.

Some clients prefer to have a dedicated code potentially reflecting their name or a brand attribute when translated from numbers to a word, but obtaining one requires additional time be built into a mobile program.  Power users of these codes have embedded mobile into the very foundation of their brands.

We recently came across a simple and effective example of how one of our clients uses a short code to engage their target customers and learn more about them.  The Lake Forest Graduate School of Management is a Chicago area MBA program designed for working and/or experienced professionals.  They use text message marketing as a call to action in their recruitment efforts, as seen in this photograph of signage located in a commuter elevated train station waiting area.  Some of the lessons to be learned by this program include:

• Targeting: Mobile is a key ingredient in this program but it is not the focal point; rather, the emphasis is on communicating with a target audience by reaching them most effectively.  In this case, locatoins where busy commuters congregate is a great spot to promote an education program intended to help elevate careers.
• Multi-Channel: Signs like this are not high tech but the call to action is, and everyone with a mobile phone is a potential responder.  Texting MBA to this shortcode begins a Mobile Dialogue designed to inform and persuade; responders are greeted with a brief message requesting an email address for learning more about their program.  A mobile device is not often the right medium for reviewing information and this approach recognizes that.  Those opting in again receive a real time email response with more information, including pointers to areas of the school’s website with even greater details.
• Knowledge: Mobile is the perfect medium for reaching the type of customer the school seeks given its emphasis on busy professionals who are always near a potential call to action (billboard, signs on objects like buses or commuter stations, taxi cabs and others).  Mobile also provides the means by which the school can learn more about its target customer to sharpen its recruiting efforts.  Data captured during the course of Mobile Dialogues combined with information about which mediums drive the most qualified interest informs the creation of more relevant messages and a higher return on marketing investments.

I don’t think it’s coincidental that the market for mobile technologies and services is accelerating from a number of perspectives.  On a daily basis, thought leaders and industry experts espouse the value  of building mobile into marketing plans, as opposed to thinking about it tactically after the fact.  Providers such as Interactive Mediums advance the same concept, somewhat selfishly but also because we know the greatest value comes from taking a programmatic view of the mobile channel that is based on customer knowledge.  And with retailers gearing up to make the most money they will this calendar year, mobile is taking center stage as a highly effective means of capturing scarce consumer dollars.  2010 will surely be the year of mobile.

All of these thoughts suggest a tidal wave of business will be flowing into mobile in the coming months, as underscored by this excellent article on MobileMarketer.com today.  Frankly, it’s the best thing I’ve read in two months and I read a lot of mobile news and views every day.  Every marketer, be they in a brand or agency or b-to-b in orientation, needs to read this article and prepare to get out in front of the mobile wave.  If you don’t, your peers in competitive organizations will, leaving you struggling just to keep your head above water.

This question came to mind today when I came across an August 20, 2009 article titled “Everybody Starts at Zero.” In traditional marketing, be it direct, email or web, marketers smartly consider their audience and its characteristics in developing strategies for reaching them in the most relevant way. They typically have a database or purchase compiled demographic data to build out a better understanding of customers and their probable behaviors.

This article points at that with mobile, marketers don’t have such a luxury when getting started. If marketers start with the premise of appending existing customer profiles with customer mobile phone numbers, they risk the entire future mobile customer relationship.

As many experienced mobile marketers know, you must first acquire permission from customers to contact them via mobile, meaning that the classical marketer’s point of view still applies. It’s just that they need to consider the opt in step as a call to action as part of a marketing program communicated via some other means – email, web, point of sale, direct mail, etc. In other words, think “marketing program to acquire opt in as I would to acquire a product purchase or sales lead” rather than “mobile marketing program.”

In this recent blog post, I highlight a comment by a mobile technology investor that some large and powerful brands seem to be sitting on the fence with respect to mobile, given a shortsighted perspective that their brand strength is of little advantage entering a crowded space where they haven’t had a presence in the past. This article infers a similar observation:

“The good news is that everybody starts at zero. Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike all start with no one in their mobile marketing database.”

Good for small business, less good for larger businesses who may feel their brand lacks the power to successfully leverage the mobile channel. Nothing could be further from the truth of course, and it is that brand strength which can help acquire permission from customers and begin building out an understanding of customer behavior in the mobile channel, via a Mobile Customer Data Asset. Mobile marketing is not counterintuitive; it just requires marketers to view it as an interaction channel as opposed to another attribute in their database. The article concludes with some sage advice:

“Waiting to start mobile marketing until you have a mobile database is impossible. You cannot build a mobile marketing database without doing mobile marketing.”

Perform a search on Google for “mobile marketing” and the number of results exceeds 2.6 million.  Among these are countless companies claiming to help marketers get started in mobile, yet only a small number of these will be around in a few years making it important for marketers to choose their partners carefully.

Interactive Mediums will of course be among the leaders, as it is today, but these thoughts came to mind when I saw a September 24, 2009 article on the Advertising Age website titled “How Kleiner Perkins’ iFund Can Help Marketers Navigate Mobile Apps.”

The article is about a Silicon Valley investment firm with a $100M fund focused on companies entering the mobile technology market.  So selective are they that among thousands of business ideas, they have only pursued seven to date.

“That’s because while there are a lot of fun, one-off ideas out there, very few have the combination of ingredients to become a long-term platform success, namely multiple revenue streams, the ability to go viral and wide appeal.”

The same point of view should be shared by marketers entering the mobile space.  The article contains a lot of ideas which marketers should consider:

• With regard to mobile applications, few companies sponsor or own applications that are relatable to their brand.  The article speaks to observations in the iPhone App Store.  I blogged recently about Starbucks not sponsoring an Android store finder application or being out in front of the application trend, a situation they recently remedied.  Brands need to look closely at applications which may have a logical connection to their identity as the percentage of Smartphones increases.
• The article also raises an interesting reason for the above situation.  Strong brands may hesitate to enter the fray due to the fact they immediately enter a crowded and hard to navigate arena.  They are unaccustomed to this level of competition for mindshare, which should not prevent brands from dipping their toes into the mobile waters.  There is greater risk associated with standing on the sidelines.

The following quote concludes the article and really drives home points brand and marketers generally need to recognize.  I would add as well that applications are one slice of the Mobile Customer Experience that marketers need to be aware of, with mobile web and text messaging also effective methods used to drive high value Mobile Dialogues with customers.

“It’s a mistake for brands or other companies to not think of mobile totally differently from the web … the apps need to take advantage of the inherent properties of the phone. It needs to not just have content, but take advantage of the mobile context. There needs to be instant utility and ideally something that creates high-frequency use. Virality is also important, building in features where you’re so invested in an app you e-mail it to other people and there are network effects, where the more people are on it the better it gets. It has to be a large market opportunity. Ideally it has the opportunity to have multiple revenue streams — maybe it’s virtual goods, mobile commerce, ad-supported models.”

Mobile marketing has applications for any business in any industry, but especially so for online services looking to extend their value and brands seeking to strengthen their customer relationships.  Interactive Mediums today made available success stories outlining its work with three well known firms; Orbitz, one of the top travel and leisure destinations on the web if not among the most powerful online brand identities, Anheuser Busch, America’s top brewery, and TOMS Shoes, an apparel company with a business vision blending commercial and philanthropic interests.  Be sure to check them out.

• Orbitz
• Anheuser Busch
• TOMS Shoes

Update 10/16/2009: We’ve hired! The position has been filled. Thank you to everyone who submitted there resume.

I’m very excited to announce that we’re looking for an Account Manager to join the Interactive Mediums team. The job description is below, if you are interested or know anyone that is, please apply via http://bit.ly/3Hkj0y.

Account Manager – Chicago, IL

Summary

Looking to hire an integral team member that thrives in a fast paced unstructured environment. Candidate must be capable of operating in multiple roles and enthusiastically perform a diverse range of tasks, duties, and responsibilities. Looking for candidate to grow and evolve within high growth company.

Responsibilities

• Respond to inbound sales inquiries, perform product demonstrations, follow-up
• Educate clients and prospects on mobile marketing, define objectives, and recommend solutions
• Provide first level customer support via phone and email, observe patterns, and recommend solutions
• Continuously improve the customer experience, identify issues, and implement solutions
• Assist operations with diverse range of projects and tasks
• Assist Director of Marketing with marketing actions

Requirements

• Ability to complete project tasks individually or delegate /coordinate with internal or external creative resources when appropriate
• Creative problem-solving ability and a consultancy mindset
• Demonstrated responsibility, follow-through and ability to generate results
• Strong analytic, strategic, and business reasoning abilities
• Entrepreneurial, enthusiastic, collaborative professional
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• A flexible, self-starter possessing an inherent intellectual curiosity
• Customer evangelist, passionate about providing excellent customer experience
• Experience in the following a plus (direct marketing, digital marketing, mobile marketing, brand promotions, CRM solutions, software as a service, technology / online products)

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing or related field required.

Benefits

• Medical and dental insurance
• 401(k)
• Transit pre-tax enrollment
• Flexible vacation policy

My colleague Jeff Judge passed me this September 23, 2009 New York Times article prescribing ways that small business can take advantage of text message marketing.  Aside from the insightful content, the fact a newspaper such as the New York Times provides this level of coverage indicates just how mainstream mobile marketing has become.  The article is also notable because its suggestions actually apply to businesses of all sizes.  Here’s a summary of the article’s “rules for getting started”:

• “Don’t even think about doing it the illegal way” – Mobile marketers need permission to communicate with their customers via text and so that consideration needs to be built into any strategy.
• “You basically have three (legitimate) options” – This is about cost and capabilities.  Many low cost services are available that allow a marketer to “dip their toes” into the mobile waters which makes it an attractive option especially for budget constrained small businesses.  I would just add that balancing a focus on cost with the potential lifetime value of the interaction is important.  Taking a long term view that considers the potential impact of each mobile interaction on the customer relationship is a rapidly emerging best practice.
• “Text marketing can be supported by traditional marketing” – Absolutely!  Text interactions are most effective when used as calls to action in other media like television, print, store signage and billboards.
• “It is better to give than receive” – Creating a compelling call to action to engage in a Mobile Dialogue is key and that often means developing a unique mobile experience for customers, such as a sweepstakes or contest.  At Interactive Mediums, we call these Marketing Actions.
• “Don’t waste time with one-offs” – Just like long established marketing methods, the real payoff with mobile comes from developing customer relationships over time.
• “Show restraint (and don’t get too cute)” – Don’t let the current novelty factor surrounding mobile cloud your judgement when creating a mobile marketing program.  Focus on a business strategy and build mobile into it, not the other way around.

The title of the article implies a focus on small business, probably due to a low cost barrier to entry for text messaging.  I would add that this low entry point makes mobile marketing a “playing field leveler” for businesses of any size.  That means the most effective marketers will be those who approach the medium strategically, with a mulit-channel mindset focused on customer knowledge, and with an eye on measuring and improving effectiveness.  Small and large businesses alike can identify with that approach.