“…stats…show it’s (apps) still a plaything compared to text messaging, which continues to deliver impressive year-over-year growth across all demographic groups.”

“only 18 percent of all phones in the U.S. are smartphones. Further, Juniper Research forecasts that smartphones worldwide will account for just 23 percent of all new handsets sold per annum by 2013, hardly representing the mass market for general consumer goods and services.”

“Strategy Analytics confirmed…with its October 2009 report that showed only four to six mobile apps are used on a consistent basis. Brands need to be aware that there’s intense competition for share of the mobile phone desktop. It stands to reason that consumers are not going to continue to download and use an unlimited number of mobile applications, and there are many questions over whether we have reached the saturation point already.”

Before abandoning your mobile app project, consider this statement:

“These are hardly mouth-watering statistics unless they’re your specific target market.”

This remains the sole reason to pursue an application on a particular mobile platform, iPhone or otherwise.  If the user demographics match closely your customer base, then it makes sense to consider a mobile application – only should one be pursued if the customer experience can be improved in a way that benefits the business.  This gets the heart of targeting the Mobile Customer Experience, which the article points to as THE point at which all mobile marketing efforts are converging.  Interactive Mediums thus to date has focused on helping its clients in this exact manner:

“Despite the relatively small user base, what is interesting from the known behavior of those who do download mobile apps frequently and own smartphones is that they’re massive users of text messaging and mobile Web sites. This shows that those on the leading edge of the technology curve are continuing to grow their engagement with texts, not reduce them, which is where the rest of the market will follow.”

Moreover, should the network connection be lost, a user must re-start the browser session, which does not occur with native mobile applications.  HTML5 apparently has the ability to stage data in memory on a device such that the user cannot perceive the data transfer usually associate with web browsing.

Drew points out HTML5’s ability as well to access device functions that historically were the domain of native apps, such as the built in GPS capabilities of the iPhone.  What this all means for marketers, agencies and others considering mobile application development projects is that the mobile web offers essentially a “write once, run anywhere” experience that alleviates the need to create unique applications for different smartphone platforms.   At least for those devices with browsers supporting HTML5.  Of course, were it that simple, demand for iPhone applications would not be so strong, which Drew correctly identifies as a strength Apple brings to the table via the App Store.

This article I came across yesterday on InternetRetailer.com titled, “Apps versus sites,” doesn’t discuss recent developments aimed at closing the gap between the mobile web and applications, which illustrates how important maintaining touch with the technical community is so critical to success in the mobile channel.  Things are happening so fast, that once defacto stances around what works/what doesn’t are constantly being revised.  For example:

“M-commerce sites and apps differ in four fundamental ways: reach and discoverability, which favor sites, and experience and performance, which favor apps.”

In reality, apps are probably as “discoverable” as mobile websites given the visibility of the App Store.  Their point is that just like SMS text messaging, smartphones of all varieties have web browsers.  But with “experience” and “performance” becoming an immaterial aspect of the debate, it will be interesting to see what decisions marketers make with respect to mobile web and application projects.

Here’s a suggestion:  If torn between smartphone application development platforms due to the demographics and reach associated with each, why not create a rich web-based application that is universally accessible.  Then, in order to leverage the marketing-might of the App Store and other smartphone application stores, simply create small applications that offer a gateway to the mobile web app.  In this way, you lower your costs, ensure access to the widest audience possible while tapping into the demographic niches associated with different smartphones.  Don’t be surprised to see more than a few retailers and other industries begin taking this approach as HTML5 becomes more mainstream.

The article outlines how Visa used 2D bar code technology as part of a sweepstakes promotion conducted at the recent Mobile World Congress in Spain.  You can read the specifics but as we mentioned recently here and here, 2D bar codes tend to find the greatest success in highly localized and controlled environments where there is some certainty around consumer handsets capable of reading the codes.

What Neustar wishes to do is offer a “clearinghouse” service so marketers can employ 2D codes without restricting their potential audience.  They plan to do this by standardizing previously incompatible codes across devices and operating systems.  It sounds like a lot of work to enable consumers a “short cut” to redeem information on their mobile devices.

2D bar codes appeal to our visual nature and longtime experience with traditional bar codes such as those scanned at the grocery store.  These codes imply ease of use, as well as data — lots of data about who purchased what product and when.

Marketers considering building sweepstakes or other promotions around 2D bar codes like Visa should consider the ease by which consumers today text a keyword to a shortcode to redeem information or be pointed to a mobile website – the exact same use case as with a 2D bar code.  Not only are you assured universal reach but even more data about the consumer can be obtained since a text interaction is bi-directional and can include a question and answer component in real time.

Marketers should focus less on the technology employed to engage their customers, and more on creating a compelling message or incentive which calls their customers to action — and then evaluate options for packaging and delivering the offer.  Right now marketers appear blinded by the “sexiness” of 2D bar codes, and Neustar is betting a new line of business on it.

When you add to this mix that many businesses are reaping mobile marketing benefits, as shown every day on MobileMarketer.com and other sites, marketers in all industries sense urgency to at least try mobile marketing – be it developing a mobile optimized version of their website, an iPhone application or trying to employ SMS text messaging simply due to its reach.

I think this is the landscape documented in research covered today on eMarketer.com, in an article titled, “Mobile Marketers Demand ROI.”  Results of a survey suggest marketers will pursue mobile marketing efforts in 2010 – even allocating budget – but obstacles remain (as shown in the diagram included in this post).

“It appears that 2010 will be a year of experimentation and education on mobile marketing as marketers struggle to come to terms with its practicality and ROI.”

The greatest challenge – not surprisingly – is uncertainty around building the business case for mobile marketing, followed closely by a lack of ROI metrics and mobile not a part of the “strategic roadmap.”  I’d argue all of these issues fall under the heading of simply “I don’t know where to start, given my business, my product or service and customer base.”

For this reason, Interactive Mediums developed an exercise called “Mapping Mobile to Your Marketing Strategy,” that when complete identifies the best candidate projects that align with your existing marketing plans and channels.  This is based on our direct experience and observation of the ways leading companies are going to market with mobile as strategic elements of their business.

Taking time to experiment and educate is simply not an option for marketers given the pace of advancement among leading mobile marketers.  Even trialing various approaches will leave you behind the curve as competition for consumer mobile mindshare escalates.  Taking a thoughtful approach to mapping out a strategy can ensure your business plays a role in the mobile customer relationships that will surely separate the winners from losers.

On one hand you have this February 4, 2010 post on MobileMarketingWatch.com citing expert commentary from a recent event, where the consensus view was that mobile advertising was “harder than ever…citing extreme fragmentation and a plethora of new devices sporting varying technical aspects as the main culprits.”  The situation sounds intimidating to say the least, begging for a wait and see approach.

Juxtaposed with this is research cited in a February 5, 2010 article in MobileMarketer.com titled, “Mobile ad campaigns 5 times more effective than online: InsightExpress study.”  Based on the title alone, you can imagine the article describes how much more effective mobile advertising is today than its online counterpart.  And that is the case.

You can read about the differences in effectiveness but it all comes down to “engagement and context” according to the study, both of which we describe as central to mobile marketing’s value proposition, be it a focus on advertising or direct engagement via SMS text messaging, email and mobile web.

I think the disconnect between “experts” and the facts on the ground is due to control; advertising networks are the gateway to this value while many experts working on the boundaries are left struggling for relevance with end customers who have cash to spend.  Marketers would be wise to quickly discern the quality and subjectivity of viewpoints they consider when prioritizing mobile marketing efforts.

The survey finds product recommendations accessible via mobile devices as a huge opportunity for retailers, with 65 percent of those surveyed saying they would make purchases were it easier to find products of interest.  Retailers heeding this advice will implement mobile-accessible product reviews and recommendations based on factors such as real time inputs by a consumer (looking for a plasma screen TV, what are my options?) and historical transaction data if available (purchased TV in the past, suggest a DVD player).

A potential battleground retailers need to keep eyes on is the mobile product reviews/recommendations/comparison space.  On one hand, retailers can develop branded mobile experiences for their customers that are essentially “closed” environments by virtue of product selection limited to that one retailer.  Combined with clever engagement strategies such as mobile promotions, this can effectively combat third parties that aggregate product information, prices and reviews across retailers.

These services could render retail store environments as mere “pick up” spots for products browsed, reviewed, and compared by mobile shoppers.  The retail sector may be in store for a complete shift in power unless mobile engagement strategies rise to the top of marketing plans and priorities.

Just the other day we blogged about the hype around mobile advertising created by recent acquisitions.  We’ve also covered issues surrounding mobile ad metrics.

We’re keeping close tabs on developments in this area for our customers so they understand where to prioritize mobile advertising alongside their broader customer engagement charters inclusive of SMS text messaging, mobile optimized websites, smartphone applications and social media.

An integrated approach to mobile channel marketing – akin to creating more effective mobile ads – is an innovation which greatly increases the likelihood your mobile marketing efforts won’t suck.

Mobile advertising, just like traditional web ads, is an exciting area because of the reach and audience segmentation possibilities.  In parallel with significant investment moves by Google and Apple to get involved via acquisition, the hype around mobile ads is at a fever pitch right now.  I’m afraid customers and investors who fixate here are in for some disappointment down the line, however.

Click through rate, or CTR, is the measure by which mobile and traditional online ads alike are gauged, and the article highlights global research showing that the unlikely Symbian platform is the leader in offering high CTRs, even in the U.S. where it’s not as dominant in terms of market share.

Clearly, a lot of advertisers are thinking “I have to be on Symbian” yet the hype and press would never point an ad buyer at this platform as opposed to the iPhone or a Google Android device.

Advertisers need to remember as well, where are those who click through going to?  A mobile optimized landing page or website?  A smartphone application download?  A coupon or bar code for redemption at the point of sale?  If the answer to any of these is “none of the above” and instead “we’re just happy to have lots of eyeballs seeing our message,” a huge opportunity to drive sales, engender loyalty, or cultivate brand affinity is wasted.

Viewing mobile as an engagement channel that allows businesses to create highly personal interactions that induce action on the part of customers is the real opportunity represented by mobile advertising.  It needs to be viewed as just one part of the value equation, which is why marketers are increasingly coming to Interactive Mediums to leverage our mobile customer engagement platform and expertise around creating effective mobile dialogues with customers across SMS text messaging, mobile web, apps and social media.

Although it doesn’t say so, this post yesterday on eMarketer.com suggests that providing incentives designed to keep your mobile savvy customers in store is closely tied to ensuring they don’t bail and visit another store for a better deal:

“The threat comes from in-store shoppers using their phones to check sales prices at other retailers.  Compete found that 41% of iPhone users and 43% of Android users do just that.”

“You could argue that every retailer on the planet is an off-balance-sheet showroom for Amazon.  So if you go into a retailer’s store and you see something you like—type in that manufacturer’s SKU number and check the price on Amazon. You’ve looked at it, you’ve touched it, felt it, and now you’re getting the benefit of potentially getting the best price on it too.”

To meet this challenge, the post recommends “A retailer’s best defense for maintaining customer loyalty is to develop a mobile offering that allows in-store shoppers access to customer reviews and other product information on its Website.   This is where the opportunity lies for retailers.  By providing mobile access to their extensive online product information, they help customers feel more comfortable about making a purchase.”

This is a logical recommendation, yet it will not prevent price sensitive, mobile enabled customers from comparison shopping and potentially leaving the store.  It also ignores reseach suggesting that loyalty not be the target, but rather engagement.

To keep customers in-store and increase the probability of purchase, retailers should build engagement strategies into their mobile plans such as text message promotions like sweepstakes and other contests.

Consumers value their time as much as their money, which is why many are excited at the prospect of instantly performing a price comparison quickly then moving onto another store.  Retailers who create engaging mobile programs that keep customers in-store such as promotions lessen the likelihood that they will take the time to visit another store.

The pace of innovation in mobile and urgency to begin engaging customers in mobile interactions demands we pay attention to news of the day.  More importantly is that we have a relevant point of view.  Hello Mobile! is our forum for communicating these views.  Others are listening as well, such as MobileMarketer.com which today recognized our article “9 Steps for SMS Marketing” among the “Top 15 industry-expert columns of 2009.”

As 2010 begins, look for further insights, commentaries and directives from our blog.  Before we look forward though, here are the top 10 most popular posts of 2009 – I wonder what this list will look like next year, the key trends and topics?  Stay tuned.

• Is Apple the Mobile Walmart?
• The Key to Mobile Customer Data
• Acxiom Clients Seeking a Differentiated Mobile Offering Should Look Elsewhere
• Advice to Marketers: Don’t Confuse Mobile Advertising with Mobile Marketing (or Active Customer Engagement)
• Establishment Converges on Active Customer Engagement
• Lessons From Less Than Successful Mobile Apps
• Thankfully, More about Active Customer Engagement
• Vendor Lines Blurring but One Thing is Clear: Active Customer Engagement
• Insight into Apple’s App Store approval process
• Best in Class Marketers to Focus on Customer Engagement in 2010

Homefinder.com drew a similar conclusion when analysis of mobile website traffic showed most browsers used iPhones (that’s a photo of Reuters’ ticker in Times Square displaying the news).  Leading with a focus on the mobile customer experience is no longer emerging as a best practice – it just is.

That’s what marketers should take away from this news today about Target, a retailer ahead of the curve when it comes to mobile channel marketing.  As we have discussed here before, mapping your strategy to the mobile channel identifies the most logical first steps into mobile marketing.  Target has done that across all elements of the mobile customer experience; SMS text messaging, mobile smartphone applications and the mobile web.

It is equally important to ensure ongoing analysis of these efforts.  This can take the form of metrics around specific programs, such as response rates and transactions, but forward thinking marketers like Target take it a step further.  Target integrates a feedback step into many elements of its mobile marketing programs to see what works, what doesn’t – and uses this qualitative and quantitative data to drive better mobile marketing decisions:

“ To overcome these challenges (of getting into the mobile space), we are focused on understanding our guests’ needs by creating mechanisms that allow them to provide us with feedback.

Then, we use this feedback to inform our decision-making and to optimize and improve our mobile tools.”

In practice, marketers need to consider partners that offer this capability in a manner that closely relates to the mobile interactions being evaluated, and offers the greatest reach possible.  Interactive Mediums’ Engagement Platform offers SMS text message based survey capabilities that allow multiple questions to be posed to consumers and answered in real time – using common feature phones carried by virtually every consumer.

Yes, that’s a UPS truck snapped today outside the local Starbucks, in all the glory of Chicago winter weather on the company’s busiest day – some 20 million packages according to Donna.

Yet, the Blackberry application, like an iPhone version preceding it, is designed to enable business and consumer customers alike to find a drop off location, receive shipping quotes, order pickups and check on package delivery status.  Dig beneath the details, as we did with Donna, and you gain a greater appreciation for what was involved:

• UPS employs an Information Technology group 5,000 strong, who possess deep mobile application expertise and were responsible for creating applications which interact with UPS’ massive global network of package and delivery data.
• Considerable research went into creating the new mobile application, to understand how best to serve their customers and offer a differentiated user experience from competing delivery services.  To these ends, UPS discovered customers wanted a fully native application as opposed to be directed to a mobile website.  Why?  Because application code can be fully loaded on a handset.  From the user’s perspective, this offers a more natural responsiveness consumers associate with desktop computer applications, with time taken only to bring new data across the network.  Navigating a website, even one optimized for mobile, can often seem more cumbersome and of course in the event of a network lapse the session will end abruptly.  Moreover, the UPS app allows consumers to log into the application once, and automatically upon launch relate any packages to their account to view instant status – no keying in of lengthy tracking numbers are required.
• Some UPS business customers are beginning to request the ability to have text messages sent to recipients and/or senders, providing notification of package delivery.  Even greater reach could be possible were UPS to enable customers to text their tracking numbers to receive instant updates – all of which are capabilities available in Interactive Mediums’ Engagement Platform.

Few organizations have the staff, funding or internal systems to execute a mobile strategy to the extent UPS has; for those who lack any of these critical pieces firms like Interactive Mediums stand ready with a flexible Customer Engagement Platform optimized for mobile interactions as well as a wealth of experience developing mobile applications which map to the way consumers want to engage with a business.

As UPS says “What Can Brown Do For You?” we say “How can Interactive Mediums power more effective mobile interactions for your customers?”

In 2006, Budweiser partnered with Interactive Mediums to power a similar SMS text message sweepstakes at the point of sale.  As both established and smaller brands alike take their initial steps into mobile marketing, sweepstakes are a proven approach to engaging customers in the mobile channel to drive sales, improve loyalty or build a brand.  As 2010 is about to open, marketers and promotional services providers in any discipline – branding, demand creation, or loyalty – owe it to their companies and clients to investigate this powerful promotional tactic as part of their plans.

Budweiser’s news is especially timely given recent posts about why mobile sweepstakes and contests are an absolute necessity for brand engagement and best practices for executing winning promotions.

The news content appears driven by Whole Foods, and underwhelmingly describes the move this way:

“The site basically provides customers with the features of wholefoodsmarkets.com while on the go.”

I am a huge proponent of targeting customers while “on the go” – we blog about it all the time.  However, it’s equally important to consider how your customers’ on the go experience with your brand can be enhanced by a mobile web presence.  Simply scaling your website to the mobile form factor is a shortsighted strategy that can have negative consequences.  Failing to impress the first time makes it that more difficult to approach mobile consumers in the future.  As well, the expected explosion in mobile browsing by consumers means that it will soon be challenging to stand out among the crowd, just like on the “regular” web.

Much attention is paid to mobile applications for platforms like the iPhone, yet research cited in a recent article titled, “Mobile Internet is 450 million users strong and doubling in four years,” suggests businesses in any segment need to develop a solid mobile web strategy, and soon:

“In October, Gartner reported that smartphones accounted for 14 percent of overall mobile device sales, but would grow to 37 percent by 2012.”

“Gartner forecasts 180 million smartphone sales in 2009, exceeding notebooks for the first time. From 2009, Gartner predicts that consumers would spend more on smartphones than notebooks.”

Bottom line is that millions consumers will be armed with quality mobile web browsing devices and drawn to those sites which offer a valuable experience while “on the go.”  Surely scaling down a website to a small screen is insufficient.  Comments posted on Retailwire.com echo this sentiment:

“Perhaps they could integrate some sort of coupon or loyalty program in the mobile app that will get more people to visit.  ‘Flash the barcode on your phone for a discount’ type of thing.  I suspect the average WF customer has some sort of smart phone or is technologically savvy so marketing this way makes sense.”

“No ‘perhaps’ about it…the mobile site should incorporate coupons, loyalty offerings and other ‘do it now’ type features that are unnecessary on the main site.”

“Whole Foods in particular is challenged in today’s value-oriented world.  The company is losing its cachet, for a variety of reasons. It needs to do more than just sell expensive stuff and expect shoppers to assume high quality.  By making an investment in its customers’ shopping experience, it can re-elevate itself to some extent.”

Similar to what we described in our Point of View on Active Customer Engagement and this actual customer example, email, web and mobile communications work together as part of a larger effort consisting of media buys supporting a promotion.  It isn’t apparent that the retailer had access to a system encapsulating all the components required to configure, execute and measure the program, but you can be certain if it did, ROI would have been greater.

A tidal wave of buzz is building around Active Customer Engagement, as illustrated by another recent article outlining the solution here on the Illinois Technology Association website.  Today as well, we were featured in a brief article titled, “Time to market with mobile” at brand-e.biz in which we say the following that gets to the heart of what Active Customer Engagement’s value is all about:

“What should drive mobile marketing investments is a strategy which focuses on the customer experience, what you want to achieve with your customers.  Developing ideal mobile paths for your customers to follow to achieve your goals should yield the best results…And in practice this will almost always mean some combination of text message interactions, mobile applications, mobile optimized web and even e-mail.”

“Mobile may be the killer tool for testing the effectiveness of marketing messages and various media before a full scale rollout. Text message interactions are often used to this end, and also serve to measure return on investment for advertising across media such as print, billboards, radio and television.”

An article today on MobileMarketer.com brought this to mind, with a list of tips for testing your mobile strategy before executing holiday marketing plans.  I thought the tips were excellent, but marketers should not view testing as a single threaded activity; take the opportunity to test multiple approaches simultaneously against similar populations of targeted customers to see which one represents the greatest potential return.

Strictly speaking, champion/challenger testing is about comparing results of new ideas with those already in production.  So, in a marketing context, this would be akin to testing different discount offers as incentives for signing up for a mobile loyalty program, and comparing the effectiveness of different discount levels at attracting sign ups with those associated with a pre-existing non-mobile program.  The net result offers two benefits: a focused effort you can be more certain will meet your objectives and a direct comparison with non-mobile marketing efforts which should help align marketing budget more wisely.

So when reading the article’s suggested steps to creating a test plan, do so with an eye toward multiple scenarios and comparing results at the conclusion.  For reference, I have paraphrased the prescribed 10 step process:

• Identify the testable “entity” – For example, an SMS text message offer for joining a holiday discount club, the attractiveness of a dedicated holiday shopping application or new e-commerce enabled mobile website.
• What is the metric you are trying to measure?  # of responses, # of new sign ups, conversions between text message interaction and receipt of a discount?  Identify one or multiple attributes which can be measured and compared.
• How will you determine success?  If you are relatively new to mobile, it may be difficult to establish a target for your metrics beyond “finger in the air” guessing.  This is why the champion/challenger concept is especially suited to mobile given you will be able to compare results — ideally with past programs — to use as inputs into creating realistic targets.
• What criteria is necessary to identify when a test should be stopped?  If your test runs several weeks, you may want to cease testing if you observe little to no material difference in measures, or if one idea is simply generating far greater results than the others.
• What measures will you want to monitor for your targeted segments, independent of success metrics?  Migration among value segments/tiers would be one example.
• What other factors could affect the test, such as concurrently running marketing campaigns/promotions or those of your competitors?
• What resources are required, both technical and creative, to execute the test?  Consider both your internal staff and their potentially competing priorities as well as agency and technical third party partners.
• Be sure the proper stakeholders are aware of your plans; sales in the event demand generation is affected, brand marketing in case new messaging, visuals or brand-attributes are components of the test.
• Who is the “test sponsor” – basically the most senior person who signs off on the program.  Have this person identified – be it you or someone else – so you can quickly address any escalations that may occur.
• Time horizon for having the results: have this in mind from the beginning and back off this date to create a testing plan.  With Black Friday just a few days away it’s too late to implement these ideas now but keep them in mind to start off strong in 2010.

This question came to mind today as I read an October 30, 2009 post on MobileMarketingWatch.com titled “Apple Hits 100k Apps, Does Quantity Matter?”  As the number of applications available for the iPhone passes the 100k barrier, the question of quantity versus quality logically arises.  Particularly in light of its popularity as an advertising and marketing platform.  Is the iPhone somehow less attractive to marketers if their message has to compete with 99,999 others?

I agree with the author’s point that many consumers are drawn to the iPhone due to the sheer number and diversity of apps available – like the ad slogan says, “There’s an app for that.”  With respect to advertisers and marketers, the challenge is ensuring a targeted, high quality application is the goal, along with making it patently clear to consumers that the app is available.  The most successful applications today follow this formula, which is why the iPhone should remain a popular choice for the mobile marketer, particularly for reaching its typical user demographic.

The emergence of Android as an alternative this year and into next seems to pose a threat to Apple’s dominance in mobile applications, assuming that it achieves parity or better.  The post points out, however, that:

“The question remains if Android Apps, which there will be fewer of, at least at first, will be of any higher quality than the Apple apps.  According to AndAppStore, there are 259 apps available for Android including ‘aBubblePop,’ so let’s just say the quality competition, if Android hopes to win it, has yet hit its prime.”

I’d like to suggest that the number or quality of applications may be irrelevant, particularly to marketers.  Applications as a segment may continue to be dominated by Apple into 2010 and beyond simply because of the marketing might Apple brings to the game.  The iPhone business blends the niche, maniacal loyalty of Apple’s traditional computer business with the volume market dominance in MP3 music players.  Overlay Apple’s powerful promotional and branding engine, a single app store and a loyal and growing consumer-base, and Android has an uphill battle to say the least.

I sense already that Android will become a great platform for the mobile web, but not so much applications, due simply to the lack of a strong consumer friendly marketing message, and a single, very easy to use app store.  I’m not confident that a diverse market of carrier App stores will be as appealing as Apple’s.  Marketers should note this as they look to take advantage of Android in their marketing plans.

(Additional Context Note: My colleague John Wood, upon reading this post, brought to my attention that Google is in fact hosting its own large scale App Store at http://www.android.com/market/, and that the number of apps for Android today is closer to 10,000, not the 259 as quoted in the MobileMarketingWatch.com post.  In spite of this, I think Apple’s super consumer friendly approach is going to be a tough nut to crack, but if anyone can do it, it’s going to have to be Google).

Given the escalating adoption of devices capable of providing a decent mobile web experience, the argument at first makes sense.  Yet, a lot of research tends to support mobile commerce for certain types of products not usually associated with large e-commerce stores (such as those of big retailers).   To me it’s a question of relevance given the active, on-the-go nature of a consumer.  The fact a rich mobile web may be a ways off is another consideration.

Ordering a pizza or burrito via mobile device, even choosing topings or ingredients, is today a great mobile commerce application.  It seems though that for purchasing items of greater value — considered purchases – a more thoughtful process is required which means consumers will tend to use a desktop PC — or some combination of online and in-store activity.

I think mobile commerce around considered purchases will be most effective when it’s part of a strategy focused on the mobile customer experience.  Many businesses are taking this approach successfully today and if I’m right, it suggests you won’t soon see full on e-commerce sites as stand-alone profit and loss centers anytime soon.

Having been in meetings with businesses considering iPhone development projects, I can say not all view the mobile web this way.  Without a well researched understanding of how a customer would interact with the mobile web and derive value from such interactions, many businesses have been offering mobile versions for some time simply because it makes sense (be wherever possible customers might want to find you, convert your site to size correctly on a small screen).  Next, they are looking at Smartphone apps, iPhone in particular, as “must have” novelties to be pursued quickly via re-packaging existing small form web content into an application “container.”  Smart business people are choosing these short sighted paths.  How could this be?

Today I came across two different articles that help explain the situation.  One, titled “The sad state of the mobile Web gets even sadder,” from an InfoWorld blogger, describes how ill-suited the mobile web today is for application developers – especially those using tools such as Adobe Flash, which  recently has been positioned as a rich app development platform to run within mobile browsers.  It goes without saying (but I will anyway), that this means the mobile web for now is a viable content delivery platform alone, to complement other mobile interaction strategies – it cannot practically be otherwise.   So the mobile web has a valuable place within the mobile customer experience, but as basis or reason for developing a Smartphone application it is not.

The other post, from the TechFlash blog, “Microsoft’s Ballmer: The Internet is not designed for the iPhone,” quotes Microsoft’s Steve Balmer answering the question of whether mobile phones could supplant PCs as the technology of choice for mobile consumers:

“Let’s face it, the Internet was designed for the PC.  The Intrnet is not designed for the iPhone…That’s why they’ve got 75,000 applications — they’re all trying to make the Internet look decent on the iPhone.”

Of course his answer is colored by Microsoft’s position, or lack thereof, within the Smartphone space, but it also illustrates how many businesses are incorrectly viewing the mobile web versus applications.

Without widely adopted best practices for navigating the mobile customer experience based on business objectives, too many marketers are taking siloed approaches to mobile.  No, the internet was not designed for the iPhone, but it can provide a conduit to real-time data for an application designed for the unique form factor of a handset and intended to help a consumer perform some task or make a better decision.  The internet was also not designed for the mobile web, but likewise web content can be a powerful contributor to mobile interaction strategies.  Some businesses are doing it right, like Newser, and others would be wise to follow their lead.

Similar to how Interactive Mediums client Newser recently extended its service to mobile via an iPhone application as part of an ongoing mobile channel strategy, Coupons.com is also making progress beyond its initial steps.

Although the notions of replacing loyalty cards with mobile devices and presenting digital coupons or bar codes at the point of sale are very sexy, in practice these face all sorts of challenges – technically and process-wise.  Coupons.com appears to have learned how to overcome them by focusing on the mobile customer experience.

“…integrating digital coupons with loyalty cards is the most practical solution to enabling downloadable discounts in busy stores where consumers often have multiple purchases eligible for discounts.”

“We’ve seen the [couponing] industry flirt with all things of digital format for some time, all the way from the absurd—the notion of presenting barcodes on phones in high-volume checkout lanes—to the legitimate and tested, including digital loading onto loyalty cards.”

With a shopping list iPhone application already under its belt, in taking its mobile strategy to the next level Coupons.com has done the following:

• Offer traditional and mobile optimized websites which allow consumers to register their loyalty cards, browse coupon offers, and elect to have certain offers digitally attached to their accounts so at the point of sale they are redeemed as a group, as opposed to one at a time.
• A revised shopping list application which allows consumers to take photos of product bar codes to automatically have items added to a grocery list.  The application also integrates with the coupon program so that eligible products are flagged for addition to the consumer’s loyalty card account.
• Recognize the difference between coupon redemption associated with multi-product purchases (grocery) versus those associated with one large purchase (restaurant).  To that end, the mobile site allows selected offers to be saved on mobile devices for presentment at checkout without need for a loyalty card or account.

The last point is notable as it recognizes that coupons and offers may not be one in the same, and can have different practical applications:

“Mobile presentment has been a technology looking for a use…Where it works best is in low-volume, high-margin transactions—consumer electronics and things like that– and at the local level. We have over 12,000 offers with restaurants, dry cleaners and professional services, and phone presentment works very well there.”

“It’s all about moving people quickly through those checkout lines…Searching for multiple coupons on your phone, then showing each one, perhaps dropping your phone in the process—those are not conducive to speed.”

What is speeding up is the rate at which mobile marketers are learning from, evolving and improving upon their initial experiences.  Exciting times for mobile marketing.

“42% of 18-to-34-year-olds and 33% of 35-to-44-year-olds are at least somewhat interested in receiving opt-in mobile alerts from their favorite places.”

“Among respondents who would opt in to location-based alerts on their mobile phones, more than one-half were interested in messages from restaurants, followed by movie and event tickets, weather, and clearance sales.”

Just like any business strategy, however, it isn’t just a question of attitude toward mobile communications; it is as much about actual consumer behavior “on the go.”  Mobile can be a powerful tactic, but its ultimate value derives from programmatic use as part of a broader strategy targeting the mobile customer experience – in this case competing for consumer dollars in a down economy.  The research supports use of mobile as an ongoing customer relationship management strategy which takes advantage of natural shopping behavior:

“90% of consumers have made impulse purchases while out shopping because of a sale, and 22% of mobile users did so weekly. Marketers that let consumers know about local offers at the right place and time might take advantage of such behaviors.”

The fact consumers will make impulse purchases independent of mobile interactions represents a major untapped source of business for retailers.

To take advantage of this quickly, retailers need to partner with firms like Interactive Mediums who will help shape the best path toward meeting business objectives.  Starting by developing a mobile marketing strategy map is a logical first step.

• Active Customer Engagement Comes to Life for Mobile Marketers
• Retail and Consumer Products Companies Must Confront the Mobile Challenge
• What’s up next for Hooters? Reality “Augmentation”?
• The Death of Email…Long Live Email!
• The question of branded versus syndicated mobile applications for retailers
• A definitely not “wet behind the ears” retail example of Mobile Marketing Strategy
• Retailers Focused on Customer Experience Need to Consider Mobile

I thought it would be useful to view this capability within the context of the initiatives facing marketers and which have strong applications for mobile, as we talk about in Mapping Mobile to Your Marketing Strategy.

Loyalty Programs: Registering customers for loyalty programs and having them use text interactions to log activity (e.g. via product codes for points) are useful, largely “one way” communication strategies.  Newly supported capabilities can add value to loyalty programs by enabling marketers to identify targeted “best next actions” for customers, based on richer profiles and interaction history.  For example, rather than simply registering customers via SMS, marketers can now, in real time, prompt customers for additional information, such as product affinity, consumption frequency, and channel preferences.  Whereas in the past, such details may be obtained over time and from other data sources, they can now be captured at the initial point of contact.  In cases where a marketer has already developed an opted in list of mobile customers, they can alter the “points redemption” process at the point of mobile interaction to include capturing more details of customer behavior.  Once captured, profiles and consumption data can be used to develop offers for logical product bundles or product bridges.  Blending speed to market with customer knowledge is an enormous benefit of these new capabilities for loyalty programs.

Demand Generation: To increase floor traffic and close more business, marketers will offer subscriptions to discount, sales or other promotional message programs.  Whereas in the past, this registration was limited to a homogenous list of existing and potential customers, now within a single system marketers can develop immediate, and more detailed profiles of interested consumers for serving more relevant offers.  For example, marketers can now offer these programs and at the same time request details such as age, sex, marital status, product interest and others which can then be used to segment responders into groups to be matched up with appropriate offers designed to drive purchases.

Brand Awareness: Brand marketers are gated from their customers via the built in separation between manufacturers and their sales channels.  And while couponing can offer insight into consumption behavior, text messaging can connect brand marketers directly with their customers in ways which are mutually beneficial.  For example, a food company might offer recipes with their products as key ingredients in exchange for a text interaction whereby the marketer obtains insight into consumers’ perception of their brand.  A measure of brand engagement may be derived by how willing consumer segments are to engage in multi-question interactions.

Champion/Challenger Testing: If understanding customers “on the go” is an objective but there is uncertainty around how much information can be obtained via text message interactions, these new capabilities allow marketers greater flexibility in testing their strategies before a full roll out.  Question threads of different depth and/or length can be tested to see in advance which approach will yield the desired results.

Customer/Market Research: A survey instrument may not always be the best approach to gaining insight into customer preferences and behavior for use in creating new products, packages or services.  A marketer interested in obtaining this type of information can use the new capabilities to identify segments of opted in customers to ask increasingly more specific questions.  This process of closing the loop only serves to inform better decision making.  Key to success is ensuring customers are incented to engage in these dialogues, and offering registration in trial product programs is one such approach.

The article describes a technology called SnapTag which is a unique coded circle intended for placement around a company’s logo, then printed in magazine advertisements and presumably posters as well.  This coded circle corresponds to a pre-defined mobile interaction which is instantiated when a consumer takes a photograph of the logo with their device then sends it via MMS or email to a number or address posted alongside the logo.  Read the story quickly and you envision a ubiquitous bar code-like technology which does not require special software on the mobile device, as is the case with Quick Response 2D bar codes.

Step back a moment though, look more closely and in fact what SnapTags actually do is make a mobile interaction more complicated than it needs to be.  The encoded circle serves the same function as an SMS keyword.  In the case of SnapTag, a photo must be sent via MMS to some phone number or mobile email address.  In the case of a traditional text message communication, a consumer instead texts a keyword to some shortcode number.  In both cases, the action causes a response to be sent back to the consumer, potentially driving a visit to the mobile web or triggering an email.

Where I can see SnapTags being useful is in connecting a brand to mobile by virtue of combining the two in a single image a consumer must capture with their camera in order to engage in the interaction.  However, given the greater ubiquity of SMS text and the added steps involved for the consumer with SnapTags, I think the same is possible simply by placing a keyword and shortcode alongside a logo.  Real bar codes encapsulate data which is interpreted on a device and potentially contains information, pointers to mobile web or text communications — all independent of the transmission of data over the network.

If retail marketing leaders are as fixated as described in the following quotation, I strongly suggest they tap into knowledge bases like Hello Mobile to see how retail and other industries are moving beyond the novelty factor to leveraging mobile strategically:

“The retail CMO is looking for some new-fangled, high-tech way of engaging with this itinerate shopper.  The sage truth is that the marketing department is chasing shadows…Instead of focusing on the consumer and how they are leveraging mobile in their stores, they are investigating widgets and apps that have little to no reach or frequency in their consumer base.”

The author lumps retailers and packaged goods firms together in making two recommendations to their marketing leaders:

• Learn from history: We blogged about this idea in a slightly different context here, but the gist is that the desktop computer/Internet/email drama is again playing itself out in the mobile space and leaders unable to see the similarities are missing the boat:  “I-want-one-too CEOs are running to their agencies and IT department and developing application that only five percent of consumers are returning to after a lonely month on the phonetop.”
• Learn from your consumer: We talk about a focus on the Mobile Customer Experience, and the author wisely recommends observing your customers in the store environment to see how they use a mobile device while shopping.  “They are doing two things in your aisles: using their phones to browse and text. Is the consumer opening the browser to find tips and information to help with their shopping experience? Are they messaging home for the shopping list? Possibly. But the shopper is certainly not scanning 2D codes with their phones. They are not opening the security on their Bluetooth settings for inbound offers. They are not all downloading your app to their phone.”

The greatest challenge marketing leaders have is knowing how to start and who to partner with to realize their mobile aspirations.  There are numerous technology, consulting and agency resources ready with capabilities and proven successes to share best practices and prescribe the best way for retailers and packaged goods companies to begin using mobile strategically to develop and improve customer relationships.

With its eye on the Mobile Customer Experience, Wet Seal recently launched an iPhone application designed to help in store shoppers assemble logical outfit combinations and share these via email with friends.  The company has a history using SMS text messaging as well, and although the specific application is not mentioned, you can imagine that they have built a database of opted in mobile customers via promotions and discounts used as calls to action.  A mobile web presence is next up on their priority list, bringing the value of their brand to the mobile consumer.

Interactive Mediums recently published a paper titled, “Mapping Mobile to Your Marketing Strategy.”  It features a diagram marketers can use to build mobile into their plans strategically, and Wet Seal is a perfect example of how this is accomplished.  The accompanying diagram shows how Wet Seal is leveraging the Mobile Customer Experience in meeting its business objectives:

• Red: A Smartphone application intended to support sales (demand generation) at the point of sale (POS) and transform shoppers into virtual salespeople by enabling them to share outfit suggestions with friends (via Email).
• Green: Text message marketing actions, presumably used to build an opt in database of mobile customers, using calls to action such as promotions and discounts, advertised in traditional media such as print or billboards.
• Yellow: A mobile optimized web presence, to bring the value of their brand to the mobile device in a manner appropriate for the form factor and intended use by mobile consumers.

Despite the fact browser capable mobile devices outweigh any one category of application supporting Smartphone, just a small percentage of activity is actually driven through the web experience today.  I would argue that given the far greater interactivity and capabilities available via rich applications – in spite of a smaller user base — the potential business value offered by a rich application experience places apps in line with the importance of having a mobile optimized web presence.

This is another example of the reach versus value paradox of mobile; the capacity to reach anyone, yet the most effective interactions target specific segments or even individuals.

• The Mobile Imperative
  Marketers need to embrace mobile as a means of engaging their customers in more profitable, insightful and engaged relationships.  Read about Interactive Mediums’ unique perspective on how this can be accomplished with a focus on iterative Mobile Dialogues, capturing and reusing interaction data in a Mobile Data Asset, and developing a strategy considering the entire Mobile Experience.
• The State of Mobile and Email Metrics
  Marketers employ both mobile and email marketing techniques to target their customers and often use similar metrics to measure these efforts.  This may lead marketers to compare mobile and email for the purpose of prioritizing one over the other.  In practice, the two methods are complementary.  Read about how Interactive Mediums views mobile and email from the customer’s point of view, and using this perspective to drive measurable, more effective marketing programs.
• Mapping Mobile to Your Marketing Strategy
  Mobile is increasingly finding its way into the strategies of marketers at the onset of their planning process.  Read about a structured approach Interactive Mediums prescribes for marketers to identify ways mobile can enhance and build upon marketing plans to maximize return on investment.

Thankfully I work for a firm with mobile technology experts who have an intimate understanding of what’s possible, particularly with location and GPS capabilities.

My colleague Doug Barth raised a good point; when it comes to location it’s not simply a question of rich iPhone application or nothing (or dumb phone using tower triangulation).  The often forgotten mobile web has the potential to become the defacto and preferred means of utilizing location based mobile services.  Consider Doug’s insights:

“In iPhone OS 3.0 (the latest version), Safari includes a JavaScript API for finding the current location of a user.  Websites can use that API to get the same location tracking that they previously needed to write a native application under iPhone OS 2.0.

A few sites have taken advantage of this functionality.  Flickr’s mobile site can show photos near you using the location services.  Google’s Latitude service is available as a web app.  It allows visitors to update their location by visiting the website.  Google also supports location-aware searches on supported devices.

Webkit, the browser engine Safari is built on, is also used on a number of other devices (Android, Nokia, Palm Pre, and soon Blackberry).  That may mean that future versions of those devices will inherit the same location aware APIs.”

For mobile marketers, what this means is that it’s more important than ever to understand all the ways by which you can target the on the go consumer, given your business objectives.  A time is coming soon when today’s iPhone-limited location and augmented reality app is available in similar form via mobile web on nearly any device.

“What really is the role of the mobile application?”

“…why would anyone want to have an application when an easily accessed mobile-friendly Web site would offer the same information?”

The obvious answer today is that it depends on the marketer’s goal and who they are targeting.  Until bandwidth is no longer a constraint and a richness of experience can be created within a mobile browser similar to what is possible on a proprietary platform like the iPhone, applications will continue to play a significant role in successfully marketing to the mobile consumer.

As I’ve said many times here, smart marketers are looking at developing effective mobile customer experiences first, then considering the technologies available to them to execute their programs.  The article raises frustration from app developers on the difficulty of marketing their apps within Apple’s App Store.  I would argue it’s incumbent on app developers or those who hire them to have a plan for engaging on the go consumers such that applications are proactively found as part of a planned experience.  As the article points out the number of apps available today is huge and growing fast, meaning marketers cannot leave to chance that their hard work is recognized among the crowd:

“If marketers and consumers cannot handle 150,000 applications, what will they do one year down the road – when the number may quadruple?”

There are exceptions such as when a stand-alone application has value, but over time I think those examples will be a minority of the successful ones.  As with anything, a focus on cost can cloud judgment, leading marketers down a suboptimal path that fails to see the forest through the trees:

“In many cases, it is far cheaper to build out a mobile or mobile-friendly Web site than it is to create a mobile application.“

“While the site is accessed from all devices, the application is limited to the handset model and platform. This limitation is factored into the cost comparisons.”

Perhaps looking at the relationship between PC applications and the websites of their developers can add to the discussion.  Few see desktop apps going the way of the dodo in spite of high speed internet access and rich web applications.  In fact, the web is a channel for selling, distributing and supporting many software applications.  In time, in spite of Apple’s current day stranglehold on smart applications’ mindshare, I think this will ultimately happen.  You would have to agree if you buy into the notion that it’s the device agnostic mobile customer experience which matters most, not a specific technology like a mobile app or gated app store.

Please let me know if you have any questions. This was a quick 10 minute talk, thus I’d love to deep dive into this further.

I won’t repeat all the recommendations, but needless to say the author focuses on the mobile customer experience in describing how device appropriate websites facilitate reservations much better than sites not optimized for the small screen.   Also covered are the strategic use of opt in text marketing interactions and clever uses for mobile applications.

While the author mentions CRM, the paper does not delve into the customer knowledge to be captured as part of these interactions, and how it can be repurposed to drive more relevant higher value mobile dialogues with customers.  So in addition to recommending this paper to any hotel marketer, I would add that focusing on customer knowledge objectives at the onset of any mobile marketing plan be top of mind.

While this advances the discussion toward connecting mobile marketing to sales, it doesn’t address the need to optimize the mobile customer experience across the various ways mobile permits marketers to reach their customers.  It is for this reason I am starting to think it’s datable whether mobile is completely distinct from both traditional channels and advertising methods.

In a call center, the measurable focus is the call itself, the time of day, duration, reason/topic and outcome.  Likewise, on the web it is about visit duration, path, terminating link, etc.  And at point of sale, it’s the transaction, the contents of the market basket, etc.  In mobile, the measurable unit is less identifiable as it depends on the form of interaction (text, mobile web, smartphone application or even interactive voice response).

As a “swiss army knife” of sorts, I think mobile will eventually require the concept of a “mobile session,” such that users will be identifiable units tracked either anonymously or authenticated across text interactions, mobile website browsing and smartphone application usage (or car navigation systems).  Disparate mobile technologies will need to talk to each other, at a minimum exchange “mobile session” data in such a way that the movement and activities of users are tracked among them.

This capability would surely be a powerful tool toward developing richer, higher value mobile interactions.  To create the most relevant and cohesive mobile experiences, content providers should desire this depth of insight.

You can imagine a mobile consumer interaction across text messaging/mobile email, mobile web and smartphone application as follows in a simple retail clothier example:

• BaggyPants develops a loyalty program aimed at retaining its highest value customers while also growing this base, via targeted and relevant offers.
• A multi-channel marketing campaign is initiated, directing customers to sign up for the program via text message or website.
• Those opting in are directed to redeem a discount online, then download the “SmartSizer” application.  This application allows customers to take a picture of themselves and have potential wardrobes in their probable size overlaid on their likeness.
• A mobile enabled e-commerce site is auto populated with a market basket full of their “customized” clothing order, based on current catalog item availability and pricing.
• Discounts based on customer value are redeemed at checkout.

Analyzing the activity around the individual elements can be useful, but overlaying mobile sessions across this entire mobile experience should be as much, if not more valuable.  For example:

• See conversion from text message, application downloads and basket purchases – the buy pipeline.
• Combine data gathered from application usage and product purchases to design higher yield product combinations – the “best next action.”
• Observe behavior on the mobile website, including deviances from the instant market basket purchase – market basket abandonment.

Or perhaps more interestingly, observe a real or near real-time visualization of the ideal process, with variance from the norm highlighted to see what’s happening – and make corrections to affect the outcome as the program executes.

As mobile marketing technologies advance, there is a danger of mobile suffering the fate of pre-CRM marketing; fragmented customer data and widely varying concepts of “customer.”  No doubt you will soon be hearing more about “customer centricity,” “the 360 degree customer view,” and “one version of the truth,” but within the context of mobile.