iMediaConnection 7 April 2005

Unwired for the Future (Part 1)
By Dawn Anfuso, Editor

Enpocket's president provides a glimpse into the future of mobile marketing, and explains the role of a mobile media company. Mike Baker is president and COO of Enpocket, a global mobile media company. Baker is responsible for executing Enpocket's day-to-day operations, as well as for creating the strategy that is enabling Enpocket to sustain its rapid growth across the globe. Baker also serves on the company's board of directors.
We talked with Baker recently to learn more about where the mobile marketing industry is going this year.

iMedia: What can we expect from mobile marketing in 2005?

Mike Baker: The U.S. has definitely been trailing Europe and Asia for the last few years and this all stems from the fact that mobile adoption rates have been slower here. But the U.S. is now one of the real growth stories and with 180 million subscribers we’ve got more than four times as many subscribers as evolved mobile markets like the UK.
Consequently, brands that had just been dipping their toes in the water in 2004 are starting to roll out mobile campaigns that are an integral part of the media mix and not a simple add-on. This year we might see one or two campaigns that use MMS (allowing audio, video and animation in the body of a message) from operators pushing content services, but the main messaging medium will continue to be SMS. The difference is that mobile programs will be better planned and focus on delivering value to the brand and the consumer.

We’ll start to see more innovation conceptually in 2005. The mobile will start to be seen less as an alert or interaction tool and more as a means of entertaining and building ongoing dialogue. Community applications that enable peer-to-peer communications over the mobile internet, such as mobile blogging and dating, are taking off and we are already speaking with companies that recognize the branding opportunities opening up. On the entertainment side, we’re also seeing production companies moving into mobile video content. 2005 promises richer experiences for mobile consumers.

iMedia: Do you expect the U.S. market to mature in the same way as seen in Europe and Asia where mobile usage and technologies are more advanced?

Baker: Because each culture is different, it’s difficult to say that the U.S. market will advance in the same exact ways. For example, WAP usage in the U.S. is much higher than it was in Europe at the same point of innovation. Also, there are some applications like picture mail, mobile dating and games that seem to be catching on faster here than elsewhere.

iMedia: What do marketers need to understand prior to delving into a mobile marketing campaign?

Baker: Getting it right the first time is extremely important. If the user experience does not live up to the hype then your customers might not try the service again for a long time. Marketers need to think about a couple of key questions: How are we inviting consumers into a dialogue with our brand using the mobile channel? And what are we offering the consumer of value? Effective mobile marketing campaigns need to be perceived by consumers as valuable, be it a discount voucher to try a new coffee beverage or the ability to receive a fun bit of branded mobile content like a ring tone. Lastly, advertisers need to integrate mobile marketing into existing campaigns and leverage these existing assets -- using mobile to improve the ROI of their total marketing spend.
iMedia: What exactly is a mobile media company?

Baker: What we do is combine entertainment and marketing for the mobile channel, just as a Yahoo! or MSN might do for a brand on the internet. So we might research a consumer segment for a brand, media company or carrier, decide on how an application should be built for this target audience, build it, deliver it to handsets and ensure that it is marketed effectively.

One customer might choose just to use us to build an mBlogging application, another might license our marketing services and technology -- it really depends on what they want out of the mobile channel. However, the most successful mobile marketers are the brands that integrate mobile campaigns with each other and with their overall marketing vision.

iMedia: What hurdles do marketers face with choosing a mobile marketing partner?

Baker: Marketers need a mobile partner that can deliver a turnkey solution. In our experience, marketers aren’t well served from doing business with just an aggregator or a creative company. Marketers should look for a company that can work with them from concept through implementation. This includes not just the connectivity infrastructure and application development, but also the ideation, creative and campaign management. With rich media this is even more important as creative needs to be adjusted to handset type and delivered in a particular way to different consumers. Because this is such a new space, there are very few companies that can offer a complete mobile solution. 

iMedia: How does Enpocket work with brands and agencies?

Baker: Brands work directly with us on direct-response campaigns. Agencies use our tools and service to fulfill programs that they have pitched into their clients. We have found that the technical constraints of the medium require us to work closely with agency creative personnel. Our clients, both brands and agencies, tell us that they find great value in our knowledge of what has worked in Asia and Europe, as well as our ideation and creative experience in the medium. We look forward to the day when the agencies have developed a better understanding of how to leverage their skills to deliver value to their clients through the mobile medium. We want to help them to do what they do best and let us take care of the technology, production and operations.

iMedia: Which market segments are making the most of the mobile channel? Which others will emerge in 2005?

Baker: Right now, the mobile channel is probably being best utilized by advertising clients who are selling goods and services that can be purchased through the mobile phone -- the mobile operators as well as the media companies, each of which have started to build a knowledge base from running text-participation campaigns. In 2005, we are starting to see more CPG companies using the mobile channel, and using it as a branding tool as well as a direct-response mechanism. We’re also seeing activity from quick serve restaurants, travel, consumer banking/finance and the emerging breed of mobile content providers such as ring tone, Java game and wallpaper companies.

Tomorrow: The popularity of ring tones, and the growth of mBlogging.