October 27, 2008
Did Someone Say Mobile Has Arrived?
Tonia Meyer, Director, Industry Initiatives, Mobile Marketing Association
Brands and agencies around the world are wrapping up their advertising budgets for 2009 and one thing is for certain, now is the time to put mobile in the mix! At least that’s what folks were saying at the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum )MMF) in Budapest, Hungary two weeks ago. The two-day event provided an opportunity for delegates around the world to discuss the trends, developments and successes in mobile marketing.
There were a number of unique messages sharing best practice insights and critical success factors but across presentations; I heard one consistent piece of advice, integrate mobile into your cross media campaigns on day one of planning. But why? Let me share with you some of the compelling statistics and lessons learned that reminded me why I’m still in mobile:
The Stats
On the first morning Arda Kurtmelioglu, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer for Mobilera in Turkey offered up some mesmerizing results for a pre-paid CRM campaign launched in the Republic of Moldova that targeted 55k subscribers on their mobile and achieved 63% penetration in six weeks. So, 35k consumers saw value in a applicable and targeted message and acted on it. That’s the instantaneous impact of effective mobile marketing!
Jumping to a different approach and aspect of mobile marketing, Magnus Jern, CEO and Founder for Golden Gekko of Sweden shared a unique challenge to replicate Arla’s online cookbook to the mobile. Their launch incorporated several elements of mobile marketing including the mobile web, short codes, mobile web advertising banners and a viral ‘tell a friend’ solution. The successful launch has resulted in 2-5k monthly downloads and the average customer has shared the service with 3.5 other people. A brilliant example of a simple and relevant product offering leading to unstoppable viral results.
Joanne Scholtz, Director of GroupM Interaction for South Africa delivered some fascinating insights into mobile penetration and the huge growth of mobile marketing for South Africa. She shared inspiring case studies of social community campaigns such as SocialTxt’s pilot project with Vodacom and the National AIDS helpline. This program, leveraging “Please Call Me” messages, provides free counseling and referral services for people with HIV and AIDS, offering thousands in the South African community hope for the future.
Stephen Upstone, Managing Director of European Development for AdInfuse, Inc. highlighted a fascinating case study on mobile advertising results achieved on the iPhone versus other mobile devices. The campaign showed iPhone users 70 times more likely than others to download content. Do the math on that one! Russell Buckley, Global Chair of the MMA and Managing Director of Europe for AdMob Inc. wrapped up day one by stating, “This is the year of the iPhone”.
The Necessities
So you’re convinced that mobile is changing the behavior of our consumers and the results are impressive; well, before you run to the drawing board too quickly, let me share with you some tips I have learned to be simple and basic but necessary in executing an effective and successful mobile campaign:
Stacy Fassberg, VP of Marketing for Celltick presented five critical success factors focused on targeting and relevance that are key in driving success:
1. Ensure it’s response-based
2. Make it location-based
3. Is it time sensitive?
4. Utilize demographic information
5. Respect the consumer’s privacy concerns
At the end of the day, consumer’s privacy and preference concerns outweigh all other considerations. Ensuring consumers are receiving mobile marketing communication where they want it and when they want it will impact the success and results of any mobile campaign. For more information, check out the MMA’s Global Code of Conduct for industry acknowledged privacy principles: http://www.mmaglobal.com/codeofconduct.pdf.
The MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum series continues to develop mobile marketing learnings and present new perspectives to best practice and successes in the mobile channel.
The next MMA Mobile Marketing Forum will be held November 13th in San Diego and incorporates the MMA’s Annual Global Awards Ceremony. For the agenda and other information, visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com.">www.mobilemarketingforum.com.
