I found this article really interesting and he uses good examples to support his view point. The key to this is to remember mobile works best when integrated into traditional media whatever the format.
Mobile applications are just one element to utilise as a marketing channel. At present only iphone applications are offering the rich levels brands would expect and the experience consumers would hope for. The others are some way behind. Therefore there is limited reach, as in the UK iphone has only 17% handset penetration (much less Globally) with Blackberry slightly higher on 20% and Nokia still dominating with a huge 39% .
In order to maximise the success of any campaign you need to reach the targeted masses; which means you need to consider all platforms and formats whether it is an application, mobile internet site or simple SMS communications (to name but a few). This always comes back to the key metrics in determining the success of any campaign:
Reach, Targeted, Engagement, Viral-bility and Transactional…..
Does it have reach? Is it targeted? Is it engaging? Is it viral? Can you make a sale?
The higher it scores in these areas then the closer you are to running a successful mobile marketing campaign that has delivered recognised measured tangible results.
The below article is by Rik Haslam creative architect at digital agency RAPP.
It’s been a while coming, but mobile applications are beginning to find widespread approval – and generate revenues as a result
A shoo-in: Reebok’s ’shoe modding’ campaign generates more revenues than its website
Clients and colleagues keep asking me if 2010 will be the “year of mobile”, but that rather misses the point. Mobile marketing didn’t start with the iPhone. Many brands have been using it effectively for some time – ring tones, anyone?
What is new, though, is the feeling that mobile is suddenly hot. It’s as if the marketing world has suddenly realised just how many handsets consumers are carrying around. Mobile feels cheap, too, and in the current climate, brands value a low-cost opportunity to connect one-to-one via an ultra-responsive device that is always on and offers direct revenue opportunities – not to mention a means of capturing valuable data. Throw in an “app” and you’ve got your own media channel to boot.
The problem is that many mobile campaigns are crass, intrusive, gimmicky and pretty shallow in terms of emotional engagement. These are not values that too many blue-chip brands want to be identified with. Frankly, many companies have little understanding of how to utilise the unique properties of mobile technology while creating a brand experience that’s compelling to the consumer.
Pioneers
Predictably, perhaps, it took a telecommunications brand to deliver one of the earliest examples of innovative mobile work. Motorola’s Goodbye campaign allowed travellers at Hong Kong airport to take a photo of themselves, add a message to it, and then send it to huge video screens in the main departures hall, where it was displayed to friends, colleagues and family. David Beckham was drafted in for celebrity support, and visitors to the airport received his “goodbye” video message via Bluetooth. That message could then be sent to their loved ones – and tens of thousands were. The campaign not only introduced consumers to new product features, but also generated a huge amount of free publicity for Motorola, which saw a dramatic increase in handset sales.
Since then, there have been countless successful campaigns. One of my favourites is Ogilvy’s work for soft drink Fanta. Its Stealth Sound System campaign was inspired by the “Mosquito” devices used to prevent teenagers hanging around in public spaces – by emitting ultrasonic alarms at a frequency adults can’t hear. The Fanta campaign turned the idea on its head, with an application that allowed teenagers to communicate secretly by downloading words and phrases on the same frequency. The application was downloaded half a million times in the UK and launched globally in July.
It’s one thing to appeal to gadget freaks and teenagers, but to demonstrate enduring success a new technology needs to engage a mass market audience. Earlier this year, Saatchi & Saatchi in Australia used mobile to startlingly simple effect in the UN Voices project. The agency created a campaign of posters and press ads featuring portraits of individuals on the margins of society, accompanied by a simple request: “Listen to me”. Anyone who photographed the lips with a mobile and sent the picture to a listed number received a recorded message from the person featured. Although the calls were harrowing, the campaign was successful in that it made a relatively obscure UN project extremely prominent.
Show me the money
In terms of real success, though, brands like to see a direct correlation between their marketing efforts and their revenue. The Your Reebok application on the iPhone delivers income in spades. Created by Inside Mobile and Agency Mobile, this neat app allows users to design their own trainers and then either order a pair or upload them for others to view and purchase. Launched earlier this year, the application now generates more direct sales for Reebok than its website. That’s the kind of case study other marketers pay attention to.
Several years ago, Blyk announced it was going to revolutionise the mobile market by giving free calls to teenagers who agreed to interact with brand advertising. Although Blyk UK has since changed its business model to focus on operator partnerships (and now works exclusively with Orange in the UK), it has proven that sending timely, relevant messages to young people from brands builds high levels of engagement and illicits high response and action rates.
Rik Haslam is group creative architect at digital agency RAPP
Weblink
Motorola “Say Goodbye”: bit.ly/4d2jIM
Fanta Stealth Sound System: bit.ly/43iCCF
UN Voices project: bit.ly/NZBFt
Reebok: bit.ly/ryGP1
URl Link to the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/mobile-marketing/app-appeal
