Publisher John Wiley & Sons became the poster boy of the mobile industry, following a successful integrated marketing campaign for its For Dummies brand. The campaign used mobile ads, a mobile site, Web ads and print promotions to promote a US$5 discount off all Dummies books. Mobile users texted a short code to participate in the coupon-based discount. See the case study here. mobiThinking caught up with Juston Payne, Wiley’s manager of online advertising, when it comes to mobile marketing, he’s certainly no dummy.
Q1. What is your favourite mobile website?
Google Latitude. What it offers is not new — Loopt, BriteKite, SeeMyWhere and others already provide similar services — but Latitude brings the conversation to the general public. Latitude is an elegant implementation of a technology that is likely to become as natural as social networking. [Disclosure: I have worked with SeeMyWhere.]
Q2. What can the rest of us learn from these?
Location need not be frightening or invasive. The knee-jerk reaction is almost always negative (Stalkers! Jealous boyfriends! Big Brother!). However, the mass of users on existing, relatively unpublicized, location-sharing services proves that people’s reservations recede through usage. Plus, careful privacy measures do a lot to quell discomfort.
Q3. Who is the new kid on the block – the mobile site to watch for the future?
See above. The new kid happens to also be my favorite. I also suggest checking out Loopt, BriteKite and SeeMyWhere to experience the various forms location sharing can take.
Q4. What sector would you say is furthest ahead in mobile marketing?
In terms of sophistication, the airline industry executes consistently thorough, well-integrated campaigns across mediums. Virgin, in particular, continues to impress. However, I think the leader is mobile games. Long before the Apple App Store, mobile gaming companies generated revenue through direct sales and sponsored products. Their continued dominance in the new generation of mobile application stores demonstrates their strong position.
Q5. What can the rest of us learn from the games sector?
Give people something they want first and worry about advertisers second. If the public likes it, advertisers will come.
Q6. What’s the most exciting / inspirational place for mobile marketing?
Conferences – I challenge anyone to leave any mobile industry conference without at least a dozen new ideas.
Q7. What can the rest of us learn from there?
The mobile space is still young and heavily dependent on hardware innovation. This is in contrast to the computer-based Web. I find mere exposure to new technologies to be inspirational because those technologies unlock new avenues for mobile marketing.
Q8. What’s the most exciting area of mobile marketing?
As already noted, I’m most excited about the newest generation of location-sharing services. Once people begin opting-in to location sharing, a new world of marketing options becomes available. Everything from targeting to creative to reporting will be affected by location data volunteered by users.
Q9. What sites use this to maximum effect?
We need to distinguish between a location-based service and a location-sharing service. There is a plethora of services that make use of any given phone’s location. However, I haven’t yet seen anyone using the power of location-shared data. Location sharing seems to be in a phase comparable to when Friendster didn’t offer ad serving based on demographics.
Q10. What is the most useful resource site and / or must-read book for mobile marketers?
Safe answer: Wiley has the most authoritative books for all interests and skill levels!
Q11. Which mobile-marketing guru would you like to do our five-minute interview next?
Sam Altman. I want to know what Loopt’s next step is in location-based mobile marketing.
Which mobi guru would you like see interviewed next? Comment below or email editor (at) mobiThinking.com.
Other mobiThinking five-minute interviews:
And don’t miss:
- The mobiThinking guide to mobile ad networks
- 10 tips: Using location to know and serve your mobile customer better
- How to create an award-winning mobile campaign
- The mobile Web is dead… Long live the mobile Internet
- Events for mobile marketers’ diaries – with offers
- The Starting 11 – the essential mobile-marketing guide for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
- Mobile Web: latest mobile stats forecast a rosy outlook
- The Top Ten mobiThinkers 2009 – each profiled in full
- mobiThinking’s page of essential links
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