mobiThinking has been devouring the MMA’s annual marketing guide. It’s big, but we highly recommend reading it. It’s chock-a-block with stats, facts, tips and optimism, but must-read stuff is at the back where you’ll find précis of all the mobile campaigns that won MMA’s global and regional awards.
See our pick of the winners below. First, here are some bits of the report that caught our eye.
“The fastest-growing application in the coming year is likely to be mobile web.” This will be helped by ever-accelerating adoption of smartphones.
mobiThinking would like to see this in font-size 72 to help mobile marketers get the message. Too often mobile-led campaigns fail to tie-in their mobi site. So the opportunity to maintain a long-term mobile relationship with the customer is lost when the initial SMS campaign comes to an end. Even some award-winning campaigns miss a trick here.
Adoption figures for mobile web haven’t helped sway the marketing cynics – more people use SMS, and use PCs to read the web. But mobile Internet is self-perpetuating. More made-for-mobile content and campaigns will increase mobile surfing. More demand should lead to less punishing mobile data charges, and more mobile content: the snowball effect.
Currently mobile Internet is used most regularly by mobile users in the US (15.6%); UK (12.9%); Italy (11.9%); Russia (11.2%); Spain (10.8%); Thailand (10%); France (9.6%); Germany (7.4%); China (6.8%); Philippines (3.4%); according to Nielsen Mobile. [Ed: where’s Japan?]
Not impressed? Well, according to eMarketer statistics in the report, phone Internet users are two-fifths the number of PC Internet users. That’s users, not usage, but even so.
Apart from growth of the mobile web, other trends to watch include growing popularity of mobile-based social networking, financial services including banking [see the CajaMadrid brief below] and real estate.
We should also expect more mobile search marketing; mobile campaigns using new “made for mobile” ad formats; “grass-roots” campaigns using low-cost social media [see the viral element of the adidas Brotherhood]; and the beginnings of marketing using location-based services (LBS) [See Paramount Pictures BlueZones for ideas]. Better metrics to help measure campaign results are also expected.
If we had to condense the MMA’s helpful 12 Things You Must Know to Be Successful with Mobile Marketing to four bullets, they’d be these: respect the end user; keep it simple; keep it relevant; think long-term relationships. Keep these in mind while you read the case studies.
We were pleased to hear that mobile marketing campaigns are increasingly focusing on providing utility and value to the consumer. Three applications stand out: a) coupons delivered via mobile [see the Diageo iDrinks campaign]; b) subsidized or free content as an incentive to participate in mobile marketing campaigns [see CajaMadrid]; c) social networking, i.e. using viral marketing techniques particularly [see adidas Brotherhood].
We also took another peak at the Mobile Marketing Attitude and Usage study – we were only allowed to comment on the European figures last week.
The curious thing about users receptiveness to mobile marketing is that tolerance is lowest in the country that we all look to for inspiration: Japan (22%). While Korea (44%) was higher, US (26%) and UK (26%) were also low. Does this show that as the market matures, so consumers become less tolerant of mobile marketing, or do consumers cease to identify some elements as marketing?
MobiThinking was pleased to see Mobile Marketing Association president, Laura Marriott, awarded Outstanding Individual Achievement. Please see her interview with us
- Adidas; assisted by Isobar, Carat, Varitalk and Aegis Media. Global Award for Overall Excellence.
The Adidas ‘Brotherhood’ campaign that ran in the US prior to the 2007-8 basketball season. Through print, outdoor and TV advertising, consumers were invited to text-in and receive calls and text messages back from the adidas basketball legends. The campaign used Varitalk to create personalized messages that contained branding, and drove traffic to the Internet. Fans could also use the voices of the NBA stars to create personalized ring tones, voicemail greetings and viral messages to send to friends. When in-store, consumers could text NBA players and receive an in-store call with product recommendations.
See Paramount.mobi
CajaMadrid: Information in Your Phone; with Mobile Dreams Factory. Two global awards: Best Use of Mobile Marketing – Product Services and Innovation for Creativity in Media.
Spanish bank CajaMadrid transferred all it’s financial products to a mobile environment (deposits, pension plans, payrolls, etc.). To help generate audience participation, almost every type of mobile technique was used: mobile Internet, MMS and SMS messages, 2D codes and Bluetooth. The campaign centered on a dedicated mobile site offering free financial and economic news, sponsored by banners that linked to different CajaMadrid sites. These banners reached a click-through rate of 4.5 percent. Furthermore, Vodafone and Movistar offered a free MMS alert service with the trading-day results, including market charts. The campaign helped CajaMadrid to strengthen its image as an innovative brand. More than 2.3 million people received information, while 312,000 individual active users were generated with more than 1,225,000 alerts sent.
Lynx ‘Get In There’ mobile tools with BBH (Bartle Bogle Hegarty). Global award: Best Use of Mobile Marketing – Branding.
Lynx (Unilever) wants to encourage nervous British boys who flirt online – where Lynx deodorant doesn’t work – to “get in there” and talk to real girls. The campaign involves a lot of web and mobile-based tips, tricks and gadgets. Only two of six applications have been launched so far, leading to 100,000 downloads. The first application is some sonic tools aimed at a girl’s laughter spot which replace the cheesy chat-up line. The second is a ‘Fit Girl Finder’ – a sat-nav for your love life, which helps to persuade a woman there chemistry between you.
The other global award winners were:
- Harlem Success Academy with CellTrust. Global award: Best Use of Mobile Marketing – Relationship Building. SMS was used to keep teachers and parents connected.
United Nations with The Hyperfactory and Saatchi & Saatchi Australia. Two global awards: Best Use of Mobile Marketing – Direct Response and Best Use of Cross-media Integration. A bill board campaign was mixed with mobile.
Nike PHOTOiD, with AKQA: Global Award For Innovation. Customers sent in an image by MMS. Nike send back a picture of the perfect custom shoe, based on this image and available for purchase.
Diageo (Johnnie Walker, Cacique and J&B) iDrinks with Mobile Dreams Factory. Global Award for Innovation for Creativity in Technology. Customers bought drinks in public bars using a mobile coupon.
The case studies of all the regional winners are also included in the report. It’s inspiring stuff.
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