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The Future of Mobile Content & Commerce p.11 by Noah Elkin, Senior Analyst, eMarketer
The Nail for Social Media’s Hammer p.48 Interview with Mickey Alam Khan, Editor in Chief, Mobile Marketer
How Mobile Marketing Can Fuel Buzz and Engagement for Entertainment Brands p.63 Inverview with Valerie Brown, Director of Consumer Marketing, Bravo
Mobile Innovation: What the U.S. Can Learn from Japan p.77 by Naoki Muramatsu, VP, Digital Business Development, Dentsu Holdings USA
FOREWORD P. 3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS P. 5
OVERVIEW P. 7
PLANNING IN MOBILE MARKETING P. 15
SEARCH P. 20
SMS MARKETING P. 27
ADVERTISING P. 32
SOCIAL MARKETING P. 43
APPLICATIONS P. 51
COMMERCE SHOPPING P. 67
PARTING thoughts P. 80
GLOSSARY P. 84
CONTRIBUTOR
ARTICLES
3blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
s this the Year of Mobile? For over a decade this
proclamation has turned out to be premature, giving
marketers ample reason to be skeptical. The difference
looking forward to 2011 is that this is the first time that
consumer behavior and mobile platforms have reached
sufficient scale for mobile to move beyond an emerging
media tactic for mainstream marketers.
Mobile is finally experiencing its tipping point as one
of the critical components of the digital marketing
landscape, much like search marketing experienced
in the early 2000s and social marketing during the
past few years. Nielsen reports that within a year,
smartphone adoption will exceed the adoption of
simpler, feature phones. We’re coming to a point
where the majority of phones – and consumers – will
have Internet connectivity wherever they go.
Mobile is perhaps one of the most exciting and
revolutionary forms of media to flourish over the
last decade, as it builds exponentially on the
groundbreaking changes brought on by search and
social. While the PC Internet is completely divorced
from the physical world, mobile breaks down these
walls and brings the power of the Internet into the
real world in real time.
Imagine you’re in the grocery store, and you can easily
look up a product’s ingredients, compare the price of
products in the aisles with those in neighboring stores,
check other customers’ reviews, and see how popular
a product is with other shoppers in your area. This
is a vision of our not-too-distant future. If someone
has access to information anytime and anywhere, how
does that change the way consumers think about
I
FOREWORD
by BRYAN WIENER
CEO, 360
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Foreword4
your brand and the way you have to interact with them
as a marketer? This brings both opportunities and
challenges to existing business practices – much like
the Internet did.
Rather than seeing this as a daunting prospect, consider
that mobile allows consumers to bring their digital lives
with them wherever they go. This also means that we no
longer have to silo our marketing efforts; the opportunity
for cross-channel integration and truly rich multiplatform
brand experiences has never been greater.
The accelerated intersection of mobile, local, social
and commerce across the online and offline worlds
means things are going to change incredibly quickly.
That’s why we’ve put together this Playbook – to
provide a foundation and framework for approaching
the changes ahead. In 2009, we issued our Social
Marketing Playbook for similar reasons and it received a
tremendous response with more than 50,000 downloads
to date. We hope that this Mobile Marketing Playbook will
be as valuable for marketers looking to make sense
of the current mobile landscape and arm themselves
for the innovations ahead. Specifically, the aim of the
Mobile Marketing Playbook is to help marketers:
• Work within a framework for establishing a set of
clear objectives for their mobile marketing strategy
• Move beyond the checklist approach with a filter for
evaluating the myriad of opportunities within mobile
• Think of ways to use mobile to merge online and
offline strategies, as a hub that bridges the gap
• Encourage a dialogue about what matters in
mobile now, and what’s ahead for this new and
exciting medium
As always, we welcome comments, critique, debate,
and discussion – you can find us on Twitter (@360i or
@bwiener), Facebook (facebook.360i.com) or on our
blog (blog.360i.com).
Happy reading,
Bryan Wiener
CEO, 360i
5blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Several individuals graciously lent their time and talents to the production of the Mobile
Marketing Playbook. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contributions.
To our featured columnists: Valerie Brown, Eugene Chung, Noah Elkin, Mickey Alam Khan and
Naoki Muramatsu – thank you all for sharing your keen insights with us and our readers.
Thanks also to the 360i team who wrote, edited, designed and managed this Playbook:
Philip Basile, David Berkowitz, Amanda Bird, Brian Blakely, Carleejean Cook,
Natan Edelsburg, Laura Frizzell, Jim Gulsen, Lara Hejtmanek, Sarah Hofstetter,
Chris Humber, Kolin Kleveno, David Levin, Tanya Nam, Katie Perry, Brett Sanderson,
Jesse Shaver, Sarah Sikowitz, Benny Simon, Paul Stadnyk and Chang Yu.
And advanced thanks to the readers of this Playbook who are moved to comment, share,
critique, tweet, scan, blog or generally discuss the contents herein. We encourage you
to reach out and share your thoughts directly with us anytime at editor@360i.com, via
feedback on our blog at blog.360i.com or on Twitter @360i.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Share the Mobile Marketing Playbook:
twitter facebook del.icio.us digg email
1ov
ervie
w
7blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
1 Your customers most likely own and use mobile devices.Market research firm comScore reports that as
of May 2010, 234 million Americans age 13 and
older are mobile subscribers. That’s more than
90% of the U.S. population.
2 Mobile data usage keeps rising,with Americans especially fond of texting. Nearly
two-thirds (65%) of mobile subscribers text,
according to comScore, while the Pew Internet
& American Life Project reports teens 12 to 17
communicate each other daily with texting more
than through any other channel – including talking
face-to-face or on the phone.
OVERVIEW
3 Mobile Internet usage is taking off,making it easier and imperative for marketers
to connect mobile with their digital marketing
programs. eMarketer reports that there are more
than 85 million U.S. mobile Internet users, and
about half of mobile phone users will use the
mobile Internet within a few years.
4 Smartphone penetration is increasingto the point where brand marketers can deliver
rich experiences through pocket-sized devices.
Nielsen reports that within a year, smartphone
adoption will roughly match adoption of feature
phones (the more basic, functional phones with
limited web and app capabilities).
TEN REASONS MOBILE MARKETING MATTERS RIGHT NOW
There’s so much buzz about mobile marketing that it’s easy to dismiss it, or to check off a few mobile tactics and say you’re doing enough with mobile.
Here are the top ten reasons why mobile matters right now. They illustrate why marketers need a comprehensive mobile roadmap as part of their integrated communications plan to take full advantage of the exciting opportunities ahead.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Overview8
5 Smartphone competition is expanding the audience that can access rich content.Mobile ad network AdMob noted U.S. ad
impressions on Google’s Android operating system
reached 46% of the total in March, compared to
39% for the iPhone operating system, marking
the first time Android surpassed the iPhone. Also
consider Myxer, which has served 34 million
consumers 1.3 billion downloads of free mobile
content. Skewing toward a younger audience, it has
seen a disproportionate share of downloads and
traffic coming from BlackBerry devices. BlackBerry
has proved especially popular with this demographic
in large part thanks to the interest in BlackBerry
Messenger (BBM), its instant messenger service.
6 Mobile is designed to be the most integrated marketing medium the world has ever known.Along with the integration of the various channels
within mobile, to be most effective mobile should
integrate with as many other kinds of media as
are included in a campaign or program, including
online, TV, radio, print and out of home. Mobile
devices are always on and accessed everywhere,
and the portability alone makes mobile unlike any
other form of media. Mobile marketing has near
limitless potential to contribute to and build on
other marketing programs.
Feature Phones
U.S. Smartphone Penetration & Projections
Q2‘08
Q3‘08
Q4‘08
Q1‘09
Q2‘09
Q3‘09
Q4‘09
Q1‘10
Q2‘10
Q3‘10
Q4‘10
Q1‘11
Q2‘11
Q3‘11
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Smartphones
(Projections)
Source: Nielsen
9blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
7 Mobile is great for brandingthanks to several factors: deep engagement,
minimal ad clutter and new and constantly
evolving advertising experiences. Dynamic
Logic found that its mobile MarketNorms across
various brand metrics consistently surpassed
online norms.
8 Mobile marketing matters in any vertical,with any goal. A consumer packaged goods
marketer can use mobile display and video ads for
branding, SMS for couponing and applications for
consideration. Retailers can similarly use mobile
in different ways, whether they’re trying to drive
consumers to the store or launch a new product
line. InsightExpress further quantified some of these
effects, showing strong performance across brand
metrics for marketers in six vertical industries.
9 Mobile marketing is more than just a single marketing channel.Consider online marketing, where search, video
and social media are all very different disciplines.
The same is true of mobile, and these various
forms tend to intersect. Coupons can be delivered
via text messages that link to mobile barcodes.
Mobile display ads often promote applications.
Mobile social marketing programs can include
video and mobile search, and tend to run in
conjunction with a range of other promotions.
Aided Brand Awareness
Advertising Awareness
Message Association
Brand Favorability
Purchase Intent
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Per
cent
Im
pac
ted
Del
ta (
∆)
Mobile Online
Source: Dynamic Logic MarketNorms for Online, last 3 years through Q4/2009, N=2,461 campaigns, n=3,713,053 respondents;Adinex for Mobile Norms through Q4/2009, N=74 Campaigns, n=69,524 respondentsDelta (∆)=Exposed-Control
Mobile vs. Online
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Overview10
0 The twenty-first century is the century of mobile.The “year of mobile” phrase is played out,
but it has been true for some time now. The
International Telecommunication Union wrote
in its 1999 Annual Report, “If 1999 was the year of
the Internet, it was also the year of mobile cellular.”
Since then, there have been several milestones
as the number of text messages sent annually
rises well into the trillions and mobile ad spending
nears the billion-dollar mark. The past few years of
innovation have brought the iPhone with its continual
improvements, pervasive Android devices and
mobile social services that have consumed much
of the bandwidth of the mobile Web. The milestones
will keep coming at a breathtaking pace.
UnaidedAwareness
AidedAwareness
Mobile AdAwareness
Brand Favorability
Purchase Intent
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Mobile Index Against Online November 2007- December 2009
CPG Entertainment Travel Technology Automotive Retail
Source: Insight Express
Campaign Effectiveness – Brand Metrics by Vertical
11blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
emember when ringtones were all the rage? No
one thought twice about dropping $3 to get 15
seconds of a song because it was a quick and easy
way to personalize your phone. Indeed, through
2007, revenues piled up for music publishers
and wireless carriers alike thanks to the rush to
personalization, peaking at more than $700 million,
according to SNL Kagan.
Much of this purchasing activity took place “on
deck”– the categorized links that came bundled with
web-enabled phones. Carrier decks offered benefits
to users and marketers alike. First, they enabled
marketers to place content and applications with easy
reach, meaning users did not have to engage in long
(and, at the time, expensive) browsing sessions to find
music, games, news or weather. Second, purchases
conveniently went right on users’ phone bills, putting
access to that content ecosystem within a few clicks.
But carrier decks were walled gardens by another
name, and ultimately that translated into constraints
for the end user.
The launch of the iPhone in June 2007 made those
constraints more apparent. Although it was by no
means the first web-enabled phone, the iPhone
broke new ground as a content-consumption
device. The built-in Safari browser brought a
desktop-like experience to mobile, unlocking a
world of media experiences that previously had
been imperfectly realized at best. Integration with
first the iTunes Store and subsequently the App
Store gave consumers new options for accessing
music, games and video on their mobile devices,
and new modes for marketers to engage their
audience with branded applications.
R
THE FUTURE OF MOBILE CONTENT
COMMERCEby NOAH ELKINSENIOR ANALYST
EMARKETER
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Overview12
Apple’s model of tight integration between hardware,
software and services has helped to ignite the
mobile value chain, spurring adoption of devices with
dramatically improved feature sets. At the end of Q1
2010, Nielsen found that just under 25% of the U.S.
mobile subscriber population had a smartphone. That
number is forecast to rise to 49% by Q3 2011, as
device manufacturers and wireless carriers increase
their marketing push to graduate users to higher-value
devices and data plans. The success of Apple’s iPad,
and the anticipated launch of other tablet-style form
factors, will further consolidate media consumption on
mobile devices.
Increased smartphone ownership is driving growth
in mobile Internet usage. According to eMarketer
projections, 142.1 million mobile users, representing
The success of Apple’s iPad, and the anticipated launch of other tablet-style form factors, will further consolidate media consumption on mobile devices.
13blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
54% of the U.S. mobile user population, will access
the web from their mobile devices in 2014, up from
85.5 million in 2010.
Content consumption will likewise increase at a
rapid pace. By 2014, eMarketer predicts that U.S.
mobile gamers, music listeners and video viewers
will number 94.9 million, 52.2 million and 56.7
million, respectively. Moreover, what these mobile
content consumers buy and how they buy it is
also evolving, driven in part by advances in mobile
devices and networks and in part because of
broader secular developments in digital content.
For example, mobile users are talking less than ever
before and using more data-centric functions such
as texting and social networks to communicate.
The decline in voice calling has hurt ringtone sales.
At the same time, the combination of increasingly
ubiquitous broadband access and the steady migration
of content to the “cloud” means that mobile consumers
are moving more in the direction of “accessing” content
rather than owning it, emulating a trend begun on
the desktop with software and services. Paid and
ad-supported streaming services such as Pandora,
YouTube and Hulu offer access to vast content libraries
that would be far costlier to replicate through purchases.
This shift heralds the rise of subscription and pay-per-
use payment plans and boosts the potential of ad-
supported and hybrid monetization models.
Bottom line: Consumers will continue to pay for
content on mobile devices. But whom they pay, what
they pay for and how they pay for it are starting to evolve
as quickly as the devices on which they consume it.
2Pl
ANNIN
G
IN M
OBILE
MARK
ETIN
G
15blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
1 What are your goals for mobile marketing?Are your goals centered more
around branding or direct
response marketing? Do
you need massive
reach for the mobile
program to be
effective? What
does the end result
look like if the mobile
program is successful?
What kind of commitment
will you make upfront in terms of
the staffing and budget allocated?
Do you have the time to fully optimize
the program? Are you seeking massive
scale for impressions, clicks, engagement or
app downloads within a brief campaign flight?
Planning in Mobile MARKETING
Answering these questions at the onset will
help ensure mobile fulfills its potential
as part of your marketing plan.
2 How is your audience using mobile?
Beyond talking, what are
consumers doing with
their mobile devices?
Which handsets and
operating systems are they
most likely to use? Are they
likely to text, take pictures, search,
play games, use social media, read
news, look for local businesses, surf
the web, download apps, scan barcodes
or participate in other activities? With what
other media, including traditional media, does
your target audience engage? It’s critical to
CREATING AN INTEGRATED MOBILE MARKETING PROGRAM
When planning a mobile marketing program, questions will arise as to which channels, tactics and vendors are most appropriate to incorporate. Marketers can embark on a mobile plan by answering four questions that lead to a much broader number of decisions involved in figuring out how to make the most out of mobile. These questions together comprise the Mobile Marketing Strategic Lens.
What are yourGOALS for mobile
marketing?
How can you use your ARSENAL
in mobile?
How is your AUDIENCE
using mobile?
Does it follow mobile marketing BEST PRACTICES?
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Planning in Mobile Marketing16
understand your audience and how they are
utilizing mobile when creating your plan.
3 How can you use your arsenal in mobile?What assets do you have that might make sense to
incorporate? Do you have stores or other channel
partners? Do you have apps or a mobile-friendly
website? What other digital branded experiences
do you have, perhaps across social networks?
Mobile bridges digital and physical worlds, so
consider tangible, real-world assets: products, out-
of-home or print ads, retail stores and live events.
4 Does it follow mobile marketing best practices?Does the program adhere to how consumers
are using mobile media? Does it use the
functionality of mobile devices? Does the
experience translate well both to the smaller
screen size and then the broader real-world
landscape where consumers use their mobile
devices? What kind of value does it provide to
the consumer – information on a new product
or service, entertainment, or a discount on
merchandise, among many other options?
Marketers who have read 360i’s Social Marketing
Playbook may notice some similarities between
the lens above and the Social Marketing Strategic
Lens, which is also discussed in the section on
Mobile Social Marketing (see page 43). The tenets
of both are similar, but each lens is designed to
address the specific demands of its respective
marketing discipline.
Using research and insights to uncover opportunities in mobileForrester Research called 2010 the “year that every
firm needs a mobile strategy.” Understanding the
current mobile landscape, relevant consumer trends,
and what competitors are doing will help you avoid
wasted dollars and increase the impact your program
has on the target audience.
Consumer insightsAs consumers increasingly rely on their mobile devices,
understanding audiences’ motivations in mobile and
aligning strategies to these new and changing behaviors
will result in the most effective programs. Specifically,
this means defining the mobile persona of your target.
With limited screen real estate to leverage, having a deep
understanding of your customers’ mobile usage and
motivations will allow you to offer true value exchange
that will delight - rather than distract - your audiences.
The types of intelligence that will help paint a picture of
your consumer’s mobile persona include:
• The size and composition of your mobile
audience:
- How many consumers can you reach within your
target demographic?
- What are trends for how your target audience
indexes with mobile usage?
• Operating system and handset usage:
- Does your target use iPhone, BlackBerry or Android
devices?
- How are adoption rates trending for each?
17blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
• Usage insights - understanding how your
consumers use their devices:
- Which mixture of SMS, e-mail, mobile web,
applications and other mobile channels do
they use?
- When are consumers engaging with mobile?
What days and dayparts show the most activity?
- How much time do consumers spend using their
mobile devices?
- What are their go-to mobile sites and
applications?
- How prevalent is search usage?
- How likely are they to use geolocation services?
- How likely are they to play games?
- Do your consumers complete transactions via
mobile devices? How do they shop?
- Do they extend their multimedia consumption
(music, video, etc.) to mobile?
Activity Index Composition of Target
Text Message – Sent/Received 120 73%
Picture Mail – Sent/Received 128 43%
Access Internet 121 29%
Download Application 111 14%
Download Game 110 11%
Watched Any Video 112 7%
Internet Purchase 103 6%
Understanding Mobile Usage
Moms over-index heavily for sending and receiving picture mail and gaming, but the most popular non-voice use of mobile for this segment is texting.Source: Nielsen/NetRatings @Plan
Blackberry, 46%
Apple, 25%
Android, 12%
Windows Mobile, 9%
Palm, 6%
Symbian, 2%
The most common device for females 25-34 is the Blackberry, followed by Apple’s iPhone.Source: comScore MobiLens
Mobile Activity for Moms Online
Relative Share of Operating Systems for Females 25-34 with HHI 75K+(June 2010 – 3 month average)
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Planning in Mobile Marketing18
is evolving, new marketing models are being
developed, and devices are quickly acquiring new
features and functionality. When planning a mobile
program, look at the most recent data, but also
try to discern trends at least six months ahead to
see what’s coming. Events such as a new iPhone
release, offers from different mobile providers,
new entrants in the tablet market and fast Android
growth can be taken into account when developing
a forward-looking mobile program. Testing new
opportunities now can lead to a sizable advantage
in the longer term.
ConclusionThe near ubiquity of mobile has made it necessary
for any brand that regularly interacts with consumers
to consider a mobile marketing strategy. But mobile
marketing doesn’t have to be a mystery. Taking the
time to investigate the landscape, examine consumer
interactions with their devices and monitor competitive
moves will reduce the unknowns and provide a solid
base on which to launch, test and optimize an effective
mobile program.
Resources for gathering syndicated research include
comScore, Nielsen//NetRatings, the Mobile Marketing
Association and Forrester Research.
Competitive intelligenceGiven the nascent nature of mobile marketing tools
and techniques, it can be very beneficial to study what
other marketers are doing. There’s no need to limit
yourself to direct competitors either. It may be just as
valuable to learn from others in the category as well as
from other industries to see how various marketers are
reaching their audiences via mobile channels.
Syndicated tools such as comScore offer detailed
perspectives on what other marketers are doing in
mobile. These tools often include information on
brands and industries that are the most active in
mobile, with overviews of the creative they’re running
and what publishers they partner with.
Staying ahead of the curveResearch, especially in an emerging arena such
as mobile, is not a one-time endeavor. The market
3MOB
ILE
SEARC
H
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Search20
Mobile paid searchAccording to the Kelsey Group’s Mobile Market View
Report, nearly 60% of all activities on mobile devices
are search-related, making search one of the best
ways to reach consumers in mobile.
Before tackling a mobile search plan, it’s critical to
understand how mobile paid search differs from its
traditional web-based counterpart:
• There is less competition within mobile search,
but there are also fewer ads per page across both
feature phones and smartphones.
• Calls to action and user experience can vary based
on objective. For instance, click-to-call and click-
to-map don’t need to point to a mobile site.
• Shorter search queries means there are greater
demands for relevancy and understanding intent.
• The constantly accessible devices lead to greater
immediacy with consumers’ needs.
• Shorter creative means marketers must get their
point across faster.
Mobile search is evolving in several different ways: • Mobile search is especially useful for local queries.
Whether they include local modifiers (such as a city
name or zip code), consumers looking for “JCPenney”
on their mobile phone will expect to find one in their
area. The Kelsey Group reported that about one in
three mobile searches has local intent.
As mobile devices have become more sophisticated and easier to use, mobile search has become the starting point for consumers on the go. It’s often a good entry point for marketers just getting started with mobile campaigns, and it only becomes more important for marketers with a fully developed mobile presence. Build on an online search program by understanding the best ways to use mobile paid search and search engine optimization.
Mobile sEARCHKEY FACT Google mobile search volume is up 500% in past 2 years
GOALS IT ACHIEVES Sales, purchase consideration, drive to store, content download
BEST INTEGRATION POINTS Applications, mobile shopping
21blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
• No matter how much better mobile phone
keyboards get, mobile users will keep their
queries shorter when they can. Optimization
in natural and paid search around higher volume
keywords will be especially competitive.
• Voice search is making an impact, and all the
major search engines incorporate it. A range of other
companies have developed offerings here, including
Jingle Networks’ FREE-411 directory assistance,
Naturally Speaking’s Dragon Search application
and Apple’s Siri. Expect renewed innovation in this
area during the next two to three years.
• SMS search is still relevant for feature phones,
where users text a query such as for business
listings or stock quotes and then receive results.
Given that there’s a brief delay between the query
and response, these queries will diminish as
smartphones dominate the market.
• On Google Android-powered devices, a search
button is built into the phone’s hardware, making
it possible to conduct searches instantly no
matter what the consumer does within the mobile
experience. Mobile search listings can in turn
appear during a wide range of activities beyond
Activities Conducted on Mobile Devices (as a % of mobile users)
0 5 10 15 20
Searched Internet for local products/services
Obtained info about movies/entertainment
Obtained info about restaurants/bars
Searched Internet for products outside local area
Purchased physical item that needed to be shipped
Used coupon from mobile phone
Source: Kelsey Mobile Market View for 2009
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Search22
searching from a mobile engine, such as when
searching for driving directions or using various
applications.
• The results pages themselves will continue to
evolve to showcase more mobile-specific content.
For instance, in June, Google added application
links to its mobile search results, with links to
download apps directly from Apple’s App Store or
Google’s Android Market.
For select marketers, here’s when to include mobile search as part of your marketing mix:
• Retail/QSR marketers
For marketers trying to drive in-store traffic
and sales, mobile search is a great starting
point. According to Google’s Retail Advertising
Blog, 54% of users who researched online
but bought offline used their mobile device to
conduct their search.
• Travel marketers
Travel companies can leverage mobile search
to capitalize on the popularity of travel to
provide information such as flight searches and
transactions such as booking of airline tickets.
• Entertainment marketers
Entertainment companies can promote movie
listings, theater locations, TV tune-in reminders,
album releases, concerts and other live events.
• Consumer packaged goods marketers
Within mobile search, marketers can enhance
their search listings to include special information
and offers such as coupons to incentivize users.
(Learn more about coupons on page 69.)
A search for local hair salons shows how marketers can use coupons to enhance their mobile location listing.
23blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Mobile paid search best practices
1 Group mobile campaigns separately. They tend to perform differently from online
search campaigns, and you’ll often want to adjust
the rules accordingly.
2 Broaden your scope. Mobile search volume tends to be significantly
lower than online search for most keywords, so
to achieve the best reach you’ll want to target
queries more broadly, include more high-volume
queries and possibly include additional keywords.
3 Go local. If geotargeting matters at all for you with online
search, it’s going to be vital for mobile.
4 Incorporate mobile functionality into the creative. Click-to-call was somewhat useful online, but it’s
poised to play a pronounced role in mobile search.
Anytime a consumer would benefit by talking to
a person, from a booking agent to someone at a
local store, click-to-call can potentially improve
conversion rates.
5 Target immediate needs. Mobile Marketer reported that 70% of mobile
search users complete their task after one hour,
compared to 30% on the PC. Make sure copy
and landing pages are useful for consumers
looking to meet their needs right at that moment.
Microsoft’s Doug McMillen told Mobile Marketer,
“As a marketer you need to be there when a user
needs you most. There’s a huge payoff in terms of
emotional connection with a brand if you’re right
there at the top of the listings and help the user
accomplish their task easily when they’re highly
motivated to connect with you.”
Mobile search engine optimizationSearch engine optimization (SEO) has evolved
significantly over the last two years, extending beyond
commonplace activities such as title and META tag
optimization to include diverse methods that keep
pace with the changing search landscape. Mobile
search builds on the basic techniques, though it
involves many new considerations to capitalize on
mobile devices’ design and functionality.
Optimizing a mobile website, regardless of the
markup language, still centers around the core tactics
one applies to traditional HTML websites. Core
optimization techniques such as title tag creation,
proper use of META tags, sufficient keyword density in
copy, the proper use of HTML page headings, and link
development remain vital for greater natural search
visibility. With core onsite factors in mind, brands
should focus on efforts that impact smartphones and
the next generation of mobile users.
When managing multiple versions of a website through
one content management system, many of the on-
site SEO best practices incorporated into a traditional
website can be ported to the mobile version. However,
due to the prevalence of dynamic content types such
as maps or mobile applications, there are several
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Search24
SEO considerations that are specifically applicable to
mobile search.
Mobile SEO considerations• With smartphones and other mobile devices
maintaining full browser capabilities (with
JavaScript), brands should look to optimize mobile
sites for the future. XHTML Basic 1.1, XHTML MP
1.2 and HTML5 are good choices for new mobile
site development.
• Utilize browser/user agent detection methods to
redirect mobile users to the appropriate mobile
version of your website.
• How fast a website loads can impact how well
your site ranks. Web browsing speeds can in turn
impact click-through and abandonment rates on
mobile devices. Providing users with a simplified
mobile version (WAP, XHTML, etc.), which limits
the use of large images and other elements
that slow page load, can greatly improve user
interaction and time spent on site.
• Searching for local information such as business
locations and directions is one of the most popular
mobile activities. Local directory submissions are
critical for brands to maintain accurate listings
within map applications such as Google Maps.
• As mobile naturally aligns with a searcher’s
location, more emphasis will be prioritized on
geotargeted landing page development and
customization.
• Traditional SEO on-site best practices are still
applicable. The proverbial spine of your web page
is the title tag. Instead of long 120-character titles,
consider focusing on the primary three keywords
and limit your mobile site titles to 50 to 70
characters in length.
• Build dedicated landing pages for mobile
applications that auto-detect browsers and
devices and can automatically load the appropriate
application storefront. This will make it easier for a
user to download and install the app. It can even
prove to be beneficial for non-mobile users.
• Evaluate where social media content is influencing
the mobile audience and develop a participation
and value exchange strategy to gain more real-time
exposure or links.
• If your website utilizes a significant amount of rich
Internet applications or suffers from congestion of
information, consider building a mobile version that
simplifies navigation and provides access to the
most recent content.
Looking to the future with HTML5 As more brands adopt HTML5, new markup
definitions and features will allow for simplified site
management and may lead to the extinction of mobile
markup languages such as WAP. While they’re several
years away from becoming mainstream, HTML5 and
CSS3 (cascading style sheets) can allow webmasters
to create and manage one website that performs
efficiently on mobile and traditional desktop devices.
25blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Less Framework, an HTML5-powered CSS framework
for building smart website layouts for varying screen
widths, is one way to build a flexible multi-column
website that intelligently collapses into a single column
for small screen devices such as smartphones. As
we collectively move closer to an HTML5-rich world,
mobile and desktop experiences will become less
fragmented and the application of SEO will become
much more efficient as the lines dissolve. More on
HTML5 is found later in this Playbook on page 61.
ConclusionMarketers with experience in paid search and SEO can
maintain their competitive advantage by constantly
applying the latest mobile search best practices.
Waiting until mobile search mirrors the scale of online
search could make it harder to catch up later.
Traditional Site Mobile Version
MTV’s traditional site includes navigation and content that prove difficult to use in a mobile browser (if the mobile browser defaults to the original website).
The mobile version of MTV.com, which loads automatically in most mobile browsers, streamlines navigation and optimizes content across all channels.
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27blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
For marketers, SMS marketing has the lowest
barrier to entry. Once the messaging platform is
in place, there is no creative development needed
beyond copywriting.
Anyone who’s encountered a teenager in the past
few years won’t be surprised that texting is especially
popular with younger consumers. The Pew Internet
& American Life Project reports that American teens
Even with all of the bells and whistles on headline-grabbing smartphones, SMS (or text messaging) still reigns as the most popular mobile activity. It’s the most universal functionality, given that SMS is available on almost every mobile phone, from lower-end feature phones to the priciest smartphones. comScore reports 65% of mobile subscribers send text messages, compared to about 30% using the browser and downloading apps.
SMS MARKETINGKEY FACT Texting is more than twice as popular as mobile browsing or app usage
GOALS IT ACHIEVES Deal alerts, event reminders, persistent CRM to develop relationships
BEST INTEGRATION POINTS In-store, out-of-home, TV, radio
3 Month Avg. Ending Apr. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jan. 2010Total U.S. Age 13+
Share (%) of U.S. Mobile Subscribers
Jan. 2010 Apr. 2010 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Send text message to another phone 63.5% 64.6% 1.1
Used browser 28.6% 31.1% 2.5
Used downloaded apps 26.7% 29.8% 3.1
Mobile Content Usage
Source: comScore MobiLens
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK SMS Marketing28
12-17 contact peers daily via texting (54%) more than
any other communication channel, including calling on
mobile phones (38%), talking face-to-face (33%) and
interacting via email (11%).
It’s hardly just for teens though. An April 2010 study
by Merkle found that 63% of U.S. adults 30-39 text,
as do 49% of adults 40-49. Additionally, 26% of U.S.
adults have opted in to receive commercial messages
on their mobile phones with an average of three
companies sending them mobile messages monthly.
How SMS fits in with marketing plansThere are several ways that brands can utilize SMS
as part of their marketing mix. Below are some
approaches to consider.
Building an SMS list for further communicationBranded shortcodes: A marketer registers a five- or
six-digit number, or shortcode, which often relates
to its brand as it’s spelled out on the keypad, such
as 262966 for AMAZON. Consumers can send a
text message to that number to opt in to updates
or engage with the marketer. Marketers benefit from
owning their brand name, but it’s relatively costly and
a lengthier setup process compared to other forms of
SMS marketing.
Shared shortcodes: Marketers can also run
campaigns on shared codes. For instance, Facebook
enables marketers to have consumers become a fan
of their page by texting “like” and the page name to
32665 (FBOOK). It’s one shortcode that can be used
with millions of pages, as each page has its own
unique name. Facebook has tried out offering physical
decals for marketers to place in their store windows
(see image below), and marketers can use the same
messaging in other channels, such as email. With
either form of shortcode use, the biggest advantage
is the integration potential. SMS callouts can appear
in: out-of-home marketing, point of sale locations, TV,
radio, print, online display, email and social marketing.
In that sense, shortcodes are the most adaptable
forms of mobile media, and of any form of media.
SMS contest entries: Brands can offer users the
option to text in exchange for a contest entry. Universal
Home Entertainment ran an SMS remarketing
campaign for the launch of their DVD “Bring It On:
Fight to the Finish.” Website visitors were encouraged
to text “BringItOn” to enter to win a prize pack. In
doing so, Universal was also able to collect opt-ins
for an SMS reminder when the DVD went on sale.
This is a great example of how brands can drive SMS
opt-ins through another form of advertising (TV, Print,
OOH or digital).
Facebook offers a common shortcode (32665, or FBOOK) that any marketer can use to promote their Facebook page.
29blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Utilizing an existing SMS platform as a way to reach your target consumer
SMS Advertising: Marketers can append their
messages to content that consumers subscribe to via
SMS (e.g. news alerts, sports scores, horoscopes,
etc). The ads can be used for a range of purposes,
from building up the marketer’s own SMS opt-in list to
driving traffic or engagement.
Marketers can also buy ad space
from mobile search providers such as
ChaCha, a service that allows users to
text questions in to “242242” (ChaCha)
and receive answers back via SMS. The
questions are categorized (e.g. travel,
entertainment, local geographies) and
brands can append their message to
the answer the user receives to their
question. This type of program can
work for any brand looking to align with
specific content (e.g. health insurance
marketers targeting health questions,
or a theatrical new release targeting entertainment
questions).
Marketers can use SMS to align their brand with
an activity that appeals to their target audience.
In late 2009, State Farm sponsored a SMS-driven
game at a University of Kansas football game. Fans
were encouraged to text in to show their school
allegiance. State Farm was able to follow up with
participants later via mobile. When considering
SMS, marketers should limit the focus
of their programs to content that
aligns with their target consumer’s
mobile behavior.
Myxer promoted Universal Home Entertainment’s “Bring It On: Fight to the Finish” with SMS-based prizes.
Ads appended to SMS alerts allow consumers to opt in to marketing promotions and content Image source: 4INFO
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK SMS Marketing30
Marketing options for text message contentEven with the limited character space, marketers
have many options for the content they distribute and
promote via SMS:
• Text content, such as product information,
informative tips, polls or trivia questions
• Links going to a mobile website
• Links to maps, such as for store locators
• Click-to-call links, leading
consumers to retail stores or
call centers
• Multimedia, such as images,
videos or ringtones
• Coupons, from codes that can be entered by the
consumer or cashier, or a link to a barcode that
can be scanned
SMS marketing best practices
1 Stay relevant When targeting content with any SMS publisher,
ensure that your message belongs there.
2 Ask permission Always obtain consent in the form of an opt-in
before messaging to users. SMS messages can
cost money, so it’s important that the recipients
know what they’ve signed up for and understand
the implications.
3 Offer something of valueThe last thing users want is spam on their phones.
Offer something they care about in exchange for
permission to reach out to them (e.g., a coupon
code or a link to exclusive content).
4 Use it for time sensitive eventsInterested users will appreciate the reminder.
ConclusionSMS provides a turnkey way for marketers to tie
together a variety of programs. On its own, SMS
may not create a large impact, but when used in
conjunction with other types of media, creative and
content, it can create a path through which users
can become more deeply engaged with your brand.
SMS can work well for time-sensitive promotions, such as in this American Idol tune-in reminder Image source: iPhonematters.com
State Farm encouraged fans to text in to show their college football allegiance. Image source: Mobile Marketer
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This chapter will provide an overview of mobile
advertising opportunities, explore how each media
tactic compares to its desktop counterpart, offer
frameworks for evaluating when to include each in your
plan and review overall best practices. Finally there will
be an overview of what can be measured to gauge
success based on the goals of your campaign.
Targeting optionsMobile marketing offers various ways to help advertisers
find their audience. As with online, you can reach users
based on location, demographic information, content
and publisher (app or WAP), but you can also target
particular devices and carriers. Here are some targeting
methods that you can employ across many forms of
mobile advertising:
Geolocation
• Marketers can locate users in several ways, such
as through GPS or wireless tower signals, check-
ins at local businesses through social applications,
and by using ZIP codes or localities entered in
search or weather queries.
Carrier
• Marketers can specify which mobile providers they
would like to target.
Handset/Operating System
• Marketers can select if they want to target users of
the iPhone or select BlackBerry devices, or users
of the Android operating system.
Demographic
• By tapping into non-personally identifiable
information provided by the carriers, marketers can
The mobile medium has the potential to bring to life the power of digital advertising and unleash a renaissance of creativity and innovation. Within mobile there are opportunities for display, rich media, video and in-game, plus constant advancements as new players and devices emerge. Like the rest of the online media world, the process of deciding which tactics make the most sense should tie back to campaign objectives and an understanding of the target audience, as discussed in Planning in Mobile Marketing on page 15.
MOBILE ADVERTISINGKEY FACT U.S. mobile display ad spending will top $1.2 billion by 2015 (ABI Research)
GOALS IT ACHIEVES Branding, engagement, content download, mobile web traffic
BEST INTEGRATION POINTS Online display, apps, video
33blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
select if they want to target men or women in a
certain age range.
Contextual
• Marketers can display ads next to relevant content
within the app or site.
Behavioral
• Behavioral targeting is still in its infancy due to
limitations on tracking users from app-to-app
and app-to-WAP. However, companies like
Millennial Media offer solutions that can track
users’ movements from WAP-to-WAP. Millennial
MYDAS™ Audience utilizes user profiles, opt-in
survey data and publisher-provided meta-data
to create audience segments. Furthermore, it
is widely speculated that eventually marketers
will be able to tap into iTunes-rendered user
behaviors and run an iAd campaign to target
users. Despite these advances, mobile browsing
behaviors differ from online, and currently there
is no way to track or target users from online to
mobile or vice versa.
Publisher-created targeting
• Publishers often offer their own custom targeting
vehicles, and for mobile it’s no different. For
example, Pandora launched its own iPad app that
enables marketers to target ads by gender, age,
location, type of music and time of day. Similar
to full-screen rich media units such as iAd and
Greystripe’s Immersion Ads, when a user clicks on
an ad within the iPad app, the ad will open a new
page without interrupting the streaming music.
Some of the initial sponsors include Starbucks,
Lexus and Budweiser.
Mobile displayMobile display encompasses any type of banner
advertising that takes place on mobile websites or within
applications. According to ABI Research, spending on
mobile display is expected to grow from $313 million
today to $1.2 billion by 2015, fueled by the growth of
U.S. adult Internet usage.
Buying mobile display Mobile display can be priced on CPM (cost per thousand
impressions), CPC (cost-per-click), or, in some cases, cost
per engagement (CPE) or cost-per-download (CPD). Like
buying traditional online media, brands should consider
which type of pricing will help them accomplish their goals.
• CPM – buying guaranteed impressions: CPM media
is good for branding campaigns where it’s important
to achieve a specific impression level and/or run on
specific sites.
• CPC – buying clicks: CPC media works for marketers
who want to guarantee traffic to their mobile landing
page, but who may not be as concerned with where
their advertisements run.
• CPE or CPD – buying ad engagement or downloads
of a mobile app: Similar to CPC advertising, CPE or
CPD ensures that a mobile program will deliver the
exact action that a marketer is seeking. This type
of pricing is good for brands that have invested in
interactive creative and want their target audience
to interact with their brand within the unit. It also
works for marketers who have mobile apps and are
interested in driving downloads.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Advertising34
The majority of mobile inventory is currently sold
through mobile ad networks. Similar to the early
days of online display advertising, networks provide
a way for publishers to sell inventory on their mobile
sites without dedicating a sales force to it. As mobile
inventory and advertiser interest in the medium
increases, however, more publishers may opt to sell
it on their own.
Mobile ad networks provide reach and scale to
marketers looking to buy within the channel. Because
the channel is still new, there aren’t standard creative
specs or sizes. Mobile ad networks help marketers
navigate the landscape and serve as a one-stop shop.
As with any ad network, the trade-off for marketers is
less control over where the ads run, but marketers can
mitigate this by excluding sites or specific content that
isn’t appropriate for their brand.
There are a handful of publishers such as The New
York Times, CNN, Weatherbug and Photobucket that
are able to sell mobile inventory on their own. This
works for marketers looking to round out an existing
offline or online buy with that publisher, or for marketers
who have custom offerings. It is difficult to scale with
publisher-direct buys because inventory levels are still
relatively low.
Mobile bannersMobile banners can be targeted across various
channels and categories of mobile sites and
applications. In addition, marketers can also target
mobile banners against behavioral and demographic
attributes.
One of the major benefits of mobile banners is
that campaigns can be built around the post-click
experience of the banner and do not need to drive the
user to a mobile site.
A major challenge facing mobile banner advertising
is the lack of standards across the various ad sizes.
Mobile banners come in a range of sizes to support a range of goals and handsets. Image source: AdMob
Smartphone Banner Ad
Text AdSmartphone Text + Tile Ad Banner Ad
35blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Marketers are often required to develop ad sizes for
a number of devices ranging in size from 120x20
pixels all the way up to 300x50 pixels. Additionally,
third-party tracking technologies are still a work in
progress. Marketers must often resolve discrepancies
that arise between mobile publishers and third-party
reported numbers.
Does this mean marketers should stay away from
mobile banners? Definitely not. While mobile banners
may require more upfront work, they can still be used
to meet campaign objectives such as awareness,
traffic and engagement.
Mobile banner advertising best practices
1 Take into account the various operating systems
and devices when developing ad sizes, as
mobile banners are usually not purchased based
on ad size.
2 If planning for smartphones, think
about the post-click experience.
3 Take into account how you want to measure
campaign success, as mobile metrics can differ
from traditional online metrics (see the section
on Measurement later in this chapter for more).
4 Think about where you want your mobile
banners to show up, such as on mobile
webpages or within applications.
Mobile videoAccording to Nielsen’s Three Screen Report, more
than 20 million users watched a mobile video in Q1
2010, which represents an increase of more than
50% year-over-year. eMarketer projects mobile video
revenues will climb from $436 million in 2009 to $1.34
billion in 2014.
Mobile video opportunities include pre-, mid- and
post-rolls that consist of 10 to 15-second video ads
that can run prior to, during or after video content,
as well as full-page video interstitials that take over
the entire screen prior to content. Marketers can also
create custom video companion ads or customized
video channels to promote their brand.
Click-to-video ad: Users can click on multiple links from a video ad to take various actions.Source: Rhythm NewMedia
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Advertising36
Best practices for mobile video
1 Ensure that the aspect ratio for the video is
correct, as it will differ from the web and varies
across mobile devices.
2 Make sure the video will work on a small screen;
dark and fast moving images won’t look great
on a mobile device.
3 Keep video ads short. Most mobile users prefer
shorter snippets of content, and slower mobile
connection speeds can sometimes cause
uncomfortable delays in video load times.
4 Similar to the post-click experience, think about
what the post-viewing experience should be.
5 Don’t use online benchmarks. Instead, create
new ones for mobile, as the user experience will
vary. Certain publishers and networks will have
benchmarks for various verticals.
Mobile in-game adsAccording to MobClix, a mobile ad exchange, more than
40,000 mobile game applications have been released
in the past year. As of summer 2010, MobClix reported
that more than 300 game apps are added each day.
Similar to PC or console-based video game advertising,
brands utilizing mobile in-game advertising have the
opportunity to reach a rapt audience before or during
a transition in gameplay.
Carousel ad: On a custom landing page, consumers can scroll through multiple video ads or clips.Source: AdMob
MMS video ad: Marketers can send video ads via multimedia messaging service.Source: Mogreet, via mocoNews
37blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
The sequence above is an example of an advertising
campaign on Greystripe’s mobile network. While playing
a game, at a break before the user moves on to the next
level, he or she sees an ad for a movie. The ad itself is a
game, but the user has the option to skip it.
Many advertisers have seen great success with mobile
gaming. It’s important, however, to think about your
audience and if they engage with gaming on or off the
mobile phone.
Best practices for mobile in-game ads
1 Determine if your target audience is likely to
engage with an ad more if it runs in a game. Such
ads can work best for marketers who have had
success with other gaming programs.
2 Temper your investment until you’re sure your target
audience will engage in gaming. Most in-game
advertising is sold on a CPM basis, and branded
games usually require a development cost.
3 Understand the audience of the game before
choosing to advertise on a specific game. Gaming
audiences differ dramatically, as a casual gamer
will likely be very different from someone who
plays a first-person shooter action game.
4 Provide value through entertainment or
interactions that appeal to your audience. It’s not
just about getting your message out there, but
rather providing an experience that makes the
distraction from the game worth it.
1 2 3 4 5
Game reaches a natural transition point
(example: end of level)
Ad isdisplayed
Ad menu is displayed
User selects ad action
Selecting “Done” returns user to game where they
left off
Ads within games can be games themselvesSource: Greystripe
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Advertising38
app or site in order to reveal more information. The
expanded portion of the ad can contain anything from
a static banner to a form to a microsite.
• Prestitials and interstitials are full screen ads (a
300x250 ad unit is standard for iPhone/iPod Touch
and Android) that are displayed on an app or site’s
welcome page or in transition to another section of
an app or site.
• Full-screen engagement ads are a form of rich
media engagements that allow marketers to create
an immersive environment.
- iAd keeps users within an application instead of
redirecting them to a page in their browser. This
enables users to explore the ad and interact with
it, and even purchase products.
There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to
choosing iAd as of summer 2010. Marketers should
check to see if Apple has addressed any of the
Mobile gaming will continue to become more popular
as smartphone penetration increases. If done right,
mobile in-game advertising can be as entertaining as
the game itself. The key is to create the right experience
for your audience – one that entertains and leaves the
player with a positive feeling about your brand.
Mobile rich media Just like with online advertising, mobile rich media ads
offer a visually stimulating way for users to engage
with a brand. There are various ways to capture a
user’s attention with these ads:
• Expandable ads are banners that load as
standard-sized ad units, and then when the user
scrolls over them, they expand over the content of the
Expandable ad: Best BuySource: Greystripe
Prestitial ad: Step Up 3DImage source: Photobucket
39blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
downsides when considering iAd, as
this could change at any time.
Pros:
• iAd allows marketers to get in front
of users as they engage with apps
they frequently use.
• Apple’s selling point is that iAd offers
interactivity plus emotion. People
not only interact with the ad units
but also feel emotionally connected
while doing so.
• Apple helps developers make money
with a 60% revenue share; this
enables them to offer apps for low
prices or even for free.
Cons:
• In order to run an iAd campaign, there is a large
monetary commitment up front.
• At first, these units may have high bounce rates
from people clicking just to play around and
experience the ads but not actually have any
interest in the brand or the campaign. On the
flipside, this could benefit some advertisers who
are running a brand awareness campaign and seek
to capture early adopters.
• Apple is solely selling, developing and hosting iAd.
As a result, you cannot develop your own iAd in-
house or use your creative agency.
Greystripe’s Full Screen Immersion Ads (formerly
iFlash Custom Ads) are an alternative to iAd and offer a
similar experience that involves rich media animation,
interactivity, and click actions without leaving the
actual application. Greystripe’s technology allows
them to take pre-existing rich media ad units built in
Flash and transcode them into HTML5 format that is
readable on iPhone and iPod Touch.
Beyond iAd and Greystripe, other ad networks
such as AdMob, Millennial Media, and Medialets
can deliver immersive creative experiences within
applications. Marketers should consider a number
of factors when evaluating such networks, including
reach, audience demographics, creative offerings,
targeting capabilities, transparency of placements,
development time required and the responsiveness of
account personnel.
Measuring mobile advertising campaignsDepending on the objective of your campaign, you
Interstitial ad: 90210Image source: Jumptap
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Advertising40
will want to consider how to best measure success.
For instance, a branding campaign may involve
measuring awareness or lift, impression volume, or
engagement. Direct response campaigns, meanwhile,
may measure clicks, conversions, calls received or
coupon redemption.
Brand metrics• Brand awareness and lift can be measured using
marketing research companies such as Insight
Express, Dynamic Logic or comScore to conduct
studies. These studies typically require a specific
budget and multiple ad units in order to reach a
significant impression level. Marketers can apply
what they learn from these studies to optimize
creative concepts and messaging.
• Impressions are generally recorded in aggregate.
However, it is important to consider unique
impression data in order to accurately determine
the true reach of a campaign.
• Engagement reflects how users interact with a
marketer’s ad unit or messaging. Interactions can
include mouse-overs, clicks, video plays, and
drop-off rates, and time spent playing a game.
Direct response metrics• Clicks are a meaningful measurement metric if site or
app traffic is the main marketing objective. In order
to gauge the value of the clicks, marketers should
consider the bounce rate, which represents the
percentage of initial visitors to a site who “bounced”
away rather than interacting with the site.
• Conversions are determined by the goal of each
campaign and help marketers evaluate the
effectiveness of their advertising spend. Marketers
can measure impact by looking at the conversion
rate, which represents the percentage of initial
visitors (clicks) to a site or app who converted by
taking a pre-determined action.
iAd promises to grab consumers’ attention with immersive creative experiencesImage source: Erica Ogg/CNET
41blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
• Click-to-call ads contain a telephone number that,
when clicked, populates the phone’s dialpad with
the number. If properly set up, marketers can track
how many calls were received, the duration of the
calls, and if the desired action was taken.
• Couponing offers a convenient way to target
promotions to a medium that is always on and
can act as a redemption tool. Marketers can track
coupon redemption and see revenue generated
by each individual code to capture granular ROI.
Phones enable users to consolidate customized
discounts in a single place, so it is up to retailers
to trace use of coupons to prevent multiple
redemptions and also track redemption rates.
(See more on couponing in the section on Mobile
Shopping, page 69.)
Tracking mobile advertisingAlthough marketers can track clicks and impressions
using third-party ad servers such as DART, tracking
conversions via third-party tags remains a challenge.
Therefore, as these ad servers focus on building
out tracking and reporting capabilities, the burden
of providing the analytical data rests mainly on the
publishers. If tracking application downloads through
the iTunes store, the developer needs to install a code
snippet that enables the publisher to record conversions.
Since discrepancies often exist among ad servers, we
recommend using third-party ad server click trackers
and standard tags to compare click and impression
data. Third-party tracking capabilities should evolve
quickly to meet the pressing advertiser demand.
ConclusionAdvertising models for mobile have evolved to be
very similar to desktop advertising models, yet it’s
important to consider how people use their mobile
devices compared to how they use their desktop
or laptop computers, and how mobile campaigns
should differ in light of this.
A mobile device is unique to an individual, whereas a
computer may be shared at home. A mobile device
is also a must-have utility that is rarely left behind,
unlike computers that get turned off or put away.
Understanding the nature of how a mobile phone
fits into someone’s life allows marketers to devise
strategies that make the most of this channel.
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Preparing for mobile social’s challengesMarketers who start learning what works with mobile
social media can wind up well ahead of their peers and
provide added value for consumers in the process. On
the other hand, there are plenty of hurdles with mobile
social marketing:
• Mobile and social are two areas that often don’t have
clear ownership within marketers’ organizations.
• There’s a higher learning curve in both mobile
marketing and social media as neither offers
clear-cut application of the media buying skills that
marketers have honed in other media.
• Metrics are still a work in progress, as are the
business models of many vendors in the space.
• Budgets are often too small to gauge the real impact
of a campaign, and the process can turn off some
who want immediate results on a large scale.
Marketers, agencies, publishers, technology providers
and others will need to overcome these challenges to
keep pace with the consumers and where they are
increasingly spending their time.
Mobile social media by the numberscomScore’s April 2010 data reveals that social
networking is the fastest growing mobile content
category, whether accessed by mobile applications
or browsers. There were 15 million U.S. mobile
users ages 13+ engaged with social networking via
applications, up 240% over the previous year, and
30 million users engaged with social networking via
mobile browsers, up 90%.
Facebook reports that more than 150 million active users
access the network through their mobile devices. Users
MOBILE SOCIAL MARKETINGKEY FACT More than 150 million people access Facebook from mobile devices each month
GOALS IT ACHIEVES Branding, engagement, drive to store
BEST INTEGRATION POINTS Online social media, digital word of mouth, email, loyalty programs
Mobile social media, any form of social media accessed through mobile devices, has much in common with online social media: the power of building relationships with consumers, the large and rapidly growing user base and the potential to incorporate sharing and community functionality into every form of content. Mobile presents new opportunities, as these untethered mobile devices are designed for communication – the raison d’être of social media – and can harness the power of location.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Social Marketing44
accessing its mobile services are more than twice as
active on Facebook as non-mobile users. Ground Truth,
a mobile metrics firm, reported that in April 2010, 60% of
the time U.S. mobile subscribers spent on mobile Internet
usage was on social networking sites.
Categories of mobile social mediaMobile social media comprises a broad field, but here
are some of the key forms it takes:
Mobile extensions of online social networks: The
largest social network, Facebook, not surprisingly has
the most mobile users, as well. MySpace and other
social networks have mobile extensions, such as
optimized sites or apps, and many are ad-supported.
One can expect that in the coming years, U.S. social
networks will follow the same course as Mixi, a leading
network in Japan, which now has three-quarters of its
users accessing the service from mobile devices.
Mobile-central social networks: MocoSpace, Mig33
and Peperonity are three social networks that launched
on mobile devices and attract most of their users there.
They tend to attract feature phone users and may
specialize in reaching certain target audiences, such
as MocoSpace with 70% of its 12 million members
comprised of Hispanics and African Americans.
Location-based check-in services: Users check in to
physical locations primarily through mobile applications.
See the the following section for more details.
Social gaming: Many mobile gaming applications
are either built entirely on social functionality or rely
heavily on social features. For instance, Words With
Friends by developer Newtoy is an asynchronous form
of Scrabble; it’s part of a “With Friends” series that has
recorded more than 6.5 million downloads. Gaming
company Ngmoco has developed a number of mobile
social games where users derive in-game benefits by
cooperating with each other.
Mobile web-based sharing: Any mobile-optimized
webpage can include various calls to action to share
content and offers with friends.
Gaming has helped propel mobile social media, thanks in part to hit apps such as Words with Friends.
45blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
App-based sharing: Many applications utilize
Facebook Connect to make it easy to share updates
or photos directly through the social network. Apps
will often allow users to find and invite their friends
through Facebook, Twitter and other networks.
Location-based check-in servicesAn emerging field within mobile social media is location-
based check-in services, where consumers use mobile
devices to say where they are, often to earn virtual
rewards such as badges and virtual goods. The crowded
field of these services includes Foursquare, Gowalla,
MyTown, Whrrl, Buzzd, Loopt, Brightkite, SCVNGR
– and most recently, Facebook Places. Google and
Yelp have also incorporated check-ins into their mobile
applications. CauseWorld has turned these actions
into acts of kindness with a philanthropic hook, and
FoodSpotting lets consumers upload photos of what
they’re eating wherever they go.
Most of these services don’t have the scale to
attract marketers looking for mass reach, but
many have growing and dedicated audiences with
disproportionate numbers of digital influencers,
and there are opportunities to reach consumers
with the right psychographics and demographics
for certain brands.
Here are a few examples of how they’re being used:
• TV network Bravo offers branded badges on
Foursquare for those who engage in activities
mirroring the characters on their reality shows.
Checking into a New York City restaurant, one
might earn the martini glass badge that says, “Way
to drink, eat, shop and spa like a Real Housewife!”
• MyTown is more of a game than a utility. Players
can buy locations and collect rent as they upgrade.
For example, H&M offers branded virtual goods to
players who check in at their stores. These goods
provide large point boosts in the game to help
players level up. Advertising Age reported, “During
the campaign, H&M was the most searched location
within the game, 700,000 users checked in to its
retail stores, and 8 million saw its virtual goods.”
• CauseWorld encourages consumers to scan select
Kraft products in stores to earn “karma points” that
can be donated to charity.
• IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) partnered
with Gowalla to extend its Hit It Big promotion.
When users check in with Gowalla at various IHG
properties, they may win prizes such as double air
miles or gift cards at national retailers.
• Loopt launched its companion app Loopt Star to
reward consumers’ loyalty for checking in to local
businesses. Promotions include Gap offering 25%
discounts for consumers checking in twice to
one of its stores, and Universal Music giving five
free songs to people checking in at any bar with
two friends. Loopt emphasizes the power to get
consumers into stores with its cost-per-visit model,
similar to Whrrl’s pay-per-visit approach.
• Brightkite ran a promotion with Starbucks that
used augmented reality to locate grocery stores
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Social Marketing46
that sell the company’s VIA products. When
finding a store selling VIA, the product’s logo could
be tapped for more information and mulitmedia
content, including videos.
Now is a good time for marketers to experiment
with location-based social promotions, as there are
opportunities to build fun, creative promotions that meet
a brand’s objectives. Marketers should find a balance
between spending their consumer dollars on reaching
a mass audience with digital, as well as experimenting
with smaller bets that can pay off in a big way to reach
influencers who can help spread the brand message
organically. Influence, not just scale, matters.
Developing a mobile social marketing strategyWhen planning a mobile social marketing program,
marketers don’t have to reinvent how they go about
developing a strategy or determining whether opportunities
make sense. There are four criteria in particular you can
use, as described in 360i’s Social Marketing Playbook,
which comprise the Social Marketing Strategic Lens.
These operate in parallel with the Mobile Marketing
Strategic Lens discussed on page 15.
• Does it use your social media arsenal? Which
assets do you have that could resonate well across
mobile social media (digital content, physical or
Bravo rewards “real housewives” with Foursquare badges.
H&M’s real products offer virtual rewards in MyTown.
47blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
virtual goods, celebrity spokespeople, etc.)?
• Does it follow best practices for social media
– and specifically mobile social media? Does
it fit in with how consumers are using
mobile social services and technologies?
Does it take advantage of the
functionality of mobile devices (voice,
location, SMS, camera, the iPhone’s
accelerometer, etc.)?
• Does it provide a value exchange between
the consumer and the marketer?
Or to put it simply, what’s in it for the consumer?
Do consumers gain information, exclusive access,
social currency or physical goods? Why will
they care?
• Does it meet your marketing objectives?
What are you looking to accomplish, and how
does this play a role in it?
Answering all of these questions will help ensure the
program is a success, and just as important, it will
help avoid some common pitfalls.
ConclusionSocial media is driving much of the growth of mobile
media, just as it has fueled much of the growth in online
pageviews and content. New sites and applications seem
to sprout daily, while business models of existing players
continually evolve to meet marketers’ needs. Marketers
should continue to turn to the strategic lens to evaluate
opportunities, as it can increase the chances of success
for any social marketing program, mobile or otherwise.
Does it leverage your
arsenal?
Does it follow the rules
of the road?
Does it provide a value
exchange?
Does it meet your
objectives?
360i’s Social Marketing Strategic Lens
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Social Marketing48
THE NAIL FOR SOCIAL MEDIA’S
HAMMERINTERVIEW WITH MICKEY ALAM KHAN
EDITOR IN CHIEF, MOBILE MARKETER
ickey Alam Khan is the Editor in Chief of Mobile Marketer, the leading publisher of news, analysis and
opinions on mobile marketing, media and commerce with the goal to help marketers understand how
the mobile channel can be used alone or in conjunction with other channels for branding, as well as for
customer acquisition and retention. Following he weighs in on mobile social media, and how marketers can
approach their customers in the mobile social landscape.
M
What characteristics of mobile devices lend
themselves well to social media?
The anytime-anywhere-always-on nature of mobile
phones lends itself well to social media, which is all
about connectivity and openness. The phone is with
the user at all times, and is especially used for social
and personal occasions if it’s not a company device.
So mobile’s the perfect nail to social media’s hammer.
How much of mobile social media involves
extensions of online social media (e.g.,
Facebook, Twitter, etc.) versus offerings unique
to mobile devices?
I think online social media services such as Facebook
and Twitter rule mobile social media simply because
of brand awareness and ease of use. Of course, there
are strong social media brands such as MocoSpace,
49blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
...Marketers must try to be friendly via social media, but not friends. Let consumers feel that they are part of the brand-building experience.
Gowalla, Flirtomatic and Foursquare that are mobile
phenomena.
Facebook and Twitter are easier to use on mobile
devices since the handset constraints require simple
design and cut to the chase. How they can monetize
social media on mobile devices is another story.
Why should marketers care about mobile social
media?
Buzz thrills – or kills. In this day and age when mobile
consumers set the tone for communications, it is
key for marketers to understand how to manage
their reputation on social media sites and services.
Anything that smacks of marketing overkill will slow
the enthusiasm for the brand.
Indeed, marketers must try to be friendly via social
media, but not friends. Let consumers feel that they
are part of the brand-building experience. Let them
feel they can personalize the relationship to the brand.
Also, I don’t think we should think of online social media
and mobile social media. They’re one – it’s the Internet
on different devices, but it’s still interactive. People have
relationships with brands regardless of channel.
What challenges can marketers expect, and are
there any ways to mitigate those challenges?
Marketers can expect consumers to be in even more
control of what marketing and communications they
prefer. Newer mobile devices and better sites and
applications will raise expectations of the quality of
messages delivered, authenticity of experience, value
delivered and privacy offered.
To avoid any social media mishaps, marketers must
understand that social media is first and foremost a
medium for consumers to communicate with each
other and shoot the breeze. Any marketing interruption
has to be a whisper, not a yell.
7MOB
ILE
APPLICA
TION
S
51blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Mobile app usage trendsOne of the biggest drivers of app usage is smartphone
penetration. Nielsen reports that by Q3 2011, roughly
half of U.S. mobile subscribers will use smartphones,
and smartphone market share will only increase from
there. comScore reports that U.S. mobile subscribers
are about as likely to have used a mobile browser as
they are to have downloaded apps, with both activities
growing fast quarter over quarter.
Apple’s leadership here is uncontested. More than
5 billion apps have been downloaded across Apple
mobile devices as of June 2010, and over 225,000
apps are currently available. The second largest app
market, GetJar, is an independent provider offering
apps across various platforms; it has recorded more
than 1 billion downloads.
How marketers can use mobile appsMarketers have three primary options for reaching
consumers through mobile applications:
• Advertise: Ad networks such as AdMob, Quattro
Wireless, Millennial Media, Medialets, Greystripe,
Celtra and countless others can run ads within
applications. It’s also possible to run custom
promotions directly with many app publishers and
developers. Major publishers such as top news
and weather apps may offer app ads bundled into
a broader cross-channel deal. Ad formats include
text, video, polls, lead generation forms, click-to-
call, store locators and games.
• Integrate: Marketers can work with select app
publishers and developers to create custom,
integrated experiences that are far more involved
MOBILE APPLICATIONSKEY FACT More than 5 billion apps have been downloaded from the iTunes Store
GOALS IT ACHIEVES Engagement, branding, customer retention
BEST INTEGRATION POINTS Search, display, in-store, digital word of mouth
Applications have become an enduring form of mobile media, thanks in large part to the ease of buying apps from Apple’s App Store and the increased usage of apps on Google Android handsets. The growing popularity of apps creates new challenges for marketers, as consumers’ attention is split between apps and the mobile web. Marketers will have to prioritize and make tough decisions when allocating finite resources.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Applications52
than ad buys. Several such examples are included
in the Mobile Social Marketing chapter. Some apps
even reject standard ad units and will only run
custom promotions. These are of course harder to
develop and scale than running a mobile banner
across thousands of apps, but the impact can be
considerable, as marketers may find deeper ways
to connect with their target audiences.
• Build: Building applications is an option for
marketers, and the examples below show how
apps have successfully been developed to fit in
with a marketer’s overarching goals. There are
several challenges though:
- Most popular apps are for gaming and
entertainment, which may be a fit for certain
entertainment and CPG brands but
is often not in line with objectives for
other marketers.
- Marketers will need to allocate
sufficient budget to build the app
and promote it. Without a strong
commitment to promotion, the app
may never gain enough visibility to
break through the tens or hundreds of
thousands of other apps. Marketers
should also consider what channels
they have available for promoting the
app, from email to in-store to branded
social profiles.
- App development requires an ongoing
commitment. The best apps, branded
or unbranded, go through constant iterations as
they improve based on consumer input, internal
ideas and changes in the technological capabilities
of mobile operating systems and handsets.
Updates also encourage consumers – who may
have moved on to other apps – to return and give
it another shot. This kind of commitment takes
strong leadership and buy-in to muster the time
and budget required to keep it going, especially if
the app takes time to gain traction.
How marketers are using branded appsMarketers have already deployed thousands of custom-
built apps. The application examples provided here are
for the iPhone, since marketers tend to follow the lead
of both consumers and developers in starting with the
most app-friendly platform, but marketers have also
found success creating apps for Android, BlackBerry
and other operating systems.
KraftKraft’s iFood Assistant, one of the first
and still most popular branded mobile
apps, helps grocery shoppers decide
what to buy and offers recipe ideas for
home cooks. The most entertaining
content, cooking videos, still serves a
very functional purpose, and consumers
are willing to pay $0.99 for the privilege –
money they can potentially earn back by
reviewing the “budget wise” suggestions
within the app.
Kraft’s dedication to fulfilling home cooks’ needs has made the iFood Assistant a perennial top seller.
53blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Tiffany & CoConsumers shopping for products with higher price
points than a typical grocery list can also find relevant
apps. Tiffany & Co created an app that lets marriage-
minded consumers browse engagement rings and
schedule expert consultations via phone or in-store.
The app includes a tool, shown below, that lets users
place a ring on the screen to determine what size it is.
What about the iPad?The iPad is on track to be one of the fastest selling
mobile devices ever, if not the fastest. In short, it
matters. Yet it’s not a mobile device in the traditional
sense. It’s more of a stationary device, used in
situations where one is sitting in one place, whether
it’s at home, at work, at a coffee shop, or on the train.
Silicon Alley Insider analyzed the top 50 apps for the
iPhone and iPod Touch and compared them to the top
iPad apps. Games and utilities were popular for both
groups, but iPad users also showed strong interest in
content and productivity apps. iPad users are more
inclined to lean back and consume content or lean
forward and get to work.
The iPad may in time resemble the iPhone more,
presumably with a front-mounted camera in a future
edition to enable video chat and other app interactions.
But it will never be as portable as a device someone
can stick in their pocket. Click-to-call won’t matter at
all, and location won’t matter as much. For a marketer
targeting an audience that’s using the iPad or sees
how the iPad fits into ways to achieve marketing
objectives, the options of advertising, integrating and
building remain relevant. Additionally, publishers and
marketers will continue to mine the possibilities for
using the iPad to distribute digital content and adapt
traditional media such as books, magazines and
feature-length videos. The device is the best format
to date for adapting the aesthetics and intuitive format
of traditional content, while providing enhancements
such as interactivity and portability.Tiffany’s little blue (and white) app helps consumers shop for gifts in little blue boxes.
Utilities
Games
UtilitiesGames
Productivity
Content
Top 50 Apps by Category
iPhone/iPod Touch
Includes top 25 paid and top 25 free apps for each deviceCategory determined by SAI, not by iTunes categorization
Source: Sillicon Alley Insider
iPad
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Applications54
Evaluating mobile platforms for developing appsThe mobile landscape is fragmented into an
alphabet soup of competing technologies, platforms
and standards. Should you build for the iPhone,
Android and BlackBerry, or should you concentrate
on just one platform? Should you support both the
iPhone and iPad? What about the different versions
of Android?
There isn’t one, simple answer – and there won’t be
anytime soon. The key to developing a successful
mobile app or website is to select the devices and
technologies that make the most sense for your brand
and consumers.
There’s no question that iPhone and Android apps
get the most buzz. They’re sexy, slick and run on the
latest, most powerful devices backed by technology
titans Apple and Google. However, there is a gap
between the number of apps available for these
growing platforms and the number of people who
actually own the devices.
In the chart below, at first glance, it may seem that
Java, Flash Light and Symbian are the natural choices
Mobile Devices vs. Apps Available
Device Installed Base (est. Q2 2010, in millions) Number of Apps Available in App Stores (Q2 2010)
3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000
Symbian
iPhone (iOS)
Android
Java ME
BlackBerry
Flash Lite
WindowsPhone
Source: VisionMobile, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Any use or remix of this work must retain this notice.
55blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
for app development with their large install base.
However, it’s worth noting several points about this
data:
• Older platforms (such as BlackBerry and Windows
Phone) lacked app stores until very recently, which
accounts for the low number of available apps.
• It took the Java ME platform (which represents
the majority of “flip” phones) more than 7 years to
build its library of 45,000 apps, while the iPhone
took just 2 years. Development activity on Java ME
platform has slowed significantly as consumers
turn their attention to smartphones.
• Some platforms are easier to develop for than
others. iPhone OS and Android are developer-centric
platforms, while developing for the BlackBerry or
Windows Phone is much more complicated.
Developers are definitely paying more attention to
the newer platforms. More importantly, iPhone and
Android users are much more likely to download
and use apps than users of all other platforms. This
makes these two platforms (and, to a lesser extent,
the BlackBerry) the current platforms of choice.
The difference between mobile websites and appsA mobile website is much the same as a regular
website. Both are viewed inside a browser, but mobile
websites are built to run on the smaller screens of
mobile devices.
There are two ways to approach mobile websites. First,
it could be a mobile version of your existing website.
This typically provides the same content and close
to the same functionality available on your existing
website. The primary difference is that the content
and functionality is optimized to display in a mobile
browser. This is something all companies should
consider doing. The fact is that mobile browsing is
growing by leaps and bounds, and providing a mobile-
optimized experience is fast becoming a requirement.
The second type of mobile website is more like an app
in that it provides specific functionality. For example,
a car insurance company may have a mobile website
that allows users to begin the insurance quote process,
but does not provide every other service available on
the company’s website.
A mobile app is an actual program that’s installed on
a mobile device – the same way Microsoft Word is
installed on your computer.
Mobile App Mobile Website
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Applications56
Mobile App Mobile Website
Required Platform Must be developed for each platform individually (such as iPhone, BlackBerry, Android)
Runs on all mobile devices with a browser (though there can be different requirements for different browsers)
Development Costs Can be more expensive if developing for multiple platforms
Often less expensive if limited to standard mobile browsers
Barrier to Entry Apps must be downloaded and installed on a device before use
Like regular websites, users need only link to the mobile website to use it
Marketing A well-defined strategy is required to break into the top apps lists on app stores
Marketing options for mobile websites are similar to those for regular websites: SEO, traditional media, blogs, Twitter and other social media. Additionally, mobile websites can be impacted by viral links.
Approvals &
Distribution
With a few exceptions, apps must be approved before they can be distributed via an app store.
Mobile websites have no external approvals, but also have no highly trafficked distribution channels
Market Size Limited to the number of users on the selected platform(s)
Any mobile device with a web browser
Usage of Native
Device Capabilities
Able to use all device capabilities (such as the GPS, camera, voice, Bluetooth, RFID, address book and calendar)
It is possible to use features like GPS, offline data storage and video from within mobile websites using the latest mobile browsers, which support HTML5.
Access from the web to some native capabilities of mobile devices is still limited due to security and privacy concerns (e.g., access to address book or calendar)
Upgrades More effort is required to release app upgrades due to app store approval processes; therefore, making quick, small changes can be challenging
Upgrades are simpler to release due to lack of external approval process
There are some important differences that should be understood when making a decision on whether to build a
mobile app or website, as shown in the table below, adapted from DudaMobile:
57blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Methodology for mobile app and website developmentIt’s critical to have a process for evaluating whether a
mobile app or website is best for you. The questions
below dovetail with the Mobile Marketing Strategic
Lens (see Planning in Mobile Marketing, page 15) but
go into far more detail for this scenario.
1 Define the value propositionFor every successful mobile website and app,
there are thousands that aren’t used or languish
in app stores. Make sure that your mobile website
or app has the potential to rise to the top by
validating the concept.
• Is it useful to consumers?
• Are there existing apps or mobile websites
that do the same thing? If so, what are your
differentiators?
• How will it benefit your brand and business?
2 Determine your target audienceIf it’s too broad, your mobile website or app may try
to do too many things poorly instead of a handful
of things well. If it’s too niche, there might not be a
large enough audience to be worth the effort. The
key is to determine the audience that will get the
most benefit from the mobile website or app, and
then tailor functionality to meet their needs.
Mobile App Mobile Website
Entry Costs Some app stores charge extra fees for publishing or certifying your app (Apple charges developers $99 and enterprises $299; Research in Motion charges $200)
None
Revenue Share Need to share sales revenue with the app stores (Apple takes 30%, Research in Motion takes 20%)
100% publisher/owner
User Experience Full control of user interface; ability to build rich user experience
Limited to the capabilities of HTML/CSS. User experience will largely depend on how the mobile website is designed and rendered in the browser
Performance Able to achieve high performance through app code that runs locally on the device
Depends on website design and data connection speed, but generally less immersive and responsive than apps
Offline Browsing Apps allow to download content and work offline
HTML5 enables it to some extent, but only on select devices
(continued from previous page)
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Applications58
3 Choose a vehicleThere are several decisions to make when
selecting a platform for mobile development.
First decide whether to build a mobile website
or app.
Build an app if your concept requires any of the
following:
• Rich, interactive graphics and user interface
• High performance
• Usability without an Internet connection
• Use of native device capabilities (such as the
GPS or camera)
• Access to other applications on the device
(such as the address book or calendar)
Build a mobile website if your concept requires
any of the following:
• More frequent updates
• Shorter development times (in most cases)
• Less need for an immersive user interface,
and more focus on presenting data
• Lower barrier to entry (no installation required)
Mobile websites can work perfectly well for product
information, comparison shopping, store or venue
location, basic information about entertainment
properties and commerce. Advanced elements
such as games and barcode scanners don’t work
as well, or at all, on mobile sites. If you want to
provide immersive entertainment or rich product
demos, such experiences may only be possible
through apps.
If building an app, choose a platform
Your first step toward a decision should be
taking a look at the web server logs of your
existing website. You may find that you’re
already receiving traffic from mobile devices,
and understanding which devices can help
guide your platform decision. Developing for
multiple platforms at once is generally a risky
decision – especially if the concept for your app
is unproven. Instead, marketers can mitigate risk
by picking one platform to focus on and learning
from and applying any lessons into the releases
for subsequent platforms.
4 Select trackingTracking is critical to your mobile app’s success.
Understanding how users are interacting with
your app will guide future releases. Established
tracking and analytics vendors such as
Omniture, CoreMetrics, WebTrends and Google
Analytics have solutions for tracking mobile
websites, although these solutions aren’t always
appropriate for apps. A number of services have
sprung up to fill this gap, tracking everything from
the number of installations, geographical location
of app users, app revenue, and app usage and
behavior. Select vendors include:
• Pinch Media (http://pinchmedia.com)
• AppClix/Mobilytics (http://appclix.com)
• Localytics (http://localytics.com)
• appFigures (http://appfigures.com)
• Flurry (http://flurry.com)
59blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Beyond tracking your mobile app or site, also
keep an eye on your main website’s analytics to
determine if significant numbers are arriving from
mobile devices, and view the trends over time.
An influx of mobile visitors may help justify the
investment in a more robust mobile presence. Be
sure to take a good first-hand look at the experience
on your sites for visitors using the mobile operating
systems represented in your reports.
5 Decide price pointThere are several ways to approach app store
pricing:
• Free: If your goal is to encourage as many
downloads as possible, then a free app is
the way to go. Marketers looking to generate
buzz should almost always select this option.
• Minimal Initial Charge with In-App
Payments: Both the iOS and Android
platforms allow for the distribution of low-cost
apps (generally $0.99) that contain in-app
opportunities for up-selling. For example,
Apple’s own iBook e-reader app is free, but
users can then purchase individual books
from within the app. Many games also use
this functionality, allowing users to buy game
items or access to advanced levels.
• Paid: App Store pricing trends change over
time, although $0.99 is still the de facto
standard. More complex apps generally fall
between $2.99 and $9.99. A small number of
specialized applications (such as navigation
apps) can be upwards of $50, but these
apps are rare.
Below is a table of the price point distribution for
the 200 most downloaded paid apps on Apple’s
App Store as of July 2010:
# of Apps Price
126 $0.99
33 $2.99
21 $1.99
14 $4.99
3 $6.99
2 $3.99
1 $7.99
1 $14.99
1 $49.99
• Free and Paid Version: An option that’s
been widely adopted over the past year is to
release both free and paid versions of apps.
This strategy allows users to experience
your app with limited functionality, and then
upgrade to the full-featured version once
they’re hooked.
6 Integrate advertisingSee the chapter on Mobile Advertising to learn
more about how marketers can run advertising in
mobile applications.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Applications60
Best Practice Mobile Website or Mobile App
Mobile devices have different screen sizes and resolutions; create an interface that
scales to fit
Both
Quick startup or load time Both
Sideload content as-needed instead of all at once Both
For forms, use vertical scrolling instead of multi-page steps Both
Plan space for advertising elements Both
Use a clear, concise taxonomy that avoids jargon Both
Keep copy and marketing messaging succinct Both
Convert large graphics, charts and graphs to list-based data for easy viewing Both
Refrain from using Flash as even platforms that support it do so poorly Mobile Website
Use fewer images for faster loading Mobile Website
Use a subdomain rather than a .mobi top-level domain (such as m.yourbrand.com
instead of yourbrand.mobi)
Mobile Website
Allow time for app store approval processes Mobile App
Plan for licensing fees Mobile App
Include support for native device features where appropriate (such as GPS or the
camera)
Mobile App
Best Practices for Mobile Websites and Apps
61blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
7 Plug in social networksUsers are increasingly engaging with social
networks via mobile devices. Marketers can take
advantage of this trend by embedding social
technology inside mobile websites or apps.
The largest and most obvious option is using
Facebook. Facebook’s API allows you to share
app activity (such as a high score in a game, a
purchase or an event) back through the social
network.
A good rule of thumb is that any social network
API available to a traditional website is also
available to a mobile website or app. Some social
networks have created mobile-specific APIs to
ease integration for developers.
8 Refine over timeFinally, users expect apps to be updated over
time. Evaluate user feedback, tracking data and
changing business goals to create a roadmap for
app updates.
Most importantly for both mobile websites and
apps – remember that you are designing an
interface for a finger, not a mouse. Positioning of
elements on the screen, and control gestures such
as pinch, zoom, and drag are unique to mobile.
Flash vs. HTML5The rise of the mobile web and smartphones set
the stage for an unexpected conflict: Adobe’s Flash
platform vying for relevance against HTML5 and other
related web technologies.
BackgroundFor years, Flash has been a de facto standard for web
content, with a market penetration of 95% to 99%.
No other technology competed with its support for
animation, interactivity, and video, or with its browser-
agnostic and cross-platform availability.
The iPhone, however, has never supported Flash, and
Steve Jobs has declared it never will. Apple instead
has cited that much of the web’s content was available
on its phone, and content providers can use an
alternative: HTML5.
A new challenger arrivesHTML5 is the newest version of the language that
powers the web. It represents an attempt to adjust to
the dramatic changes the web has undergone in the
decade since the last major revision. Most significantly,
it offers developers built-in tools to handle animation,
interactivity and video — all the areas in which Flash
has a virtual monopoly.
Apple has a huge amount of influence over HTML5’s
immediate fate, because of WebKit — the rendering
engine that powers not just the iPhone browser, but
most other “full” mobile browsers. Because WebKit is
so widely used, any technology it supports will achieve
market penetration extremely rapidly.
The impact on marketersAs new technologies grow in popularity, marketers
must find ways to take advantage of them. Flash’s
long-time dominance on the web has provided the
time to develop a variety of ways to use its capabilities
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Applications62
to create effective and interesting advertisements.
But the mobile space is still in its infancy, and it remains
to be seen how much of the technology that’s already
been developed will be transferable to it. Without
question, HTML5 is going to be an important tool, and
the first companies to master it will reap the benefits.
Developers and creatives will need to learn new skills
to take advantage of the opportunity.
Don’t get lost in the hypeIf HTML5 displaces Flash on the web, it will inevitably
begin to do so on the desktop as well, over time. But
Flash is hardly dead yet. There are still many things
that Flash can do that can’t be duplicated with HTML5,
and Flash has the additional advantage of a huge
developer base and a mature suite of development
tools. Even in the worst-case scenario, Flash won’t be
going anywhere soon.
ConclusionFor the foreseeable future, both apps and the mobile
web will keep taking up more of consumers’ time and
attract wider audiences, especially as smartphone
penetration takes off. The competition for attention within
the app market is daunting, and standing out requires a
marketer’s steadfast commitment. If creating a branded
experience isn’t the best fit for a marketer’s plans and
goals, there are still other ways to reach consumers.
Some of the toughest decisions will be whether to
prioritize mobile app or website development, as both
figure prominently into mobile users’ consumption
habits. Use the criteria in this chapter to evaluate which
option will best achieve your goals.
63blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
alerie Brown is the Director of Consumer Marketing at BRAVO where she is responsible for the advertising
and promotion of BRAVO’s slate of original programming across all platforms, including broadcast, print,
radio, out of home and digital media. During her six-year tenure with BRAVO, she has forged consumer-driven
marketing partnerships and content promotions with major digital media firms such as Twitter, Facebook
and Foursquare. 360i sat down with Valerie to learn more about BRAVO’s mobile marketing objectives, the
challenges of building versus integrating in the crowded mobile app space and more.
v
What are BRAVO’s goals when it comes to
mobile marketing? How do you approach this
channel as it ties into your overall marketing
and business objectives?
The greatest challenge facing television marketers
today is the decrease in live viewing, and the increase
of what we call time-shifted viewing or DVR viewing.
Mobile marketing presents a unique opportunity in our
daily task of engaging the consumer before, during
and after our show, wherever the user is. We would
be remiss to not factor in such a personal device
into our marketing strategy given its ever-increasing
importance in the consumer’s lifestyle. Our goal and
challenge is to engage the influential BRAVO viewer
who is affluent, engaged and tech forward. 80% of our
mobile users are on smartphones, a valuable insight
that validates numerous successful applications on
the iPhone and iPad such as BRAVO Now, Top Chef
Foodie Fight and Guides by BRAVO, to name a few.
HOW MOBILE MARKETING CAN FUEL BUZZ ENGAGEMENT
FOR ENTERTAINMENT BRANDS
INTERVIEW WITH VALERIE BROWN
DIRECTOR OF CONSUMER MARKETING
BRAVO
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Applications64
Mobile marketing presents a unique opportunity in our daily task of engaging the consumer before, during and after our show, wherever the user is.
Finding deeper levels of engagement extends and
strengthens our brand identity off-air. Our iPhone
application, Guides by BRAVO, offers nightlife,
dining and shopping recommendations, including
suggestions from our BRAVO-lebrities. In addition,
live experiences such as the BRAVO Talk Bubble
encourage viewers to tune-in live for a chance
to tweet with their favorite BRAVO-lebrities. Our
emerging media team maintains a consistent
dialogue with the consumer, pushing messages via
SMS/MMS, introducing them to several successful
initiatives such as our mobile clubs as well as to on-
air experiences such as live voting to engage fans
deeper into BRAVO content and experiences.
BRAVO was one of the first brands to partner with
the location-based social platform Foursquare.
Why did you decide to be part of the initial test
with Foursquare, and how did this align with your
objectives?
Foursquare’s mission of ‘go out and do something’ fit
seamlessly into our mission to engage and create a
deeper bond with the consumer on a local level, as
well as a medium to offer tips and recommendations
from our stars such as Isaac Mizrahi.
It was also an opportunity to reinforce BRAVO as an
innovator. In being the first entertainment partner,
we created meaningful mobile content and rewards
for viewers. Recently, we partnered with Sephora,
a like-minded brand in offering Foursquare Real
Housewives badge holders coveted, tangible
rewards that were endemic to the show. The buzz
generated exceeded expectations. In addition,
Foursquare provides a unique opportunity
for advertising partners in reaching influential
consumers such as Real Housewife or Top Chef
badge holders who are more likely to recommend
a new product or venue. Imagine checking into a
department store and being rewarded as a Top
Chef badge-holder with a 20% discount. This is
the potential we see for Foursquare, and why we
partnered with them. Our next steps are exploring
opportunities for scale.
When do you look to integrate with apps such
as Foursquare versus building your own, such as
your iPhone Application, Guides by BRAVO?
It’s a parallel path. Tremendous challenges exist in
building a custom application such as timing, cost
and resources in creating and refreshing content. A
65blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
partnership with an existing application with scale
allows us to reach digital influencers in the most timely
and cost-effective fashion. In addition, we develop
proprietary apps that speak to the core viewer where
we can leverage existing efficiencies.
How much of mobile marketing is about
promoting the TV programs and driving tune-in
as opposed to staying top of mind wherever your
viewers are and whatever they’re doing?
Until sufficient metrics demonstrate how mobile
marketing can affect a rating, our philosophy is to
be relevant, buzzy and ubiquitous. Being top of mind
is first base, and home plate is always the rating.
Custom applications, innovative partnerships and
inventive, integrated advertising allow us to achieve
this goal.
What are you finding most exciting among what’s
emerging in mobile marketing?
Mobile social applications such as BUMP are on our
radar as well as emerging opportunities in the location
aware space. With digital leaders such as Google,
Twitter and Facebook now investing in this space,
location-aware marketing and mobile marketing
overall can no longer be ignored.
8CO
MMER
CE
SHO
PPIN
G
67blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
How consumers shop via mobile devicesThere are three primary ways consumers use their
mobile devices to shop:
1 As part of the research process before they are ready to make a purchase
2 In-store when ready to make a purchase decision
3 Completing transactions directly from the handset
Compete illustrated mobile’s role in research in a
study of the travel industry. It reported that less than
1% of consumers use mobile exclusively for travel
research and booking, but 30% of consumers use
mobile in conjunction with online research, and 22%
use mobile in conjunction with online booking. Even
if it will take time for consumers to be comfortable
planning and booking trips using mobile devices, it’s
already playing a role in the process, a role that will
only grow as marketers develop and enhance their
mobile offerings.
MOBILE COMMERCE SH0PPINGKEY FACT 44% of smartphone users have downloaded shopping apps
GOALS IT ACHIEVES Sales (online, mobile and offline), purchase consideration
BEST INTEGRATION POINTS Search, display, in-store, print, out-of-home, online
Mobile commerce is in its infancy, with relatively few consumers making purchases directly
from their mobile devices, and relatively few retailers and marketers offering an easy way for
consumers to do so. Yet consumers are increasingly shopping via mobile handsets, as they
research products and services before completing transactions in stores or online. Coupons
delivered via mobile media are sending more consumers to stores, and several competing
formats of mobile barcodes are delivering product information largely to smartphone users.
The accelerated intersection of mobile, local, social and commerce is erasing the distinction
between online and offline environments.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Commerce & Shopping68
Compete further broke down all the ways smartphone
users shop. The greatest numbers use their phones
to get second opinions while they shop (62%) and
look up store locations or hours (53%). Another 44%
have downloaded a shopping application to their
phone, and 39% seek retailer or product coupons.
Compete noted 44% of consumers with smartphones
use their devices to check prices of items while
shopping in stores. eMarketer Senior Analyst Jeffrey
Grau recently cited this trend as well, noting, “Until
now, researching online and buying in a store have
been sequential activities that take place hours, days
or even weeks apart. But customers who bring their
web-enabled mobile phones with them into a store
can do online research at the point of a purchase
decision.”
Scott Dunlap, CEO of mobile shopping service
NearbyNow, recommended to eMarketer what
retailers should do. He said, “Mobile shoppers are
simultaneously in the physical world and in the
online world at all times… They just don’t want to
feel stupid by finding out later that [a product is]
30% off on an online shopping site. I think it’s very
smart for a retailer to put a mobile shopping app in
front of consumers because if they end up going to
Amazon.com, that retailer is going to get underbid—
guaranteed. Retailers need to reward people for
showing up in their stores.”
Mobile commerce is starting to become more
commonplace, as well. A Mobile Marketing
Association Survey from May conducted with Luth
Research noted that 17% of U.S. adult mobile phone
owners used their phone to purchase apps, ringtones
and other content. Another 6% received coupons
or discounts from their phone, and 6% purchased
physical goods or non-mobile content from their
handsets.
A Forrester Research study in conjunction with
Shop.org released in June indicates the progress
being made, noting 74% of U.S. online retailers
have a mobile strategy or are developing one. Yet
retailers say consumers using mobile web browsers
account for less than 3% of total site traffic and 2%
of revenue.
(Behaviorally targeted survey, Jan-Feb 2010, n=1246)
Mobile Phone Use for Travel Research and Bookings
Mobile Only
Both
Online Only
Research Booking Total
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
0.4%
30%
69%
0.2%
22%
78%
0.3%
26%
73%
Source: Compete.com
69blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Mobile coupon usageCouponing is already a booming industry in a global
economy bouncing back from a recession. The
New York Times cited retail technology firm Inmar’s
figures showing 50 million coupons were redeemed in
2009, up 263% over the previous year. Coupons are
attracting even more interest now thanks to advents
in mobile marketing. Borrell Associates forecasts that
U.S. mobile coupon spending will climb from $90
million in 2009 to $6.53 billion in 2014, though it’s still
well below Internet coupon spending, which will grow
from $4.2 billion to $22.6 billion over that span.
Mobile couponing is promising in that it rewards
consumers for trekking to retail stores. Like the age-
old store-distributed paper coupon, mobile coupons
incentivize purchases, but go one step further to
Mobile Shopping-Related Activity
How often did you perform each of the following shopping-related activities on your smartphone while shopping and away from your computer?(Percent of smartphone owners who perform the following activities at least once a month, n=1246)
Call, text, or send a picture message to someone to get their opinion on a product while in a store
Look up the address of a store or the store hours
Check the price of an item while at a store
Review a product description
Check the status of an order that I originally placed online
Look for retailer or product coupons
Look up shipping information of an item that I am considering purchasing online
Check to see if an item is available for in-store pickup
Make a purchase on my smartphone
Read a review while in a store
Check the status of a rebate I recently submitted
62%
53%
44%
44%
41%
39%
37%
37%
35%
35%
29%
Source: Compete.com
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Commerce & Shopping70
capture handset data for future marketing efforts.
Creating a mobile-friendly environment is crucial for local
store managers, who should ensure that signal levels
on all major carriers are strong within their floorspace.
Otherwise, prospects may leave to find a signal.
360i Vice President of Retail & ECommerce David
Randolph wrote about coupons on 360i’s blog in April
2010, saying, “This is the time for retailers to be in
full testing mode. Mobile is a long way from mass
penetration, but growing in its importance as a staple
of marketers’ plans.”
How mobile coupons workMobile couponing can be effective for customer
retention, driving consumers to the store or reaching
consumers when they’re in the store. A benefit of mobile
coupons compared to their print counterparts is that
consumers always have their mobile devices with them.
There are many ways to allow consumers to sign up
for coupons:
• Set up an SMS program for consumers to retrieve
coupons through their mobile devices. IHOP
offered consumers a free short stack of pancakes
to anyone who texted “IHOPFREE” to a certain
shortcode.
• Allow consumers to sign up online to receive
offers to the phone – through a website, a deal or
coupon site or a branded presence elsewhere such
as through a social network.
• Partner with location-based ad networks and
technologies such as Placecast, iLoop Mobile and
NearbyNow, along with other mobile ad networks
discussed in the Mobile Advertising chapter, to
target consumers with offers in specific locations.
Consumers can receive offers directly from the
mobile ads.
• Offer coupons through out-of-home technologies
such as Blue Bite that deliver coupons in select
stores or outdoor environments via Bluetooth or
Wi-Fi networks.
Coupons can generally be redeemed in stores at a
register by having the consumer show the cashier
the coupon, and the cashier can enter the code. It’s
also possible to scan the phone directly. A pioneer in
the space is Target, which in March 2010 claimed to
Mobile coupons can be delivered via text message, custom apps, barcodes or other formats.Image source: joepemberton on Flickr
71blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
be the first national retailer offering scannable mobile
coupons. Consumers can sign up online, at Target’s
mobile site, or by texting “coupons” to 827438
(TARGET). Consumers are then directed to a landing
page with multiple offers available at the nearest
Target, all of which can be redeemed by scanning a
single barcode at checkout.
Other forms of coupons are evolving through social
media. Foursquare reported that when Starbucks
offered $1 off any size Frappuccino for its mayors,
there were 50% more check-ins at its locations.
Milwaukee hamburger restaurant AJ Bombers
offered a free cookie to any Foursquare user that
added a tip and a free burger for mayors, and it
netted a 30% increase in purchases. During summer
2010, Twitter launched its @earlybird account
to deliver exclusive offers from marketers, and
marketers should expect the program to expand
to local and mobile versions if it’s successful.
Mobile applications can also connect with
marketers’ loyalty programs. For instance, dessert
chain Tasti D-Lite allows consumers to earn points
(and ultimately free products) by broadcasting
their check-ins and orders across Foursquare,
Twitter and Facebook. The CardStar mobile app
for smartphones provides a way for consumers to
manage their reward cards for a range of marketers
while also offering coupons and deals.
The technology behind mobile couponing is still in
its early stages but is progressing rapidly. The New
York Times covered an IBM product called Presence,
reporting, “Shoppers who sign up can be detected
as soon as they set foot in a store. That enables
Presence to offer real-time mobile coupons. And
tracking shoppers’ spending habits and browsing
time in various departments can help the system
figure out who might be moved to suddenly buy a
discounted item.” IBM further noted it is employing
“predictive analytics,” a field that has developed
rapidly online. Through mobile media, analytics can
connect online and offline behavior.
Target consumers can redeem multiple coupons with a single mobile barcode.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Commerce & Shopping72
Mobile payment optionsAs consumers increasingly complete transactions
directly from their mobile devices, there are many
overlapping and competing ways to pay for purchases:
• Credit cards: While credit cards are ubiquitous
for most mobile phone owners, entering a 16-digit
credit card number on a tiny keyboard or touch-
screen can try consumers’ patience, especially
when consumers must also enter billing and
shipping information.
• Stored registration by site or application: Sites
such as Amazon have many users’ registration data
on file, and billing and shipping preferences carry
over to their mobile sites and applications. It’s a major
time saver for users, but only for loyal customers who
already made a purchase through that site.
• Stored registration by handset: The defaults for
making purchases for applications via the iPhone
and Android respectively are through iTunes and
Google Checkout payment services. These make
it easy to buy mobile content, but also consumer
products, as Apple demonstrated with its Apple
Store app that accepts payment via iTunes logins.
• Credit card applications: Visa developed its
In2Pay application that works with a custom
iPhone case that can be scanned at retailers’
contact-free terminals to instantly process the
transaction. Rival MasterCard is letting developers
use its payment technology in their mobile and
web apps and launched its MoneySend app as a
PayPal rival. Going forward, look out for a program
reported by Bloomberg where Discover Financial
Services and Barclays are working with AT&T, Verizon
and T-Mobile to develop a way for consumers to pay
by swiping their smartphones over terminals.
• Pay via phone bill: Services like Boku allow
charges to appear on a consumer’s mobile phone
bill after opting in via SMS.
• Peer-to-peer payments: PayPal created an app
incorporating Bump Technologies that allows users
to pay one another by tapping their iPhones together;
payments can also be sent from the app via email.
Startups like Venmo also allow mobile money transfers.
• Scan credit cards with mobile devices: Square,
launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey,
allows any merchant or user to accept credit
card payments directly from the mobile device.
Retailers could provide these devices to their sales
associates or collect payments at events.
Square turns any smartphone into a credit card terminal
73blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Mobile barcodes Another quickly developing technology within mobile
marketing is the use of mobile barcodes, and there
are many competing formats. While most barcodes
require applications to read them and are much more
accessible via smartphones, they’re often an efficient
vehicle for linking the physical world with mobile media.
Some barcode scanning applications like ShopSavvy
and RedLaser center around standard UPC (1D)
barcodes that are commonly printed on product
packages. 1D barcodes have the advantage of already
existing on countless consumer products, but they’re
more difficult to create and customize.
There has also been traction with 2D barcodes, often
thought of as QR codes (beyond QR, there are other
similar formats such as data matrix). Additionally,
there are many propriety barcode formats built on 2D
technologies, several of which are discussed below.
2D barcodes tend to be easy to create, and they can
bring up a range of content such as links to mobile
websites, text messages, click-to-call phone numbers
and multimedia.
Google in particular is especially bullish about QR
codes, incorporating them into Google Places. Local
businesses can download QR codes that link to a
mobile edition of their Google Place listing, or a mobile
coupon. The business can then use these codes in
stores, in print ads or on other promotional materials.
Additionally, Google has emphasized QR codes to
promote apps for its Android devices. Since Google
currently has no app store online, app developers use
QR codes to link to their mobile applications, as Yahoo
did to promote its suite of apps.
Barcode case studiesUniversal Pictures and RedLaserTo promote the release of the Jude Law film “Repo
Men” that included barcode scanning as an integral
(and gruesome) part of its plot, Universal Pictures
Yahoo! promoted its mobile apps with QR codes.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Commerce & Shopping74
incorporated barcodes into its print movie posters
in a program developed in conjunction with 360i.
When accessed with the popular barcode scanner
RedLaser, a landing page appeared with exclusive
content related to the film. This was a rare example of
1D barcodes leading to entertainment content instead
of product information.
Bosch and QR codesTo promote its VitaFresh refrigerators in Germany,
Bosch placed oversized, wrapped packages of meat
purportedly coming from dinosaurs, mammoths and
saber-toothed tigers in supermarket freezers. The
packages included QR codes that linked to product
information for its appliances, garnering 75,000 views
from customers in the stores.
Unilever and JagtagWhen Unilever launched its new men’s grooming
product Axe Twist, it created custom branded barcodes
with Jagtag. The codes could be photographed
and sent via MMS (multimedia messaging service)
to 524824. Consumers in return received exclusive
video clips that Axe produced with comedy site
Funny Or Die.
Select barcode scannersThere’s more than one way to scan a barcode. Here
are some of the more interesting scanners to consider
for marketing programs, included because of their
consumer popularity, marketing applications, technical
capabilities or all of the above.
JagtagSupports: Proprietary format, which can be branded
Features: Consumers take a picture of the Jagtag
barcode and send it via MMS to receive special links,
content, deals or other information.
Microsoft TagSupports: Proprietary format, which can be branded
Features: Microsoft emphasizes the control
marketers have over creating and tracking barcodes
through this format that must be scanned with a
proprietary reader. Microsoft
reported that more than 1
billion tags have already been
printed. A range of marketers
and publications are using tags,
from the Mall of America to Get
75blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Married magazine. Scan the microsoft tag on the
previous page to access a must-read blog.
RedLaser (acquired by eBay in June 2010)
Supports: 1D
Features: Scan product barcodes to look for local
and online retailers, food allergens, nearby libraries,
and other information.
ScanLife Supports: 1D, 2D and proprietary EZcode
Features: The reader scans a range of barcodes,
including its own EZcode (pictured at right). Anyone
can create EZcodes for free, but for a fee, business
accounts have more options for what actions can be
taken with the code. Premium
accounts also include analytics
for the number of scans, unique
users, time of scan, handset,
carrier and demographics
(where available).
ShopSavvy by Big in JapanSupports: Primarily used for 1D, but also works with 2D
Features: With a user base of more than 5.5 million,
the app includes inventory and pricing information
from over 20,000 retailers. Big in Japan also offers
AdOns – ads targeted based on the product scanned
and its location. Ads can include content such as
product information and video, and its offerings in
the works include food and allergy information, comic
book previews, event tickets, coupons, trailers and
product reviews. Ads are sold on an auction basis for
popular barcodes or locations.
Stickybits Supports: 1D and proprietary barcodes
Features: The Stickybits scanner, powered by
RedLaser, allows anyone scanning a product’s
barcode to leave comments with text or multimedia
and view every “bit” others have recorded. The
scanner also works with Stickybits codes available
for free on the site or as stickers that can be ordered
for a fee. Brands can work with Stickybits to have
their own content listed first when their products
are scanned.
ConclusionThe good news for retailers, packaged goods
brands, travel marketers and others is that there
are no longer technological hurdles to deliver
product information, offer coupons and complete
transactions through mobile devices. All of this is
especially easy to accomplish with smartphones,
and in 2011, smartphone penetration should
handily surpass the more limited feature phones in
the United States.
However, other hurdles are numerous. Coupon
scanners can be difficult to implement at the point of
sale. Staff in stores must be trained how to accept
mobile barcodes or SMS-based coupon codes.
The wide variety of barcodes – including the names
(1D, 2D, UPC, QR, etc.) – create confusion among
marketers and consumers alike, and both seek a
more consistently reliable experience. With completing
transactions, the challenges trigger flashbacks to
online retailing in the 1990s; security concerns, on-
site usability issues and widely varying capabilities by
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Commerce & Shopping76
merchants create a chicken-and-egg dilemma.
Mobile shopping in many ways will be easier for
marketers and retailers than the 1990s migration to the
web. First, consumers and marketers have become
far more technologically savvy. Mobile devices are also
much more convenient for some aspects of shopping.
Coupons can be delivered directly to devices rather
than requiring the intermediary step of printing when
offering them online. It’s also much easier to create a
seamless experience for consumers with mobile media
to fulfill immediate needs based on exactly where they
are. Barcodes themselves are evolving from a novelty
to a necessity, delivering detailed product information,
discounts and relevant content, and the value proposition
is starting to catch on with consumers.
Mobile shopping by many measures has arrived. For the
vast majority of marketers working with major brands,
the question is not whether consumers are engaging
in mobile shopping. Marketers instead need to ask
how their consumers are shopping with their mobile
devices and how they can reach these audiences as
behavior and technologies rapidly evolve.
77blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
uring the past decade, Japan has been at the
forefront of innovating in the mobile space,
pioneering QR codes, mobile payment systems,
location-based services, mobile couponing, front-
facing cameras and mobile social networking. These
advanced functionalities and services have moved
from innovative technologies to integral parts of
people’s daily lives in Japan.
As the mobile industry takes off in the United States,
here are a few takeaways that we can learn from the
mobile phone industry in Japan:
LESSON ONE: Collaboration is key
One of the main drivers of innovation in the mobile phone
industry in Japan has been a spirit of collaboration
among key stakeholders, including governmental
policy makers, operators, device manufacturers,
content providers, marketers and agencies. Together,
these key stakeholders have helped each other grow
the overall industry as well as drive consumers to
engage with the mobile space.
By agreeing on common technologies that all
competitors can leverage, the Japanese mobile phone
industry was able to collectively focus on innovating
on platforms, instead of focusing on driving platform
and technology adoption.
LESSON TWO: Competition is the driver of
innovation
At the same time, while the spirit of collaboration has
turned key stakeholders into partners, competition is
still the primary driver of innovation, with consumers
D
by NAOKI MURAMATSUVP, DIGITAL BUSINESS DEVLOPMENT
DENTSU HOLDINGS USA
MOBILE INNOVATION:WHAT THE U.S. CAN
LEARN FROM JAPAN
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Mobile Commerce & Shopping78
being the primary beneficiaries. Operators continuously
lowered pricing plans to acquire more subscribers,
content providers developed more attractive offerings
to increase traffic, and marketers tried to maximize
the power of the new channel by delivering innovative
engagement vehicles.
Two characteristics really helped drive this growth –
direct billing structure and channel positioning. First,
since the beginning, direct operator billing has been
widely adopted in Japan, which enabled users to easily
subscribe and unsubscribe to paid content; content
providers, in turn, can monetize their content without
hustle. Second, marketers have utilized mobile both
as a media vehicle and as a tool to promote sales.
This channel positioning made mobile an intersection
of consumers, marketers and content providers,
which evolved itself from supplemental media outlets
to generate revenue.
...Now is the best time for us in the U.S. to review what Japan has done for the industry and to evolve for the needs of our market.
This “collaborative competition” dynamic has resulted
in a truly unique ecosystem within the Japanese mobile
industry in which growth and innovation flourish.
LESSON THREE: Focus on the behavior, not the
technology itself
While QR codes have taken off in the Japanese market,
we all know that QR codes have yet to substantially
gain popularity and usage in the Western market. Yes,
technological treasures are there. From little trials to
large-scale projects, now is the best time for us in the
United States to review what Japan has done for the
industry and to evolve for the needs of our market.
The point, however, isn’t just to focus on the technology
itself, but to focus on the consumer need. By taking
a more consumer-centric approach to developing
mobile, we’ll ensure the needs of both marketers and
consumers are met.
The world is certainly becoming more “flat.” We’ll soon
move away from regional mobile platforms to global
ones. With overall mobile growth being accelerated by
the emergence of the smartphone, we must take the
spirit of “collaborative competition” from Japan and
apply it around the world to drive mobile innovation
forward.
Eugene Chung, Strategic Development Director at
Dentsu Holdings USA, contributed to this article.
9PA
RTIN
G
THOU
GHTS
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Parting Thoughts80
1 Insights are often less accessible. Some research firms have beefed up their
mobile offerings during the past year, but such
information often isn’t as robust as what’s
available for websites and Internet users.
2 It’s another source of data to monitor. Marketers need to analyze how mobile users
are accessing their mobile sites and how
those behavior patterns match up with what
users are doing online. This can be even more
complicated if there are separate mobile sites
and applications.
3 Fragmentation will be one of the more persistent mobile marketing challenges. Which devices and operating systems are used
by your target customer base? How does your
target audience divide their time across various
mobile channels? How can you find them across
a jumbled array of publishers and ad networks?
PARTING THOUGHTS
How do you develop enough creative units that
work across all of the devices included in a media
plan? Fragmentation becomes a hurdle at so
many stages of the process.
4 Scale will continue to be a challenge in the short-term. Consider mobile search projections from RBC
Capital Markets that ran in Silicon Alley Insider.
Over the coming years, mobile search will grow at
a faster pace than global web searches, but even
in 2012, mobile volume will be about a quarter
of web search. The issue of scale pops up
everywhere, and it’s closely correlated with the
fragmentation issue. Do you target consumers
on the iPhone where mobile media consumption
is robust, or do you go broader across different
devices and operating systems to achieve the
maximum reach? Scale issues will ease as more
publishers, networks and devices ramp up their
users, usage and inventory.
OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF MOBILE MARKETING
If this Playbook has been largely bullish on mobile marketing, that’s because marketers can be doing more to reach consumers who are increasingly turning to mobile as the first screen, not the third. This Playbook has addressed challenges that marketers face, and those are enumerated here. By understanding the challenges, marketers can plan for them and, in the best case scenarios, use them to their advantage.
81blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
5 Many marketing opportunities are entirely new for mobile. From SMS ads to location-based check-in deals
and mobile barcodes, these new opportunities
require new creative and new thinking for how
to best use them. The biggest challenge is the
learning curve to understand how these very new
marketing opportunities can tie in with marketers’
overarching strategies.
6 Costs tend to be too high or too low. Advertising rates tend to be higher than what
marketers are used to paying for similar inventory
online, sometimes exponentially so. These costs
can often be justified (refer to mobile’s brand
impact in the Mobile Marketing Overview for some
rationale), but it makes mobile more difficult to
sell. Alternatively, marketers will often run mobile
campaigns with miniscule trial budgets so the
impact underwhelms, and there isn’t a chance to
optimize the campaign. Disheartened, marketers
can wind up dismissing mobile as ineffective
before fully understanding how to best use it.
7 Integration is imperative.Given how seamlessly consumers use their
mobile devices to navigate between digital and
traditional experiences, marketers need to tell a
cohesive story. Email and radio can build SMS
lists, in-store messaging and Sunday circulars can
Total Searches on Smartphones and PCs (in billions)
Global Web Searches
2009E 2010E 2011E 2012E
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Searches on Smartphones
Source: Silicon Alley Insider Chart of the DayData: RBC Capital Markets Corp.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Parting Thoughts82
promote mobile shopping apps, and barcodes
on packaging can drive video views of a trailer.
This requires coordination across marketers’
organizations and agencies that wasn’t always
managed with online marketing, and wasn’t
always necessary in the same way it is for mobile.
8 The ownership of mobile in a marketer’s organization is often unclear. Is the owner a digital marketing lead, even if mobile
has major traditional marketing implications? Is
mobile used strategically or more tactically? Which
agencies can handle which elements of mobile
marketing? Top-down buy-in can elevate mobile’s
visibility within an organization, but it also needs to
be clear who will execute on the vision.
9 The pace of innovation and change continues to accelerate. Quick, name the latest “iPhone killer” Android
phone being released this week. Name the
top paid and free apps in the iTunes store.
Name the hot mobile ad network that just got
funding. Whatever the answers are, they’ll be
different next week. Some of what’s new and
improved will matter, and much of it won’t.
Even established companies may be under
the radar for marketers with limited experience
in mobile. Companies like 4INFO, Greystripe,
InMobi, Millennial Media, NearbyNow, Nexage,
SCVNGR, Square, ShopSavvy and Whrrl
all sound like some alphabetic jumble until
marketers understand how they fit in with mobile
advertising, shopping and social media.
0 Mobile shopping can try the patience of marketers and consumers. Coupon scanners can be difficult to implement at
the point of sale. Staff in stores must be trained
how to accept mobile barcodes or SMS-based
coupon codes. The variety of barcodes adds to
the confusion. With completing transactions, the
challenges include security concerns, on-site
usability issues and widely varying capabilities by
merchants.
All of these challenges can and will be overcome.
Some require a learning curve, from marketers
figuring out how to run integrated mobile programs
to consumers learning how and why to scan a
barcode. Many just take time, as the trends of
smartphone adoption, mobile search usage and
mobile shopping are all accelerating at a fast clip.
Marketers have an incredible opportunity today to
address these issues head on: ramping up adoption
by educating their colleagues and their consumers,
pushing their research vendors, agencies and
publishers to address their needs and continually
optimizing their mobile programs to better achieve
objectives.
ConclusionWe’re now at a turning point, where mobile usage
is prominent enough for it to be a viable marketing
channel for any kind of marketer or brand. At some
point, mobile media usage will likely rival and then
surpass Internet usage, and this will fundamentally
change how marketers find and build relationships
with their target audiences.
83blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
There are tremendous opportunities within mobile. The
perspectives throughout this Playbook can help make
the case to expand your mobile marketing initiatives,
from the market norms to the shopping habits to the
best practices for a range of mobile advertising tactics.
Beyond all this, there’s the opportunity to experiment,
learn, optimize, lead and serve consumers in ways
that competing brands aren’t able to do yet. These
benefits can further add to mobile’s returns.
Granted, mobile marketing has its challenges, from
fragmented handset and operating system markets to
evolving metrics and pricing standards. And the last
thing any marketer should do is to allocate a few dollars
to some mobile add-on just to be able to say they’re
doing mobile marketing; that only sets up such programs
to underwhelm the marketer – and the consumer.
Such obstacles, though, shouldn’t get in the way of
incorporating mobile when and how it makes sense.
With all of the opportunities mobile offers today, at
this point mobile should be included in any major
integrated campaign or marketing program, and it
should always be part of the consideration set.
As much information as you may have pored over
here, it’s meant to be a starting point. We welcome
any thoughts and questions that arise as we
collectively work to address the opportunities and
challenges ahead.
MOBILE MARKETING PLAYBOOK Glossary84
GLOSSARYTerm Description
1D Barcodes Also considered linear barcodes, with UPC being the most common example
2D Barcodes A barcode format that can hold more data than 1D formats; QR codes are the best known example
3G A mobile communication standard, that allows simultaneous use of speech and data services at higher data transmission rates (14Mbit/s)
4G Fourth generation of cellular wireless standards, allows for even higher data transmission speed than 3G; currently only available in select markets on certain devices
Android Google’s Linux-based operating system for mobile devices. Latest version 2.2 (nicknamed FroYo) was released on May 20, 2010
BlackBerry A line of smartphones developed by RIM, primarily known for its ability to send and receive emails. Second most popular smartphone after Nokia’s Symbian OS worldwide
Bluetooth An open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short length radio waves) from fixed and mobile devices
BREW Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, a mobile application development platform originally designed for CDMA mobile phones by Qualcomm; primarily seen on old-style “flip” phones
Flash Lite A version of Adobe Flash Player for mobile phones and devices
GPS Device A device that receives Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to determine its present location
HTC A Taiwan-based manufacturer of mobile devices. The HTC Dream device (known as T-Mobile G1) was the first phone to use Android mobile platform
HTML5 Newest, in-progress HTML standard; includes native audio and video playback in a browser, geolocation support and offline storage database
85blog.360i.com twitter: @360i
Term Description
iOS Mobile operating system developed by Apple that runs on the iPhone and iPad
iPad A tablet computer developed by Apple, includes multi-touch screen, runs iOS operating system. Applications are distributed via Apple’s app store
iPhone A line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones designed and sold by Apple. The user interface is built around the multi-touch screen and includes a virtual keyboard; also runs iOS
Java ME Java Platform, Micro Edition – a platform designed for mobile devices by Sun Microsystems. Commonly found on old-style “flip” phones
Less Framework An HTML5 powered CSS framework for building smart website layouts for varying screen widths
MMS Multimedia messaging service, a standard for sending multimedia to and from mobile handsets
Mobile Web Refers to the use of Internet-connected applications, or browser-based access to the Internet from a mobile device - such as a smartphone or tablet PC
QR Codes See 2D Barcodes
Samsung Bada A mobile operating system developed by Samsung Electronics. Designed to cover both low-end feature phones and smartphones.
SMS Short message service, or text messaging
Symbian OS One of Nokia’s mobile operating systems for mobile devices and smartphones. Devices running Symbian OS account for 46.9% of smartphone sales, making it world’s most popular mobile OS.
WebOS Palm’s mobile operating system, runs on Linux kernel; recently sold to Hewlett-Packard
Windows Phone Microsoft’s operating system for mobile devices and smartphones. Currently fifth most popular mobile OS worldwide
Source: Adapted from Wikipedia
(continued from previous page)
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