http://intentindex.com/mobile

We’ve been quiet for a few months, but there has been a lot of activity behind the scenes and we’re happy to announce 8 confirmed sponsors including 5th Finger, Acquity Group, Artisan, Interactive Mediums, Paladin Staffing, Phenomblue, Punchkick Interactive and Ruder Finn. There are still a few sponsorship opportunities available — if you’re interested, please contact Kelly Stickel, conference director, at 312.371.9302 or kstickel@prodigy.net.

Stayed tuned for more updates on Mobile University, including the speaker line-up and registration details.

Last spring, a shopper marketing agency spoke at a conference about mobile marketing.  I was excited because I thought I had found someone who knew the space well.  And who could join me in helping to educate marketers/agencies on how to use mobile in-store.  Unfortunately, a closer look revealed that they had no background in mobile.  So these two “experts” with no meaningful mobile experience were talking to a crowd about how to use it in retail.

This was only the beginning.  I know of three other shopper marketing agencies who are infusing mobile into their offerings as a core strategy.  It seems that ordaining someone the mobile “expert” is sufficient to make it a core competency.  Whether these agencies can pull it off is not the big issue in my mind.  My concern is what happens when most of these programs meet with mediocre success.  Or worse, when they hurt the business or piss off the consumers.  And what the agencies are advising their clients about the capabilities of mobile in the retail environment – and how do they know what to say?

The reality is that mobile marketing is very, very good at creating purchase.  It can alter the power equation from the retailers back to the consumer goods companies.  TV too expensive to place in all but the key Walmart locations?  That’s ok, mobile can deliver video straight to your consumers phones while they’re in the store.  Can’t secure enough shelf space to deliver your branding and value proposition?  No sweat, you can send messages, video, slideshows and engaging quizzes, surveys, sweepstakes, coupons through mobile.

Are you reliant on your retailers to communicate with the shopper?  Problem solved.  Mobile creates a link direct to your consumer.  For the segments that you care about you can have a conversation directly with them.  If you worry that the retailers’ staff can’t possibly sell your products as well as you can, these complicated feature/benefits can be transmitted over 3G networks.

I’m a big fan of mobile marketing’s potential in-store.  I think the first brands to reach their consumers this way will enjoy great advantages.  At the same time I worry that there are many agencies out their touting their mobile expertise when it isn’t really true.  So check with your agencies and find out how long they’ve been executing mobile.  Who is their expert and what are his/her credentials?  Do they have a team dedicated to mobile?  These questions will help you make sure your brand is in safe hands.  Your consumers and your sales will thank you.

- Hugh Jedwill
CEO, Mobile Anthem
Executive Director, Heartland Mobile Council

I joined Interactive Mediums recently to help the company articulate and realize a vision that focuses on the value of mobile interactions, not just the reach promised by devices carried by virtually every person in the world.  While technologies, metrics and marketing approaches evolve around this idea, all are centered on collecting customer data that should inform more relevant ongoing dialogues with customers.  Creating a Mobile Customer Data Asset I believe is a logical first step toward this end, and is something I have blogged about extensively here http://blog.interactivemediums.com/.

While the industry moves toward more defined metrics and standards for mobile marketing success, marketers need to embrace a process that uses customer data gathered via mobile and other channels to drive richer, more fulfilling customer experiences, and ultimately more business/sales.  Too many approach the mobile medium as a one off exercise as opposed to an interaction channel that may soon become the only one that matters.

I am excited the Heartland Mobile Council holds a similar vision for the industry, and agree that demand for mobile marketing products and services can be spurred by promoting the heartland as a proving ground of sorts for mobile.

Gib Bassett, Director of Marketing, Interactive Mediums

Now that you understand how mobile can help you reach your customers in a targeted and personal way, forming a strategy to integrate mobile with your brand’s communication strategy can be daunting. The key to success for your mobile campaign isn’t necessarily using the latest technology or releasing an app with a sexy design. Start by identifying the business problem that you are trying to solve. Once you have your business goal in mind, then you can plug in the appropriate mobile solution.

Here are some examples of brands using mobile to solve a business need and the mobile solution they’ve selected to deploy them:

Brand – Benjamin Moore

Goal – Brand Engagement

Benjamin Moore released a free iPhone app (ben Color Capture) to capture color, which can then be matched and coordinated with Benjamin Moore paint colors. This fun, intuitive app allows customers to interact with Benjamin Moore’s paint colors and find nearby stores to make their purchase.

http://www.geeksugar.com/3182153

Brand – Jaguar

Goal – Lead Generation

Jaguar uses mobile as a lead gen tool to increase foot traffic to dealerships, offer product brochures and opt consumers in to its SMS database. By integrating short codes into several media channels like print, television and outdoor, consumers can easily find their nearest dealership by texting “JAGUAR” to 24442: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/3376.html

Brand –  MLB.com

Goal – New Revenue Stream

MLB.com’s At Bat 2009 iPhone app brings live streaming baseball games, real-time updates and schedules to fans on the go. The $9.99 download not only excites sports fans but the app opens up a new sales model for struggling media groups.

http://www.mlb.com/mobile/iphone/

Brand – American Airlines

Goal – Communication and / or support channel

Many airlines like American Airlines understand that travelers may not be near a computer before upcoming flights. By creating a WAP site, like http://www.aa.com/mobile, customers may view flight reservations, check in to flights, view flight schedules and status and much more. Mobile boarding passes are even available for some flights.

http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/urls/mobileBoarding.jsp&anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=mobileboarding

Expanding your brand’s communication channels to use mobile may include hot new technologies but at the end of the day, we need to solve business goals. Ultimately, it’s a lot of fun to pour a beer or create a fart sound but with smaller budgets and taller performance targets, brands need to think of mobile as more than a branding tool and plan their campaigns with performance in mind.

Molly Garris

Digital Direct Marketing Manager, Arc Worldwide .. an affiliate of Leo Burnett

Mobile markeitng is very similar to online marketing.  The mobile device can be used for transactions or service alerts…such as weather updates, bank account updates, or a simple order confirmation.  SMS (short message service), shortcodes, and direct mail are other examples of mobile marketing through direct response.

We continue to see case studies of marketers shifting their dollars to connect with consumers or prospects on the mobile platform.  Here in Chicago…I recently passed a billboard with Kayne West on it asking for people to text a shortcode to get more information and where to buy his new CD.  Another example is when I was recently traveling to Texas, my airline sent me a text message saying that my flight was delayed and provided me with a new gate number.    These are just a few examples of companies communicating with me via my mobile device.

The talk of the town in the mobile space is privacy.  If you are going to communicate with your consumers, you better make sure that you have their permission and that they have opted-in to receive messages from you.  You can seriously tarnish your brand by sending out messages to people on the mobile device that are irrelevant and without their consent.  Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft said it best.  ”We use three screens every day…our television, computer, and mobile device.  Our mobile device is the only one that we carry with us at all times.”  Our mobile phone is very personal…heck some of you won’t even share it with your signifcant other.  If consumers sign up to recieve alerts on their mobile device…it means that they are very interested and engaged.  Use this to your advantage!

Here are just a few helpful tips to get you started with mobile:

• Make mobile a bigger part of your campaign…mobile alone will not work
• Start asking your consumers who are already engaged with your brand for permission to market to them via their mobile device
• Create a mobile optimized version of your website (WAP)
• Make it viral
• Have clear opt-out instructions
• Be relevant
• Put some thought into your message (160 characters)
• Set a strategy and expectations

Dirk R. Rients – HMC Founding Member

Why? Because despite the huge press it receives, the mobile space is still a mystery. Their agencies don’t know what to do with it. The mobile technology companies they talk to don’t know how to make mobile relevant. If they look for best practices they will find plenty of case studies but few with quantitative results. Furthermore, there are no metrics to measure mobile’s effectiveness. It’s a black box with none of the hallmarks of a mature advertising medium.

If you think of “mobile marketing” as a brand, it has great brand awareness. There are over 270 millions mobile phones in the U.S. alone so it’s hard to not notice. Consideration is no longer an issue either. In just the last six months there has be a marked increase in mainstream media coverage of mobile marketing, particularly iPhone applications. Even trial is not an issue. Of U.S. online advertisers, 67% have at least dabbled in mobile marketing.[1]

Our issue is getting repeat. Only 8% of online advertisers are invested heavily or have mobile as a big part of their budget.[2] Ask any marketer and they would love to have two-thirds trial. Ask them again what would happen if their brand only got 8% repeat.

The question is how do we get repeat? We have to provide marketers with the information and support systems that allow them to commit to mobile. Not just case studies of other big brands, but ones that show real, quantitative results. Not just Click-through rates and opt-in rates. These have no meaning to marketers. What’s needed is an industry group that will educate and create meaningful benchmarks and metrics.

To date, the mobile industry groups that exist, help support those within the industry. The MMA does the necessary work to build guidelines and structures with the carriers and mobile companies. But no one is talking to the marketers who will invest money into mobile campaigns. The HMC will address this gap and release the stop gates that prevents whole scale adoption of mobile into brand marketing plans. Without people and organizations like HMC, adoption of mobile marketing will be as slow and painful as the last 15 years of internet marketing. With “history” so close, we should be able to learn and do better!

- Hugh Jedwill, Executive Director, Heartland Mobile Council

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