Aberdeen Research: The Mobile Channel Unites Marketing and IT

Opposites Attract
The Mobile Channel Unites Marketing and IT

July 2011
Andrew Borg, Omer Minkara

July, 2011

Opposites Attract
The Mobile Channel Unites Marketing and IT
Research Brief
Organizations today are under increasing pressure to grow their market
presence in the face of heightened market competition and an overcrowded Aberdeen’s Research Briefs
and noisy media landscape. In May of 2011, Aberdeen surveyed more than provide a detailed exploration
220 end-user organizations for its Metric-Driven Mobile Marketing study, of a key finding from a primary
scheduled for publication in August 2011. The research findings indicate that research study, including key
performance indicators, Best-
high customer adoption rates of mobile devices, combined with the
in-Class insight, and vendor
constant need to increase customer loyalty by improving customer insight.
satisfaction are driving organizations to invest in implementing marketing
campaigns and programs through the mobile channel.
Forty-four percent (44%) of the companies in this survey with existing
mobile marketing activities in place indicate that they are developing mobile
software applications ("mobile apps") as a critical part of their efforts to
reach consumers through the mobile channel. This Research Brief will
outline the key factors driving marketing and IT roles within an organization
to invest in mobile application development as a key marketing initiative, the
collaborative relationship between marketing and IT in developing those
applications, as well as the business processes required to drive
organizational success from these initiatives.

Mobile Apps as Market Drivers
In May of 2011 Aberdeen surveyed more than 1,300 business executives for Fast Facts: Mobile Apps & Opt-
ins
the Quarterly Aberdeen Business Review. Mobile app development was
identified as one of the top priorities for IT spend, with 41% of respondents √ 3-fold Increase:
indicating that they had already designated a portion of their IT budget for Respondents who included
mobile app development over the next 12 months. mobile apps as an integral
part of their mobile channel
Although all types of mobile apps are experiencing a high level of interest, mix saw the growth of opt-
such as Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Employee (B2E) apps, ins in their CRM database
one key driver has been the growth of interest in consumer- or market- increase 3-times more
facing apps. Business-to-Consumer (B2C) mobile apps have emerged as than those whose mix didn't
potent weapons in the marketer's quiver, in part because they offer several include mobile apps
distinct advantages over more conventional marketing vehicles: they can
deliver immediate and measurable benefits relevant to the individual end-
user (such as secure remote data access, customized promotional offers,
and personalized messages); they can be optimized to take full advantage of
the capabilities of the specific mobile platform being used; they can track
and adapt to user behavior and geographical location, and they are able to
extend a branded User Experience (UX) that can be tightly integrated with

This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Group's methodologies provide for objective fact-based
research and represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted
by Aberdeen Group, Inc. and may not be reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by
Aberdeen Group, Inc.

Opposites Attract: The Mobile Channel Unites Marketing and IT
Page 2

the UX experienced through other marketing channels. They are a brand
manager's dream come true.

Impact on Company Performance
Aberdeen's Metric-Driven Mobile Marketing study uncovered several findings Survey Demographics
relating to the respondent company's performance; comparing those The demographic breakdown
companies using mobile apps as an integral part of their mobile marketing of survey respondents by their
programs to those who do not (Figure 1). role in the organization is as
follows:
Figure 1: Year-over-Year Performance Improvement √ Marketing: 41%
12% 11.4% Using B2C mobile applications √ IT: 11%

10%
Non-users √ Other (e.g. Operations,
Sales): 48%
7.8%
8%
6.1%
6%

4%

1.5%
2%

0%
Customer satisfaction Marketing s contribution to
company revenue

Percent of respondents, n=224

Source: Aberdeen Group, May 2011

In the study Aberdeen collected data from more than 220 organizations "Integrating the mobile channel
from around the globe, including both IT and marketing roles, to identify the into our marketing campaigns
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) most frequently utilized to measure the and programs has been
results of their mobile marketing initiatives. The top two performance instrumental in growing our
top-line revenue, which is a key
measures indicated by all companies were customer satisfaction (70%) and
priority of our organization."
marketing's contribution to company revenue (61%). This affirms the
relevance of these two KPI's in ascertaining the effectiveness of marketing ~ Director of Sales, Large
campaigns executed through the mobile channel. Software Company, USA

In addition to these performance measures, the results showed that
companies using mobile apps as integral to their marketing campaigns grew
the number of opt-in subscribers in their prospect/customer database more
than three-times greater than non-users on a year-over-year basis.

Goals Driving Mobile Marketing Investments
Juxtaposing the data provided by respondents in marketing and IT roles
illuminates the two primary goals that are driving investment in the mobile
channel: increasing top-line revenue, and improving customer retention.
Research shows that while both goals are top of mind for marketers and IT
© 2011 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200
www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897

Page 3

roles, increasing top-line revenue is a greater focus point for marketers. IT
respondents on the other hand focus comparably more on improving
customer retention (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Marketing vs. IT Goals
60% Marketing roles
50% IT roles
50% 45%
41% "Our entire organization is
39%
40% being prepared for the mobile
market; all our services are
30% now available at the
convenience of consumers
20%
through mobile devices."
~ Finance Manager, large media
10% company, USA

0%
Increase top-line revenue Improve customer retention
Percentage of respondents, n=224


Why does overall business contribution matter to the marketing or IT
departments, which have historically been viewed as 'cost centers,' not
revenue generators? All departmental budgets have been under significant
pressure during the economic downturn, and there's a growing demand to
quantify the direct contribution of all functional roles to the overall health of
the business. This has been a primary driver for the increased interest in
augmenting the 'gut instinct' of the traditional marketer with a more
modern, metric-driven approach. Tracking the improvement in marketing's
contribution to company revenue reflects well on the marketers' ability to
influence top-line revenue through specific campaigns and programs.
On the other hand, the increase in customer satisfaction we saw in Figure 1
enables IT departments to achieve their objectives from supporting mobile
marketing initiatives by improving customer retention as seen in Figure 2.
This reinforces the "customer-driven business" maxim, that the most
successful businesses are the ones that best understand the needs of their
customers, and address them with the right communication at the right
place at the right time. As a result, they are more likely to hold on to their
most valuable asset: their customer base. Aberdeen's March 2010 study
Providing a 360° View of the Customer - Better Service - Higher Sales reported
that top performing organizations that successfully managed customer
interactions to ensure customer satisfaction had 22% greater customer
retention than all other respondents.

IT Needs Marketing
Aberdeen's November 2010 study Enterprise-Grade Mobile Applications:
Secure Information When and Where It's Needed described that while the

Page 4

marketing function often drives the initiative and sometimes the budget for
mobile apps, the best practices of top-performing organizations (see
sidebar) highlight the crucial role that IT plays (Figure 3).

Figure 3: IT-Driven Mobile App Development Processes
Best-in-Class Definition
IT standards for mobile
software deployment
67% The November 2010 Aberdeen
29% report Enterprise-Grade Mobile
Applications: Secure Information
Cross-functional team to
When and Where It's Needed
define mobile software 64% defined Best-in-Class
requirements 42% performance as follows:
Mobile application √ 94% Frequency of timely
initiative conforms to IT 50% Best-in-Class decisions
service mgmt. framework 26%
All Others √ 62% 1-year change in the
frequency of timely decisions
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% since the inception of the
Percentage of respondents, n=240 mobile app initiative
Source: Aberdeen Group, November 2010

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Best-in-Class organizations have IT standards
in place for software development, over 2-times the frequency of all other
respondents. They understand that well-designed and well-supported
mobile apps define a superior end-user experience at product launch, as
well as over the long term. Sixty-four percent (64%) institute cross-
functional teams that include marketing and sales to define mobile app
requirements, ensuring that the apps meet the needs of end-users; this
practice occurs more than 50% more frequently among Best-in-Class
organizations than it does amongst all others And Best-in-Class are almost
twice as likely to conform their mobile app initiative to a standardized IT
Service Management (ITSM) framework, which ensures a continued high-
level of usability and support, as well as minimizing cost and risk to the
organization.

Does Marketing Really Need IT?
The current Metric-Driven Mobile Marketing study corroborates the
importance of establishing cross-functional collaboration between marketing
and IT departments. In fact, when asked about the departments involved in
the execution of mobile marketing initiatives, 76% of companies utilizing
mobile apps in their mix indicated that marketing and IT have a strategic
alliance to manage marketing initiatives within the mobile channel.
The commitment of IT is further demonstrated by their investment in
mobile marketing programs. As shown in Table 1, 35% of funds to support
mobile marketing activities are sourced from internal IT teams or external
IT services budgets.


Page 5

Table 1: Mobile Marketing Budget Resources

Percent of "As a result of the rapid
Budget increase in our customers' use
Department
Allocation of mobile devices, we have
dramatically shifted our
Internal Marketing 45% resources (both on a strategic
External marketing services (e.g. marketing, ad or 17% and tactical level) to
PR agencies, consultants) successfully integrate the
mobile channel in our
Internal IT team 33% marketing programs."
External IT services 2%
~ Director of Marketing, large
External integrated Marketing and IT services 3% telecommunications services
(e.g. digital solutions agency) company, USA

Defining, establishing, and managing customer, prospect and company data is
an essential ingredient of mobile marketing. It helps organizations ensure the
integrity and security of customer information, as well as the appropriate
use of data to build precision marketing campaigns that comply with
industry and government regulations. At a fundamental level, metric-driven
mobile marketing will only be as effective as the accuracy and currency of
the data gathered; as a consequence, internal IT resources are the ideal
partner to provide marketing with a sound technical basis for data viability
and analytics.
Eighty-two percent (82%) of the businesses using mobile apps indicated
extensive involvement of IT to plan, build, launch, and manage the data-
driven processes at the core of mobile apps. This affirms the need for
marketing departments to establish close collaboration with their peers in
IT to effectively leverage the valuable data within their marketing campaigns
and programs.

Case in Point: Garanti Bank on the Move
Garanti Bank is one of Turkey’s largest retail banks with 817 branches
across Turkey and five foreign branches in Luxembourg, Malta and
Northern Cyprus. The bank operates in an extremely competitive global
environment providing retail, corporate and private banking services to over
10 million customers.
Garanti ’s success is based on outstanding customer service, and they see
product innovation as a key competitive advantage. Garanti has been
responsible for a number of banking firsts not only in Turkey, but across the
global banking industry, including its mobile banking service.
The Turkish mobile market is one of the world’s most dynamic: with a
population of nearly 75 million, the second largest in Europe, it has a mobile
penetration level approaching 100%. In comparison, only 12.3% of the
population has access to broadband internet, making the mobile phone the
ideal channel for web services.


Page 6

It was against this background that Garanti saw the opportunity to offer
greater convenience and superior levels of customer service through a new
mobile banking service. Garanti had already deployed an advanced internet
banking infrastructure, but it wanted to take it one step further by providing
its customers with the ability to access their bank accounts while on the
move.
Core to Garanti’s mobile banking strategy was eliminating the need for "Our goal was to offer the
customers to download or activate software – they wanted them to be able broadest set of mobile banking
to access the mobile banking service directly through any internet-enabled services to Turkey’s mobile
phone. Customers would be able to check the balance of their account, subscribers on the device of
monitor the due dates and balances of credit cards, receive mini statements, their choice. We have been
extremely pleased with the
buy and sell shares on the stock market, request a loan, transfer money,
results.”
reach market information and even top up their mobile phone - all through
their mobile device of choice. ~ Barbarous Ugan, Head of
Delivery Channels, Garanti
Garanti needed an integrated mobile banking solution that would make the Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
service available to all mobile users, no matter what mobile device they had.
As Barbarous Uygun, Head of Delivery Channels explained, “ We needed a
vendor with experience in delivering carrier - grade mobile software
solutions across a wide variety of mobile devices. We also wanted our
mobile banking service to mimic the online site as much as possible so that
users would be familiar with its operation.”
After a rigorous vetting process, they selected Antenna Software to develop
their mobile banking solution. Antenna’s decade of experience in delivering
solutions to some of the largest banking enterprises, mobile operators and
media companies worldwide made them Garanti’s top choice.
Antenna’s mobile banking module was integrated with Garanti’s existing
banking platforms, website and security infrastructure for user
authentication and data encryption. Garanti also valued Antenna’s advanced
UI design, as well as its patented web rendering, agile content adaptation,
rapid deployment, and support for the widest possible array of mobile
devices and features, with over 8,500 devices supported.
As a result, Garanti was able to create a seamless customer experience
from online to mobile, reduce customer service costs while maintaining high
levels of customer satisfaction, and provide the mobile banking service over
any customer’s phone. This has enabled them to serve 310,000 mobile
banking customers with a monthly average of 200,000 secure financial
transactions and 4 million mobile web page views.

Mobile Apps: Recommended Actions
The broad adoption of powerful mobile devices among end-users has
created what is essentially a new marketing medium, whereby consumers
have vast amounts of information at their fingertips; and when opted-in,
marketers can amass a vast amount of valuable information about those
consumers' behavior.


Page 7

With all the "noise" in the mobile channel, businesses are attempting to rise
above the din to deliver targeted and relevant marketing messages to
individual consumers. The use of mobile apps provides companies with a
precise tool to reach consumers where they live: in the mobile channel,
with the right message, at the right time.
Aberdeen recommends the following actions to marketing and IT
professionals that implement mobile app initiatives to maximize the business
benefits.

For Marketers:
• Listen closely to the market. Interacting with prospects and
customers to ascertain their needs and desires in mobile access can
empower the mobile app initiative to be most effective. Data from
the May 2011 Metric-Driven Mobile Marketing study shows that
businesses that deploy targeted and relevant mobile marketing
campaigns by reaching consumers through appropriate platforms
outperform their peers that don't by 32% in annual revenue growth.
• Reach them where they live. Consider a mobile channel
strategy that integrates mobile apps and mobile web – it shouldn't
be an either/or proposition. Approximately half (46%) of all
companies targeting consumers through the mobile channel are
incorporating the mobile web as an essential element of their
strategy. A comprehensive and coordinated approach which reaches
the consumer with relevant offers no matter what mobile platform
they're using, leveraging native mobile apps, web apps, and mobilized
web sites, should be the objective.
• Think beyond the campaign. The mobile channel is about
increasing customer intimacy and an expanded dialog that unfolds
over time. It's ultimately a long term, strategic approach to
increasing customer loyalty.
• Collaborate with IT to ensure the security and compliance
of apps accessing end-user data. The growing use of mobile
devices brings additional responsibilities to each business function,
inclusive of marketing. The breach of a company's security system
can expose valuable customer information to any hostile entity,
which could result in significant financial risk, including loss of
business from existing customers as well as legal costs. Marketing
departments should consult with their peers in IT to ensure the
security and integrity of end-user data. In organizations where
marketing and IT are working together as strategic business
partners those risks are mitigated; they also outperform those that
don't collaborate by approximately 2-times in terms of the
percentage of increased business obtained from their existing
customers, year-over-year.


Page 8

For IT:
• Streamline marketing's data management processes.
Understanding the workflow that enables marketers to capture,
record, manage, and update end-user data collected from mobile
apps is a key factor in streamlining those processes. In this way, IT
departments can empower their peers in marketing to build more
personalized, relevant, and robust B2C mobile apps; which serve the
need of marketing to accelerate prospects through the sales cycle,
thereby improving marketing's contribution to company revenue
goals.
• See marketing as collaborators, instead of provocateurs.
Cross-functional teams that incorporate both IT and marketing staff
help mobile initiatives find common ground. They can ensure that
mobile apps meet the needs of end-users, serve the requirements of
marketing, and are secure and compliant with IT policy. Establishing
this internal process allows multiple departments to provide input
into mobile marketing initiatives, reducing redundant processes
between different departments as well as facilitating buy-in from key
stakeholders within the organization. Streamlining potential overlaps
between departments through such an entity enables companies to
reduce customer acquisition costs by 1.3% on a year-over-year basis,
while organizations without this process experience a 1.5% increase
in the cost of customer acquisition.
• Help marketing take the long view. Although you can
appreciate their need to rapidly deploy mobile marketing campaigns
to respond to competitive market pressures, you can bring a
broader perspective to collaboration; focus on building sustainable
differentiation with a strategic vision. The correct infrastructure can
help ensure long-term growth and success, versus scrambling to
meet the demands of the campaign "du jour."

For Both Marketing and IT:
• As a team, clearly communicate the business value of the
mobile channel initiative. The ability to identify the business
value of mobile marketing initiatives through performance measures,
such as improvement in company revenue, enables businesses to
link mobile marketing activities to specific financial outcomes.
Tracking, measuring and reporting of mobile campaign results is a
primary driver of an organization's ability to identify the benefits of
its mobile marketing activities. This is essential for obtaining
executive-level support of those activities: organizations that
implement this strategy are 60% more likely to gain executive
sponsorship for their mobile marketing initiatives.
• Come together. Marketing and IT need to come to a common
definition of program success for the mobile channel strategy.
Define mutual objectives that reflect the validity of both world
views: for marketing, measures that reflect market growth and

Page 9

brand penetration; for IT, measures that track channel performance,
reliability, accessibility, and reach.
For more information on this or other research topics, please visit
www.aberdeen.com.

Related Research
Optimizing The Marketing-to-Sales Lead The 2011 Marketer's Agenda: Accessing
Lifecycle; March 2011 and Understanding Customer Experience
Enterprise Mobility Management 2011: Data Is Life or Death; July 2010
Mobility Becomes Core IT; March 2011 Enterprise Mobility Management:
Email Marketing: Customers Take It Optimizing the Full Mobile Lifecycle: May
Personally, December 2010 2010
Enterprise-Grade Mobile Applications: A Busy Spring in Mobile City: Mobility
Secure Information When and Where Moves from Enterprise Periphery to Core
It's Needed, November 2010 IT, May 2010
Marketing Asset Management - It's More More Mobility – Less Budget: Enterprise
Than Just An Image, November 2010 Strategies for the Current Economic
On-Premises Mobile Retail: Empowering Downturn; March 2009
Deeper Customer Engagement, October
2010
Authors: Andrew Borg, Senior Research Analyst, Wireless & Mobility
(andrew.borg@aberdeen.com)
Omer Minkara, Research Associate, Customer Management Technology Group
(omer.minkara@aberdeen.com)
For more than two decades, Aberdeen's research has been helping corporations worldwide become Best-in-Class.
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of insight to deliver innovative multichannel marketing programs that drive business-changing results. For additional
information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call
(800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Group's methodologies
provide for objective fact-based research and represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless
otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc. and may not be
reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by
Aberdeen Group, Inc. (2011a)


Aberdeen Research: The Mobile Channel Unites Marketing and IT

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