Mobile marketing is communicating and engaging with audiences through mobile devices. It can include mobile web, QR codes, SMS, MMS, in-game ads, and location-based marketing. Case studies show how companies like IHG, the City of Manor, Route 66 Harley-Davidson, BMW, and McDonald's used these tactics. Emerging trends include more social and augmented reality mobile marketing, as well as targeting audiences through data. Mobile should be integrated into all marketing campaigns given audiences' frequent device switching and adoption of mobile technology.
2. What is Mobile Marketing?
“Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that
enables organizations to communicate and
engage with their audience in an interactive
and relevant manner through any mobile
device or network.”
-The American Mobile Marketing Association
Examples of Mobile Devices:
• Smartphones
• Tablets
• Laptop computers
• GPS devices
• Wireless credit card payment terminals (e.g. Apple store)
3. How Can I Use Mobile Devices for
Marketing?
• Mobile web marketing
• QR codes
• SMS text
• MMS (Multimedia Message Service)
• In-game mobile marketing
• Location-based marketing
4. Case Study: Mobile Marketing
T h e C h a lle n g e
InterContinental Hotels Group wanted to reach people on the move or last-
minute travelers who want a quick and easy way to book a room for the night.
T h e S o lu t io n
IHG developed a mobile strategy, dividing the group’s potential mobile
audience into three segments:
• Searchers – the largest group; people who don’t have a brand preference.
• Direct bookers – people who know the IHG brand and expect to book rooms
using their high-end devices.
• Loyalists – the audience most likely to download and use an app. They are
faithful to the IHG brand and regularly book rooms with smartphones.
They took a segmented approach and reached out to the largest audience
with a mobile-optimized website while targeting loyalists with an app.
T h e E x e c u t io n
• IHG created the mobile-optimized site so visitors could check availability and
book rooms at nearby IHG hotels.
• After the mobile site, IHG launched the Priority Club® Reward app allowing
customers to book hotel rooms, check their points and view reservations.
5. QR Codes
The Challenge
The City of Manor was faced with the challenge of how to engage citizens,
businesses and tourists by utilizing mobile technology on a very limited IT budget.
The Solution
The City of Manor launched a six-month campaign with QR-codes for document
management. QR-codes provide residents information on-demand and add an
additional layer of transparency to government that never previously existed.
The Execution
• Manor leveraged existing QR-coded "Digital Stop" signs throughout the community
and configured each QR-code sign as a hyperlink to web content.
• Using an online QR-code generator, the City of Manor was able to encode specific
URLs onto each QR-code. The benefit was that content could be changed at any
time without having to generate a new QR-code, giving the City of Manor the
flexibility to update information and change the placement of signs without
additional cost.
• After installing free decoding software an individual can scan a City of Manor QR-
code with their phone and are taken directly to the linked site. Although each QR-
code appears to be the same image, each links to separate websites relevant to
their location and placement.
6. SMS
The Challenge:
Route 66 Harley-Davidson wanted to maintain its visibility with current customers
and add new customers and revenue.
The Solution:
Route 66’s mobile club developed a SMS-based holiday promotion that drew in
their customers and encouraged them to make purchases.
The Execution:
• Called the program the 12 Days of Christmas and ran the promotion from
December 12 – 24, 2011
• Consumers were encouraged to text the keyword RT66 to 55678
• Members then received daily alerts on their phones offering a 20% discount on a
different merchandise item each day
• Was promoted through its
social media campaign, in-store
marketing and previous customers
of the dealership
7. MMS
The Challenge:
BMW in Germany was looking for a way to market snow tires to their customers
and increase sales. BMW Germany wanted to remind its customers that snow
tires are more of a necessity rather than luxury.
The Solution:
BMW sent a customized MMS message to new
customers just before winter to remind them to buy winter
tires and to direct them to a BMW dealership to buy them.
The Execution:
• Messages were sent to 1,200 customers and had a personalized customer
greeting and recommended a specific tire.
• The price of the tire, lists of dealerships in the area, picture and description of the
tire were all included in the MMS.
• The multimedia message included the ability to download a link enabling
consumers to see how their cars would look with the new BMW snow tires.
Consumers also had the option to receive a call from their nearest dealer.
8. In-Game Marketing
The Challenge
Organic foods maker Cascadian Farm wanted to increase brand visibility and
chose to do so through in-game marketing.
The Solution
Cascadian Farm positioned itself as the brand behind Farmville’s new organic
blueberries crop and became the first in-game branded crop to ever appear in
the FarmVille Market.
The Execution
In one week after launching, Cascadian Farm
blueberries had already been purchased by
more than 1 million players for 20 credits
each. More than 310 million Cascadian
Farm organic blueberries were
planted by FarmVille players. The
campaign lasted in total of two weeks.
90% of mobile users play at least one game per week on their phone.
9. Location-Based Marketing
The Challenge
McDonald’s in Singapore wanted to find a way to celebrate Singapore’s
National Day while adding visibility to their restaurants.
The Solution
Utilizing Facebook places, McDonald’s Singapore launched a campaign run
through a microsite that showed how many people had checked into
McDonalds’ restaurants around the country.
The Execution
• They set an aim of 46,000 check-ins, in celebration of Singapore’s 46 years of
independence.
• When the target was reached, a special surprise
would be revealed, and people could keep up to
date with the check-ins so far, via the microsite.
In 2011, more than 200 million people
used Facebook on their phones.*
*Facebook Blog
10. What’s Next for Mobile Marketing?*
• Audience targeting through data capture
– Nike FuelBand API
• More social
• Activation
– QR Code use has
grown >50% in
6 months
• Augmented reality
• HTML5 *As Reported by Mashable
11. Key Insights
• We must think multi-channel
across the marketing spectrum,
emphasizing mobile
– The average 20-something
switches platforms 27 times
per hour! [AdAge]
– Hispanics are the fastest
adopters of mobile technology
• Mobile should be a part of every campaign we develop
– All sites for clients should be mobile-optimized
– Other mobile tactics should be employed, depending on
the audience
MG * The difference between SMS and MMS Proximity marketing is a part of location-based marketing http://youtu.be/9c6W4CCU9M4
VH This is an example of a mobile marketing approach for a company. http://youtu.be/uo4f0yFk1nw Results: The push resulted in a 91% year-over-year increase in mobile search revenues, and traffic to the company’s mobile site jumps about 20% every month.
VH – Tell a story Another one of their initiatives is a system called ”QR-codes”. The White Paper entitled “ Redefining Government Communication with QR-Codes ” gives a complete account of the capability, but in general it is a bar-code system that allows users to receive on-demand information via their smart phone and a hyperlink: After installing free decoding software (listed in the resources section), an individual can scan a City of Manor QR-code with their camera phone. They are taken directly to the linked site or prompted with the embedded URL. Although each QR-code appears to be the same image, each links to separate websites relevant to their location and placement. An example of how it will be used: Eventually, the City of Manor will tie the QR-codes on city vehicles into a realtime work order system so that if a resident is curious about why a city vehicle is in their neighborhood, they could simply scan the side of the vehicle for a real-time work order update. This would bring a layer of transparency to government that was never possible before.
VH The Results: The dealership had significant increase in sales of the specific items discounted during the campaign period. T-shirts purchased on T-shirt Day was over 250% more than a normal day The number of helmets sold with the 20% discount equaled the number sold for the entire previous week
VH All the information was in the MMS. There was no need to click through to a link, which is typical of most mobile advertising campaigns across categories and markets. The campaign garnered a 30 percent sales conversion rate.
VH
VH They have now tracked over 50,000 checkins, unlocking the special deal. This is a high profile campaign for McDonalds, as the online element has also been supported by billboards and TV advertising, showing that they’re taking social seriously. http://blog.blyk.com/2011/10/location-based-marketing-should-be-more-than-just-where-you-are/
