The Revlog

chris bourke

I guess I've been a little guilty of over promoting the positive aspects of mobile marketing and advertising over the past few weeks. I know however that it’s important to present a balanced view, and this is particularly true when convincing advertisers on the benefits of this new media.

Imagining for a moment that the leading brand of bin bags is "Mr. Bin" you might suspect that mobile could play some kind of role in driving sales of a branded version of a commodity that is largely bought on impulse. But FMCG, for now, is a challenge for mobile. Sure, we can argue that mobile plays a branding role...and research, including our own, shows that it can. But in the real world where FMCG brands are just getting to grips with the opportunities offered by the fixed web it’s a difficult case to argue to the "Mr. Bin" brand manager. As technology develops (in particular Bluetooth) and is adopted by the multiple retailers mobile will play a much larger role in helping manufacturers of impulse products drive sales. Expect to see mums at checkout happily redeeming mobile coupons that they have recieved from a Bluetooth transmitter in Aisle-5 only minutes before. Some of you will say "what about Txt2Win?" This has unfortunately been reduced to a replacement response mechanism for the 0800 number and it’s a shame because so much more could be done to integrate mobile with the impulse purchase experience in store but again it requires retailer involvement and that is where the problems (as any promotions agency will know) begin.

Mobile then - today - appears to offer owners of high consideration products and services better opportunities. And the research supports this as mobile advertising drives PC usage - consumers see mobile ads and want to learn more so they head to their PC for deeper research. But even more interestingly consumers are today using the mobile internet to research high value, high consideration items and are digging deep for this research on their mobile handsets. I suspect that more and more automotive, financial, telecommunication and electronic goods advertisers will invest in mobile way before FMCG brands do when they realise potential consumers are looking for information about their products there.

Advertisers also need to be careful with demographics. Want to reach 12 to 19 year olds? Then mobile advertising is unlikely to hit the spot - but text messaging is. Want to reach over 50 year olds? No mobile media will help you with that objective - this age group are ramping up their PC web usage but have still yet to replicate their 'silver surfer’ behaviour on the mobile internet.

And some of mobiles greatest benefits, its timeliness and intimacy can also be its greatest weakness if used incorrectly. Today, more than ever, consumers will reject marketing messages if they are received at the wrong time of day or in the wrong context. So sending your SMS message to coincide with the 10pm screening of your new 30-second spot may seem like a good idea but it could very well be peak texting time for your recipient and her mates because they are all talking about 'Gossip Girl' on ITV2. Not the best time to get her attention then.

So with mobile media...sometimes it might be best to say ‘no’. I hope that my peers in this industry share this view because if they don’t then their failed campaigns ahead will only do damage to the reputation of a nascent medium in its most vulnerable stage.

 
Mobile can work fantastically well when planned intelligently and targeted at the appropriate audience at the right time, with the right message. But mobile is no different to any other medium - ignore the planning and failure is inevitable.