At a digital marketing event earlier this summer at the Chartered Institute of Marketing in Cookham I was impressed by the amount of conversation that revolved around the use of mobile technology.
One of the main speakers was Chris Dadd, Global Head of Mobile CRM at the Royal Bank of Scotland and he gave a detailed explanation of how RBS are using mobile technology to interact with their customers and how the take up of this technology was expected to supercede that of the Internet, as it is now understood.
He indicated that banks liked the technology because they could make it more secure than the Internet currently is as a result of being able to manage data via push technology rather than just pull. This has been facilitated by applications that may have started on the i-phone but are being developed across all providers and that these enable the bank to talk with a user and push specific requests such as statements to them.
To further enhance this the mobile marketing forum has recently reported that mobile marketing is now major part of many marketing strategies.
Brands such as Auto Trader, the BBC, BMW, Coca-Cola, Lufthansa, Nestlé, Nike, Pepsi and Procter and Gamble, have testified that when mobile marketing is integrated into the wider marketing mix and is measured and tracked, it helps to deliver very effective campaigns with real business and brand value.
Specific campaign spends and performance metrics were included and many of the results were spectacular when compared to the targets and results achieved through other channels alone.
Those attending the Mobile Marketing Association event heard how BMW uses mobile as a consumer touch point to offer real value to its customers, how usability – short, simple and fast mechanics – is key for Lufthansa and how Procter and Gamble’s use of mobile has resulted in 80% brand recall.
The clear message from attendees and speakers alike was that if a brand is not incorporating mobile into their overall strategy, they are already behind in their marketing efforts.
“Consumers are changing,” said Coca-Cola’s Senior Mobile Marketing Manager, Global Interactive Marketing, Hinde Pagani, in her keynote on Coca-Cola’s global approach to mobile marketing.
“Audiences are changing dramatically, especially the younger ones. They live with technology, using it to consume more media, generate more conversations and befriend more brands than ever.”
She added, ”Mobile is at the centre of this media revolution. For us it is critical to understand this new device, to interact with teens and youth where they spend their time and deliver engaging and compelling brand experiences. So we add mobile to the marketing mix in pretty much all of our markets.”
Director of Global Ecommerce and Mobile Services at Lufthansa, Marcus Casey, added in his presentation on the use of mobile within the airline industry that the services the airline had set up their customers using the mobile channel such as flight booking and check in had been a great success and were an ideal fit with their clientele.
“We’ve received an extremely positive response which indicates huge acceptance among our consumer base and a massive future for mobile marketing services in the travel industry and beyond” he added.
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