Mobile penetration rates and smartphone usage are driving different types of marketing initiatives – including some innovating examples in pizza delivery – but there is still considerable untapped potential for the future.
Mobile penetration in Australia is at 130 percent and, according to the 2014 Google Consumer Barometer report, 66 percent of Australians use a smartphone. People use their phones a lot – with LG recently reporting that they unlock their screens between 100 and 150 times a day. As you might expect, with statistics like these, marketers are constantly looking for opportunities to engage these people in a meaningful way.
These opportunities typically fall into a few categories that I will call “everyday,” “integrated,” and “beyond.”
This is when brands are part of the daily routine use of the mobile. People access Twitter and Facebook on a daily basis on their mobile, and marketers have taken note. Eighty-five percent of advertising revenue for Twitter comes from mobile, and 66 percent for Facebook.
People also regularly use their mobiles to search. In Australia for example, more than 90 percent of Australian smartphone users have searched for local information using their phone, according to Google research. So, social and search represent strong opportunities for mobile marketers to target specific ads to these users as part of an “always on” marketing program.
Many marketers have seen this opportunity, incorporating it within their everyday marketing activities.
An integrated mobile experience can provide significant impact. Some mobile apps, like Shazam, offer an enhanced TV experience by providing additional access to content – as was the case in Red Bull’s Supernatural Snowboarding.
Kia’s Game On was an interesting and engaging use of mobile tying to their TVCs of the Australian Open.
And Norton won FWA site of the day Enjoy Your Privacy for using dual screening between mobile and website to illustrate the perils of phone hacking.
Each of these represent the ability of mobile to take an experience up a notch by working with other channels to provide an engaging and integrated experience. While some marketers are playing here, there is still opportunity for the future.
There is a third category of mobile engagement. It can likely be divided into more, but I am lumping two examples into one as they both stretch outside of normal advertising or campaigns. Both coincidentally happen to be in the pizza delivery category.
The first is in sunny Dubai. Red Tomato Pizza made it as easy as possible to order from them by providing a button on a fridge magnet that sends an SMS message to the pizza company for the next order. No more fumbling for the menu and giving the same order and address. Your order is literally placed by the click of a button. Gloriously simple. Totally brilliant.
Another Pizza company focused on engaging people in content, but that provided a strong link to their product is Hell Pizza, a New Zealand pizza company, which has created a mobile 3-D augmented reality game that you can play using the pizza box.
The benefit of buying the pizza was enhanced with the addition of a mobile game.
The box, a typically ignored aspect of the product, was given purpose. Going beyond is about using mobile to address a consumer insight but also about using the qualities of mobile to help extend the product and how we think about the brand.
Both of these examples are clearly tied to repeat purchases. Both are also highly measureable.
Marketers will spend more on mobile marketing in the future.
Most will do “everyday.” Some will do “integrated.” But, I am most excited about the opportunities around “beyond.” I predict some marketers will deliver big in 2015.
The stars are in alignment as people are using smartphones, and these smartphones have the capability to do amazing things – detect movement, proximity of one device to another, etc. Put this capability in the hands of the marketer to create something with the intent to be used often, combine this with enough user-value, and a user will be compelled to want to use it repeatedly.
We have huge opportunity – one that can actually move sales and define a brand.
