A man’s best friend is his dog (and bone?)
Year of the mobile…again. Heard that before? It just still doesn’t seem to have made the impression in marketing circles that we’ve all been hoping for.
But maybe that time is here…Some recent stats bounced around a marketing trends conference I went to announced that consumer advertising is at its lowest level of trust with 18% of consumers going so far as to dislike all forms of advertising.
And according to Nielsen Online Global Survey, 78% of people trust what others recommend, way ahead of all media channels.
Unfortunately, in that same survey, only 18% of consumers trust ads on mobiles. Mmmm, so even with the new technology like the iPhone and other smart phones approaching 25% of market share, claiming to make the user experience more engaging and enjoyable, has the damage been done?
Maybe not.
More people would go back for their mobile phone if they left it at home than they would if they left their wallet or purse there. We can’t live without it – it’s our best friend.
A lot of the discussion in mobile has been around advertising models. In effect, paid for media. Bit old school don’t you think? In a world where the consumer is in control, where they want real time solutions, where they want recognition and personalisation, shouldn’t the mobile community be focusing their attention on how mobile, the most intimate of channels, can help build brand trust and positively engage consumers.
A 2007 study by the London School of Economics, has identified brand advocacy in the UK as being on average 5 times more effective at stimulating sales than brand advertising!
How can this be quantified? I’ve been talking to a lot of people about measuring a brand’s Net Promoter Score – the % of ‘promoters’ (those who score between 8 and 10 for liking a brand) of your brand minus the % of ‘detractors’ (those who score between 0 to 6 out of 10).
The figures go that if a brand improves their NPS by 7%, they will experience an increase of 1% in revenues. And 70% of a brand’s advocacy is attributable to its ability to “Surprise & Delight” (LSE 2007).
A bigger opportunity
So is this the potentially bigger, more immediate opportunity for brands to consider using the intimate mobile channel?
The finance sector has understood this. The best personal example for me is being a First Direct customer and receiving their weekly text account balance service. I get it at the time and day I want it, with the details I want as set against my own criteria. It’s another service that makes me want to talk about First Direct and stay with them.
Another good example I heard about recently was by Amex. They recognised that towards the end of the month, consumers are a bit low on funds, so more likely to stick a few bills on their credit/charge card. The surprise and delight was a text sent in the last week of the month, offering deals and extra points at restaurants that accept Amex. Go enjoy yourself, get extra rewards. Everyone’s a winner!
So should we be asking ourselves some basic questions:
When can mobile best support another channel to drive incremental response?
When can mobile most relevantly ‘surprise & delight’ consumer to help build brand engagement?
How can mobile be used to start a conversation, not to broadcast messages?
It will be brands that leverage this opportunity, who will begin to drive greater brand engagement and build WOM through surprise & delight that will recognise the opportunity mobile has to offer. And integrated into their channel strategy – don’t bolt it on. The principle is a simple one – when is mobile fit for the purpose…when will it surprise and delight….oh, and when can it drive positive business!! (Mustn’t forget that one Mr Evangelist!)
But the evangelists don’t help matters. The mobile evangelists are all getting very excited about the emerging technologies, about the potential of 3.5G, and making wonderful predictions like one I read recently that “…the mobile internet will soon eclipse the PC Web”!
Very helpful for me over the next 12 months, to meet my brand KPIs and volume targets.
Where are the solutions, the ideas, the insight on how to maximise mobile as part of a total comms solution?
What I would encourage is for folk to ignore the evangelists. Find the pragmatists, recognise that mobile has moved on since you probably last included the channel in a campaign, that the consumer is looking for trusted sources of information and that maybe, just maybe, brands who identify ‘surprise’ touchpoints like the Amex example, will not only get consumers positively engaged in the brand, but also measurably achieve positive ROI.
And maybe, just maybe then, mobile could become marketing’s new best friend too?
Andy Snuggs, Managing Director
We’re not merging
Whatever you’ve heard, we’re not merging.
You might have seen the industry headlines that Geronimo are merging with Mustoes. Now, just to clarify any case of mistaken identity - this isn’t us! The merger in the news is that of Geronimo Communications - a PR specialist that is part of the Tribal Group.
We thought we’d reassure clients, partners and friends that we remain independent, continuing to create consumer response and building brand engagement through channels that are fit for purpose.
Time is something you can’t get more of…or can you?
We understand that time is one of the rarest commodities for our clients. Finding the time to think, plan and consider the future, rather than getting sucked into the day to day business. This is why we’ve adapted our way of working outside of traditional agency boundaries. We make sure all the experts and the client get round the table from the beginning of a campaign incl creative and digital, discussing and listening to what the client aspires to, their ideas and needs. One integrated team all focused on the client business, because we understand it. Valuable time spent upfront, means less time wasted and more time for clients.