IMPACT: Permission-Based Mobile Marketing Prompts Consumer Participation & Brand Interaction » mobilegroove

As children, we learn the concept of permission. We know to ask (and say “please” even), and we understand that others should treat us the same way. So, why is it some marketers don’t follow these rules when they engage with consumers?

This week U.S. regulators floated a Do Not Track proposal for Web users aimed at enabling them to stop advertisers from tracking them online. As USA Today reported, a program like this would allow consumers to effectively ‘opt-out’ and ask not to be tracked by advertisers – a request they would have to respect. Predictably, the program has some powerful forces fighting it. As USA Today observes: there is a catch. “The burgeoning industry of advertising networks and online tracking services that have devised dozens of sophisticated ways to identify and profile specific consumers must be compelled to obey consumers’ wishes.”

Coincidentally, we learned in the same week that the vast majority of consumers surveyed by Hipcricket see value in interacting with brands provided it’s on their terms.

According to the 2010 Hipcricket Mobile Marketing Survey – a survey of 526 U.S. consumers –57 percent of respondents would be interested in opting in to a brand’s loyalty club via a mobile social networking application such as Facebook. It also found that 90 percent of those who had participated in a mobile loyalty club said they had gained value from the participation, a result that represents a significant untapped opportunity for brands.

The survey also identified growing interest in mobile coupons, with 38 percent stating that they were at least somewhat interested in receiving mobile coupons (up from 18 percent in 2009). In addition, 46 percent of respondents said they were at least somewhat likely to redeem mobile coupons (up from 43 percent in 2009).

HOW I SEE IT: Marketing is more common sense than brain surgery. The idea of giving consumers what they want – and nothing more – is simple. Permission-based programs are the future (in my view, they are the present as well). The survey clearly shows that people will interact with brands and join loyalty programs if we ask them first. Tracking people online (particularly without transparency into the process) flies in the face of this practice and does anything but encourage interaction between people and brands. So I ask myself: Why is it so difficult for some marketers to understand the requirement for permission-based marketing – let alone implement permission-based programs?

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In a webinar organized by Mobile Marketer titled Mobile in 2011: How High Is High we heard the valuable perspective of an agency lead who has learned just how vital mobile is to his firm’s success.

Timothy A. Blett — senior partner and president of Doner, an advertising and marketing agency headquartered in Newport Beach, CA – tells us to keep focus and think mobile. As he put it: “Develop clear objectives and strategies, dig up key insights about the target, be consistent with brand voice, define the role of mobile in the overall media mix, optimize each campaign and, finally, perform plan-do-check-act.” Blett also outlined “at least four challenges marketers can expect with mobile.” These are: “creating balance between acquisition and retention, integrating mobile early on in planning, convincing key stakeholders and senior management to remix traditional media plans, and measuring and maximizing ROI.”

Blett’s agency has had significant success with mobile running campaigns for major brands including carmaker Mazda. His views on mobile are based on real experience and solid knowledge of the medium.

HOW I SEE IT: As readers who follow this column know, I am unwilling to name this year (or any other for that matter) The Year of Mobile. However, based on what I’ve seen and heard (and that includes public presentations like the one from Blett, as well as client meetings and sales discussions behind closed doors), I am confident that we end 2010 knowing that mobile has achieved a central place in the marketing mix. The next year will be marked by bold approaches and new creativity. And it’s only just the beginning.

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While RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis may have appeared to have lost the plot when he spoke at the recent Dive Into Mobile conference, we can overlook his babbling  when we get our first look at the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet (via this preview video)..

According to RIM, the tablet will be released in the first quarter of 2011. And the first reports are extremely positive. As the influential tech site The Boy Genius remarked: “The entire experience we saw was fluid, quick, and downright impressive. Apps opened and closed instantly, browsing through long lists like photos or music data was fast and effortless.”

HOW I SEE IT: RIM is a favorite target for many critics (and I have to admit I have been disappointed with the BlackBerry Bold since the day I bought it). Nonetheless, the smartphone maker is in the running – even if the press is correct in saying that RIM is running fourth in a three-horse race. Sarcasm and criticism aside, you have to admit that BlackBerry enjoys huge popularity, particularly among youth in emerging markets. This can be linked back to its crossover to the consumer crowd and the appeal of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), an instant messaging app just for BlackBerry smartphone owners. There’s a lot of excitement around the Playbook, but the question remains: will it be successful? Perhaps. But you can bet that no matter what measure of success this new tablet enjoys, RIM will have to drag its critics all the way to the finish line.

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A career author and sought-after speaker, Jeff Hasen builds, strengthens and protects brands. Companies benefiting from his talents have landed on Wired’s list of most innovative entities on Earth and been named pioneers and the early leader in the burgeoning mobile marketing category. Jeff co-created the certification program for the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). He is one of only two individuals certified by the MMA to train professionals and students on mobile marketing definitions, techniques and benefits. At Hipcricket, he conceived and led the execution of an accelerated rebranding effort in advance of the mobile marketing software and services company being named “the early leader in the mobile marketing space in the U.S.” by Frost and Sullivan. Hipcricket also won consecutive annual pioneer awards from CTIA — The Wireless Association. Follow Jeff on Twitter (@jeffhasen).

This entry was posted on Friday, December 10th, 2010 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Mobile Marketing, Mobile Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.