Start Spreading The News

An interesting recap of some stats on the consumption of new in a fragmented media world. While I am really just reposting something that is a recap of a study done, it struck me as interesting that my little piece of commentary on top of commentary on top of data could be of value. ​

I am reminded of one of my favorite misunderstood poems of the 20th century. A poem in which a wanderer is led from path to path, tasked with making decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse--or so some think (no, I am not talking TS Elliot here). ​

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

​

Afraid of Mobile Marketing? Get Over it!

Mobile marketing is not new by any means, however in light of the current mobile application gold rush (iPhone, Android etc.), mobile marketing seems to have taken center stage. In celebration of the coming of age of mobile marketing, allow me to share the story of my first experience in mobile marketing;

It was about four years ago. I was an eager interactive agency guy testing various new platforms; some...well, let's say, not as successfully.  Okay, I will be honest (it is, after all, the best policy) the firs mobile campaign I ran was an abysmal failure. Like any good marketer, I noted why it failed, then vowed never to make that type of mistake again (I have since made other marketing mistakes; but all of them were unique :) )

What did I learn?

  • Tactics driving strategy usually does not work

    • The demographic I was trying to reach was simply not ready to behave in the manner needed to make this campaign a success.

      • A click to call mobile campaign did not serve our strategic objectives





  • Pre-planning can make successes out of failures

    • The adoption rate, and awareness of many mobile technologies that are popular today, were not as popular at that time.  What we failed to do was create a model whereby; the long term learnings were just as important as short term ROI. All we learned was not to run any other mobile campaigns for that brand for a while.

    • Had created a framework for failure, the fact that my target demo was not a savvy mobile crowd could have diminished the degree to which this campaign failed



  • Communications should be consistent across platforms

    • There are certainly exceptions to this rule, but when testing emerging platforms, the look and feel you present to consumers should remind them of other campaigns in the market. It makes activation in new media environments more palatable; and can diminish any skepticism someone may have




I have taken these lessons and applied them to everything I do. As someone who is both a marketer and a lover of shiny new tech toys, these were very important lessons.

fear-of-phones1Fast forward a few shorts years.

The world of mobile has changed (hell, the entire world of media has changed drastically in these few years, and so has my thinking about mobile marketing). I know some of you out there are still afraid of testing mobile marketing; it is time you get over your fears! I am not advocating you go out and start buying mobile media for it's own sake. I am saying that you should begin to seriously consider how to integrate mobile into your communications strategy.

I have been thinking about mobile marketing a lot lately, and began to construct a framework that reflects my thinking. It is still pretty rough, but I figured I would throw it out to the community and collect some thoughts. I don't plan on explaining the meaning of these diagrams for two reason;

  1. I want to see if they resonate with you, and if so, how

  2. I am just too darn busy (but I promise to revisit them; so stay tuned)


Let me know what you think. or better still; take these ideas and make your owns slides and send them over. I will be sure to post.

(note: since posting this,  I have already begun to see holes in this model re:Search. Help me out here; I constructed this model quickly; knowing that the wisdom of crowds is greater than the wisdom of one)
Mobility

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Unsponsor_042009: ChaCha

chacha-mobile-search-text-search-questions-and-answers_1240171165290

Company: ChaCha

Founded: 2008

Twitpitch: ChaCha provides advertisers the opportunity to target young, active mobile users with highly effective messaging and engaging them via text conversations.

Why ChaCha should "make the plan": ChaCha is available ANYTIME & ANYWHERE - all you need is a cell phone.

Media Kit can be found at: http://partners.chacha.com/

Sales contact info: Mark Tarnuzzer, 860-690-6371
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Mobile Boot Camp Photos/Thoughts

Overall I thougt Mobile Boot Camp was a huge success. Thanks to everyone at iMedia, and thanks to the sponsors; especially Paran Johar from Jumptap.

Some highlights from the day (taken from Twitter):
AdamBroitman: Utility, entertainment, integration #imediasummit


elliotbenn: RT @AdamBroitman: mobile is one giant onion @zawthet #imediasummit




CraigPladson: Confirmation from credible source at #imediasummit - there are 7 MM iPhone users in the US. Not 15 MM as previously stated.


AMediaCircus: the average american eats 550 pounds of meat per year--Zaw Thet #imediasummit


dberkowitz: blog post from #imediasummit: 10 myths of mobile marketing, via jumptap http://bit.ly/eHwv (expand)


rganguly: NHL mobile case study preso is fascinating: massive uptick in all-star voting and fan engagement #imediasummit




CraigPladson: When sending text alerts, make sure to ask subscribers if they still want to get them after 3 text messages. #imediasummit


CraigPladson: US limits inbound texts to short codes at 160 characters. Canada limits text messages to 136 characters. IVR very important. #imediasummit




dberkowitz: @adambroitman he stole my line. i always thought of mobile as a boysenberry because it goes great with yogurt #imediasummit


FuelforThought: Mobile ad networks seeing 2-8% CTR on avg. As high as 20% CTR & 17% click to call for best mobile campaigns. #imediasummit via @CraigPladson


ChrisWexler: :: Hispanics/African Americans over index for mobile usage #imediasummit (RT @AdamBroitman) #imedia


elliotbenn: RT @AdamBroitman: mobile is one giant onion @zawthet #imediasummit












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Is Mobile a Medium?

mobile_bootcamp_imedia

As I got on the plane heading to the iMedia Breakthrough Summit, I was greeted by none other The David Berkowitz himself! Of course the first thing I did when I got to my seat was Tweet about it (what else would I do?).

The night's dinner was sponsored by my friends over at Jumptap (sorry you could not make it, Julie) and after the formal presentation was given, Paran Johar graced the stage and proposed a "mobile economic bailout plan" (aka a sweepstakes, where the winner gets an entire mobile campaign. Not a bad idea!)

At the risk of being overly pedantic, and potentially forcing people to mince words in my presence, I want to underscore something that Paran said as he was presenting. He referred to mobile as a medium. Now, I don't know what Paran's philosophical views are on mobility, but this phrase struck me as something juicy that I could explore. Let's first define out terms.

Medium

  1. an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished: Words are a medium of expression.

  2. one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television


It would be silly for me to add a definition of mobile; as I think we all know what I am referring to (in common parlance). The question remains,
Is the mobile phone a medium unto itself, and will it be treated as such in the marketing world in 5 five years?

I recognize the need for specialists in the mobile world today, and I love that iMedia is taking an entire day to focus on "mobile" (I would not have agreed to sit on the advisory board if I did not think this was a great initiative). Anyone who knows me, knows what my answers are to the following questions. I am not going to give my opinions at this time, rather I am looking to everyone at the iMedia summit to jump in and help out. Of course, I expect all the AMediaCirc.us/iMedia readers to jump in as well!

  1. What is the mobile web?

  2. Are there clear lines between the mobile web and what we commonly refer to as the web, necessitating dedicated, mobile web marketing teams?

  3. Where does the laptop fit into the mix, it is mobile?

    1. Along these lines, where does the netbook fit in (this is for my hardcore geeks)?






Help me turn this post into something of value by giving your answers and generating convesation. If you are not with us at the iMedia Summit and have some additional questions, please enter them in the comments. I will try to bring them up.
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