The mobile phone has changed marketing forever. Where you go, your mobile goes. With it comes the web, and through that – connectivity. Because of this, mobile has the ability to deliver better personalisation, relevancy, engagement and effectiveness across all media channels by unlocking greater behavioural insights than ever before.
Behaviour is the key word here. While mobile has given us insight into consumer behaviour, it’s important to point out how much this behaviour is now being governed by mobile itself. A great example to demonstrate this is Volkswagen’s ‘Eyes on the road’ cinema advert promoting responsible phone usage.
The advert used the locational data of everyone within the cinema to send a locational-based message to the audience. As audience members all duly glance at their phones in unison, the car in the advert crashes, and they look back up in shock at a broken windscreen.
Not only is it an extremely effective advert, it’s a fantastic example of how advertisers are now able to use geography and context to deliver highly relevant ad content through the power of mobile. It’s also a demonstration of how mobile is having an impact on other, more traditional forms of advertising.
But identifying a target audience isn’t always as simple as reaching them through a mutual location. A great example of how mobile can add an extra layer of demographic insight can be demonstrated through the challenge of targeting a social group like surfers with a particular campaign. Surfers come from all demographics, psychographics and socio-economic backgrounds. Their mobile acts as a footprint to their life, showing their real-time location as well as where they have been before. However, the locations of surfers are similar to other beachgoers, so how can we differentiate between the two? We need to look deeper into surfers' behaviours in order to distinguish them from the other beach goers.
One key insight is that surfers specifically need waves which are created by the weather, particularly off-shore storms. By overlaying ideal surfing weather with mobility data, in theory, sunbathers and other beach goers would be differentiated from an audience cluster group of surfers. This is smart mobile advertising at its best and just one example of the new wave (no pun intended) of possibilities for mobile advertising.
When considering marketing to this modern, ‘hyper-connected’ audience, here are three observations I’ve made which impact the way marketers work.
1. Always-on and always creating data
People are "always-on" and their mobiles are forever at an arm’s reach. I was recently at A&E and met a guy who’d sustained an injury playing football. He was in full kit and had clearly come straight from playing. He didn’t have bags, other clothes or even normal shoes. But the one thing he did have? His mobile.
This increased activity means increased data. We are able to understand target audiences more than ever before. We need to use data to really understand the presence of mobile and the role it plays in the advertising campaign – the example of the surfers is the perfect demonstration of intelligent advertising at its best.
Consumers are being bombarded by content all day, so campaigns that make good use of data, will have the opportunity to really stand out.
2. Rethink the purchase cycle and measure everything
Having our mobile with us 24/7 means if we wish to respond to any form of branded communication or brand intervention we will respond at that time, in that place and based on the context received or our mood/emotion. As a result, the traditional purchase cycle is no more. Okay, the cycle looks reasonably the same starting with brand awareness, brand desire, product consideration and intent to purchase through to actual purchase. However, what’s changed is the speed at which consumers go from being passive (having no response to advertising) to suddenly becoming an active buyer.
This process is greatly accelerated with continued connectivity.
For maximum results, measure everything you do. Bear in mind that the effectiveness of mobile needs to be measured accordingly taking into account its transcendence of both the physical and online world.
3. Sharing goes beyond just social networks
The third truth about the hyper-connected era is that it’s all about sharing. For example 80 per cent of UK users access Twitter, and 70 per cent of U.S. users, access Facebook via their mobile. But it’s also about more than just social networks. A good article, joke or other piece of content creates discussion, it can unite people on the train or in the workplace. Mobile is an integral part of every-day communication, and as a result it is also successfully increasing the quality of more traditional advertising. People use their mobiles to share opinions and ideas, and combining this with TV can enhance the viewing experience.
By Charlie Hunter Schyff, Head of Planning & Insights at Telefonica.
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