THE ADNEWS NGEN BLOG: A failure to launch... for mobile (Part I)

“A smartphone today has more computing power than all of NASA did when it put a man on the moon in 1969.”

I start with this quote by Intel CEO Paul Otellini to put into perspective the powerful technology we constantly carry with us and marketers’ failure to take advantage of it. This is very frustrating to know as a digital planner or marketer. We have the perfect device for reaching today’s on-the-go consumer, but mobile marketing is, so far, a non-starter in Australia.

For years now we’ve heard the constant refrain that “this is the year of the mobile”. Let’s get one thing straight: There is no longer such a thing as “the year of mobile”. The mobile revolution is now. Much like trying to convince clients to invest in digital advertising only a few short years ago (although some would argue this is still the case), we are now facing the same funding issues with mobile budgets.

Problems that Plague Mobile:

The Earth is flat
Channel ignorance is the biggest factor restraining the progress of mobile marketing. It seems that both clients and agencies don’t recognise the importance of the channel. Mobile in agencies tends to be an afterthought and clients don’t realise that along with their keys and wallet, 74% of smartphone users never leave home without their mobile. Mobile is a living thriving medium that Aussies are in fact using 24/7.

Channel ignorance is a twofold issue. Firstly, agencies don’t know how to approach the medium. The industry tells us to look at the mobile as you would the desktop, just on a smaller scale. This is partially due to how publishers package their offering. Secondly, agencies don’t encourage their clients to use the mobile channel; if it is included, it is only as mobile banners and one-off m-sites beyond desktop. Mobile is an afterthought, rather than a lucrative revenue stream it has the potential to be.

Another major problem is the lack of proper research in the channel. More research is becoming available, but the information tends to be biased based on whoever funded the project, and mobile is still looked at as a screen similar to desktop.

The lack of education may be the reason why technologies such as QR codes haven’t succeeded the way they should have. Advertisers use QR codes expecting consumers to use them because they are there. They may be a nice novelty, but if you don’t give your audience a compelling reason to scan a QR code, they simply won’t engage.
 
The other issue is that clients don’t understand the importance of mobile as a key component of their marketing mix. This could be due to agencies not knowing how to approach the medium, thus making a case of broken telephone (mobile pun if you will) on how we should approach mobile. Whatever the reason may be, we need to address it quickly.

Clients need to be able to understand how their consumers behave on mobile and how they can harness that behaviour in their marketing. Once we’ve cracked this, we will be able to present our clients with advertising opportunities that adhere to their needs.

An Unexplored Universe
According the Google’s Our Mobile Planet study, Australia has the fourth highest smartphone penetration globally with 52% owning a smartphone. This number is only likely to rise. Eventually clients will need to leave their comfort zone and create a mobile marketing strategy regardless, so it’s best to get there fast before your competitors do it first.

 Mobile search is also quickly growing in Australia, constituting 13% of all search queries on Google (compared to 14% globally), with 51% of smartphone users searching on their mobile every day.

So as agencies, how do we create a tangible mobile strategy for our clients? I think it’s most important to look in the mirror as consumers and ask ourselves, “What value proposition do I want to be offered for me to engage or interact with that brand?”

Mobile is an entirely opt-in medium so we must deploy our mobile offering in a way that makes usage seamless for the consumer. If we don’t approach mobile from a consumer’s point of view, then we are doomed to fail.

Joshua Campanella
Digital Planning Manager
MEC