Mobile marketing and the rules of engagement

I've attended MIPTV seven times and mobile has always been on the agenda and discussions about what content would work, where would people watch, how can brands could advertise effectively on mobile and many other topics have raged on and this time was no different.

Big breakthrough

Every year promises to be the big breakthrough for mobile and it seemed as we have always heard the same promises but this year was different. The mood was much more positive and from an advertising medium point of view, mobile has delivered some great results for brands.

We all understand that mobile is a unique medium; it's a smaller screen and a very personal device. We learnt a lot from email spamming and the last thing people will accept on their mobile phones is unsolicited marketing but the opportunity to reach a consumer anywhere and anytime is far too huge an opportunity for any marketer to ignore.

From a mobile TV point of view, where users are watching traditional video or television content, either streaming or on-demand, the traditional pre- or post-roll and even the 30 second spot still works, as viewers are almost conditioned to this type of advertising. This experience simply transports traditional viewing behaviour to a mobile phone where a viewer may not have access to a TV set, although research shows that most mobile TV is viewed indoors and at home. This is an opportunity for brands to offer funded, on-demand branded entertainment content to users who still need to cover data or subscription charges.

Platypus Productions recently launched Travolution! which provides video content to tourists at a point of interest on their mobile phone. As an example, a tourist could request a video via his or her mobile phone while standing on the Grand Parade in Cape Town and view the first speech given by Nelson Mandela at the Grand Parade after he was released. This content could be branded funded.

Location-based advertising

Location-based advertising, which is contextually relevant and delivers branded content at a point of need, is where advertising blurs into a service, one that a consumer needs and would readily request. This is offering a brand utility rather than branded entertainment and can be very successful. It's about intention and not attention.

A great example is The Good Pub Guide publication in the UK. Besides being a printed guide, it is available for use on the Garmin satellite navigation in car system and via mobile, where you send a mobile text message from anywhere in the UK and immediately receive a complete description, contact details, map and directions details of your nearest Good Pub.

Johnnie Walker has a digital personal assistant for mobile which, when loaded onto the mobile phone of loyal Johnnie Walker drinkers, serves up branded content, special offers and invitations to exclusive member-only events, creating an omni-present, always-connected location-aware digital window to consumers. Smirnoff has a similar application which offers a pocket bartender, Vodapedia and nightlife guide.

Coke offered M-Cards to mobile users where users could create personalised Christmas Cards to friends and family. The 12-hour campaign, spread across several days, saw 579 000 page impressions, with 55 000 users clicking through to the Coke campaign mobile site.

Mobile marketing is about personalisation; it's about offering communitainment rather than advertising. Geo-targeting offers great opportunities and uses the unique features and capabilities of mobile, something not offered by any other medium. The key for success, however, is to put the user at the centre of the technology.