Is the Social Media Trend the Shiny Object Distracting Us From the Real Marketing Revolution – Mobile? Perhaps.
Posted: 3/11/2010 11:32:49 AM by
Carrie Urban Kapraun | with 0 comments
I had a light bulb moment earlier this week when I read a document called Mobile Mania (A Manual for the Second Internet Revolution) produced by Simon Silvester of Y&R (a WPP agency). It seems simple enough, but one of my take-aways was that I (we) need to start thinking of mobile devices as portable, very personal mini-computers, not as smart phones – meaning mobile devices are the evolution of computers, not the evolution of cell phones. It really is a major distinction. Everything that we do on computers and the internet will be available on mobile devices and will be improved by the personalization, immediacy and mobility that these portable devices provide.
In addition, it became clearer that as marketers we need to appreciate that mobile is a distinct medium and a very powerful one. Like internet marketing, mobile communications are the intersection of several media, often looking like TV, radio, print, in-game and direct mail. However, mobile marketing communications benefit from the portability and intimacy of mobile devices. It is evident that mobile marketing is going to change the way we think about marketing. In some cases, Silvester states that mobile will be the only medium.
There is no denying that mobile and social media marketing have a symbiotic relationship. Silvester argues that social media wouldn’t be as big as it is today without the explosion of mobile devices, and I agree. However, it seems that the rise of social media marketing has overshadowed the growth of mobile, and as a result, mobile marketing has gotten lost. Marketing through mobile devices often seems to be an afterthought or a half-baked expansion of an online or social media campaign. Mobile should be considered as unique as any other medium and the messaging needs to be tailored to take advantage of the strengths of the medium as mentioned above.
Recently, I’ve read a lot about sponsors that are using social media as a major sponsorship activation platform. During the Vancouver Olympic Games, there was a proliferation of sponsors that used social media as part of their activation programs including Visa, Coca-Cola, P&G, McDonald’s and GE. Visa created a go world YouTube channel and a Facebook page, McDonald’s created a virtual scavenger hunt and Coca-Cola created a virtual snowball fight. Although some of the programs were better than others, I have to applaud their efforts.
However, mobile activation seemed to be more limited and a lot less creative. For example, NBC and Coca-Cola created an Olympic-themed iPhone app that had sounds of cheering, air horns and a Coke being poured. I am well aware that in the world of mobile apps, sometimes the more inane the better, but I thought it was pretty unimaginative.
On the other hand, Chevy’s upcoming mobile activation around its corporate sponsorship of South by Southwest (SXSW) festival is an improvement. Chevy’s approach and thinking is headed in the right direction. Chevy will be using mobile technology to offer festival attendees a location-based feature to allow people to locate each other at various festival locations. In addition, festival attendees can visit specific locations to receive special offers from Chevy and SXSW (e.g., rides in a Chevy Equinox to the airport). Chevy is using the opportunity to get feedback and learn from festival attendees. Although the program is tailored to mobile, it fits in with Chevy’s larger sponsorship activation program.
Overall, mobile marketing still has a long way to go, especially as it relates to corporate sponsorship. Silvester talks about paradigm-shifting insights, meaning we are at the point where we haven’t figured out what is possible and what we will want (think Starbuck or the iPod). Mobile marketing is challenging but, hopefully marketers, including both properties and sponsors will view mobile as a unique and unprecedented marketing opportunity.
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Filed under: olympics, activation