mobile: the great connector

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RESOURCE INTERACTIVE

RESOURCE INTERACTIVE | ©2011 Point of View | Mobile

THINKABLE MOBILE

Mobile: The Great Connector

2011

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RESOURCE INTERACTIVE THINKABLE MOBILE


Introduction: Mobile Comes of Age

Mobile technology has drenched our daily lives. From texting to shopping to socializing to gaming, it’s more than just all the rage—it has become the great connector of all channels and touch points (and not just the digital ones). Mobile has become the ever-present cornerstone of consumers’ lives, enabling new experiences and empowering connections and interactions as never before. Just as the nexus of personal computers and the Internet (with email) changed the way we live and work, this new, revolutionary convergence of smart phones and cloud tablets with apps and high-speed networks is causing a quantum shift in our daily interactions and transactions.

The adoption of—and innovation around—advanced mobile devices and services in 2010 was staggering. We expect that pace to dial up exponentially in 2011. In this paper, we take a look at how this fast-evolving channel is changing the world of consumers and how commerce and brands can mobilize for the future to meet consumer expectations.

Stat Shot:

According to International Data Corporation, smartphone manufacturers shipped 100.9 million devices in the fourth quarter of 2010, while PC manufacturers shipped 92.1 million units worldwide. Or, more simply put, smartphones just outsold PCs for the first time ever.*

1 Source: Read Write Web, February, 2011

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O.P.E.N. Mobile Experience to Meet Consumer Expectations

We’ve long proclaimed that brands must open their mindsets and experiences to embrace their socially networked and consummately collaborative consumers. Now, to that brand-opening call, we add another layer: Truly open brands must have open mobile experiences.

Why?

Because consumers are more in motion, more mobile and more demanding than ever before. Therefore, brands must be open around the clock and around the world, energized and optimized for meaningful experiences on major mobile platforms and devices.

We believe consumers expect brands to be O.P.E.N. We believe the more open a brand is to consumers by ensuring them the following integrated experiences, the more consumers will embrace and buy from that brand:

On-demand—Delivers accessible, self-directed and instantly gratifying experiences.

Personal—Facilitates meaningful interaction with individuals.

Engaging—Deepens attachment through relevant emotional experiences.

Networked—Taps the exponential potential of individual consumers and online communities.

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O.P.E.N. Mobile Experience to Meet Consumer Expectations

More than the sum of its parts, brand openness must be holistic and expansive enough to meet consumer expectations and be with consumers wherever they are now and wherever they are headed next. While they may have multiple connected devices (desktops, laptops and tablets all at their fingertips as the constant motion of their lives flow), we are certain that the central connection point will be their primary mobile device. O.P.E.N. experiences can now be delivered across a range of always-connected devices that open the door to not only new consumers, but also to brand loyalists in new ways.

In recent years, The Open Brand has been the foundation for rich, relevant, lasting relationships between consumers and brands. Enabling marketing technologies and channel expansions like mobile have accelerated the imperative for brands to ensure integrated, O.P.E.N. experiences. As growth technologies and channels (including mobile, social, virtual and augmented reality) evolve and mature, consumer expectations will continue to heighten and brands will constantly need to be ahead of ensuring O.P.E.N. brand experiences for their consumers. The alternative is irrelevance.

Here are some of the things consumers seek when making an O.P.E.N. connection with mobilized brands:

— Usable tools at every inspiration point

— Personalization, localization, and real-time sharing options

— Mobile advertising that connects them with the brand, and the brand with them

— Experiences that harness unique devices, applications, and services to enrich and engage

— Commerce opportunities that integrate mobile with social, web and retail channels

THINKABLE MOBILE

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Mobilizing Your Brand

The brands that are getting it right started with some basic tenets and knowledge bases that we encourage all our brands to start with:

— Knowing your consumers

— Knowing yourself, your strategy, your brand

— Knowing your competition

— Knowing your goals and objectives

— Knowing your mobile best practices

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Chief marketing officers (CMOs) and brand managers are increasingly aware of mobile’s importance for connecting with consumers. They are talking about mobile and diving into launch sites and apps as fast as they can. However, only a few brands are really cracking the code.

In this section, we look at some of the other keys to mobile success for CMOs and consumers alike and the brands that are getting it right.

01 Integrate Your Strategy—Mobile is a state of being, embedded in the lives of busy consumers. It is not a

standalone channel, or a singular marketing tactic. Instead, it must work to ensure a brand is creating O.P.E.N. experiences with and for consumers. So, don’t go rushing off on a tactical mission to launch a mobile site or app without first looking at how it plays in your consumers’ lives and with your other channels, and how it mirrors the measure of your brand. That means having a strategy that brings mobile into the fold of your other channels (destination site, in-store, social, etc.) rather than treating it as a stand-alone or orbiting channel. Ensure that all channels blend together to create a seamless brand experience, no matter the media or platform.

Profile: Starbucks Gets Wired

Ever since the sound of fingers on keyboards joined the cacophony of coffee grinders and milk steamers, Starbucks has been known as a truly wired brand. In 2010, it went the extra mile for consumers by offering free WiFi, and in January 2011, it launched its mobile payment system, enabling smartphones to act as Starbucks cards for in-store payments, balance-checking and reloading. Likewise, when consumers opt into mobile campaigns, they may also receive a text-messaged discount if they wander into the geo-fenced range of a store.

Starbucks has long been plugged into its consumers’ multi-channel habits, offering online card management and in-store surfing options for years. Going mobile is just the latest move in their long-term strategy.

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02 Create Always-On Experiences—Mobile is different than other channels because consumers can take it

with them everywhere they go. It elevates the channel to a new level of importance for consumers and brands because the expectation (and the experience) is 24/7. Now that consumers can find everything from a clean restroom (via the Charmin-sponsored Sit or Squat app) to a great place to eat nearby (with the Urban Spoon app), consumer demands and expectations now reach beyond the destination site or the bricks-and-mortar store. Mobile creates opportunities to be not just always-on, but always reactive, responsive and available for consultation. Make the most of this ever-present channel by engaging consumers in 24/7 brand experiences that fit into their fast-moving lives. Catch up with them at the check-out stand with brief, on-brand games and polls (like Gain’s “Get a Sniff of Me” quiz and Laundry Personality profiler). Excite them with the immediacy and evanescence of mobile flash sales. Or meet them at the airport gate with geo-targeted features about stores and sales in the city where they’ve just landed. The bottom line: Be as mobile, as swift, as on-the-move and in-the-moment as your consumers are by serving on-brand experiences that match their mobile lifestyles.

Stat Shot:

82% of consumers say they access their smart phones while shopping.* 1 Source: “Get Ready for the Mobile Shopper,” InsightExpress.com, July, 2010

Profile: A Spotless App from Clorox

Next time you splash red wine on a new dress, you can get stain-removal advice on the go from Clorox, through its mobile stain-fighting app. On the spot, you can search for stains by type or fabric, and get advice on using Clorox products (where appropriate) or other stain-busters (like club soda), if they’ll do the job better. The app also enables consumer feedback and lets users add their own stain removal tips and rate stain removal guides. Long after many marketing campaigns have faded away, this clever, always-on app will still be a stain-fighter’s best friend (and Clorox, a trusted source for cleaner clothes).

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03 Mobilize for Commerce and Connectivity—The “e” in “ecommerce” has evolved from its original meaning

(electronic) to one infused with a more mobile joie de vie: “everywhere.” And nowhere is “Everywhere” Commerce more evident than in the mobile universe. Mobile commerce is making its mark in multiple ways: Not only is it allowing consumers to buy directly from mobile websites and apps, but it is also serving as the connective tissue that powers purchasing, as well as sharing for decision support, in other channels. This kind of O.P.E.N. mobile commerce connectivity isn’t just a “nice to have” concept for brand futurists: It’s already happening, and happening quickly, as mobile aligns with other channels to shape more compelling commerce experiences than they could individually.

Amazon and eBay, two of the brands that drove the original ecommerce revolution, are also a leading the way in Everywhere Commerce. Amazon consumers purchased an impressive $1 billion worth of products via their mobile devices in one year, and its number-one-selling product in 2010 was the Kindle eBook reader (which itself is an ecommerce mobile device, allowing for easy purchase and download of eBooks—but only from Amazon). The Kindle is a testament to the enchanting power of mobile devices to free the consumer for roaming at will without losing touch with what matters. Walk through any park or airport and you’ll see more and more people enjoying an eBook versus an old-school page-turner. But the staggering sales enjoyed by Amazon don’t end with the Kindle. The company drove its mobile numbers to the stratosphere by launching apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android devices and

Blackberries, applying its famed 1-click checkout to the mobile model for quick and easy purchasing by on-the-go consumers.

And then there’s eBay, which, according to TechCrunch, reached $1.5 billion in sales with its growing stable of mobile apps and services, and whose stated goal for 2011 is to double that amount of sales. By subdividing particular interest areas such as fashion and automotive for easier and faster mobile browsing, eBay has created personalized experiences that speak directly to its consumers, and, in turn, drive sales wherever those consumers are.

Profile: In-Store Meets Smart Phone

Beyond social, mobile is becoming the glue that binds other channels together to form engaging O.P.E.N. experiences. For instance, retail locations are discovering that a smartphone can work just as well–if not better–than a credit card for on-the-go shoppers.

Starbucks consumers are some of the first to pay for a latte via mobile app, but other brands and retailers aren’t far behind. Several companies, including Visa, are testing Near Field Communication (NFC), a short-range, high-frequency wireless technology for secure data exchange. In November, 2010, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile announced plans to offer NFC-based service by 2012. And the iPhone 5 and iPad 2, as well as new generations of Google’s Android platform phones, are rumored to utilize NFC, allowing many retailers and consumers to exchange currency and goods with the click of a smartphone.

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04 Optimize for ROI—Savvy brands view mobile as a new type of canvas, not simply a smaller replica of their

existing brand landscape. Rather than shrinking your brand to fit in your consumers’ back pockets, develop an optimization strategy to make it shine brightly in the evolving space of smartphones and tablets. Optimization for mobile takes brands farther, faster, by creating compelling experiences that inspire fresh consumer interactions, exploration and transactions.

Ensure that your site and apps are fully optimized for the mobile space by following these tips:

— Remember that mobile is not the Web, so optimize for faster load times with lighter graphics and a streamlined (one- or two-click) user experience.

— Make the most of mobile’s unique “brand in the hand” capabilities with tools and apps that inspire real-world sampling (the way the Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap app does) and in-store decision-making (as does the Weight Watchers PointsPlus Finder app).

— Tap the power of tablets to serve up everything from eye-catching e-catalogs to floor-walking sales associate tools.

Stat Shot:

51% of consumers say they’d purchase more if more mobile sites were optimized.* 1 Source: Brand Anywhere and Luth Research, eMarketer Digital Intelligence, October 2010

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05 Engage with Apps and Ads—A truly O.P.E.N. brand incorporates engaging experiences that help

define its optimal level of openness. As with optimization vs. miniaturization for interaction and transaction, brands must envision the mobile experience as an entirely new opportunity to create experiences uniquely suited to the mobile environment. Mobile apps and ads that engage and inspire, without simply replicating destination site or in-store experiences, earn brands more attention, commerce and word-of-mouth (or, in today’s social lingo, “sharability.”) Don’t just reinvent the wheel for mobile: Reinvent where that wheel is taking your brand.

Profile: Tablets + Toys “R” Us = Sales

Smartphones aren’t the only mobile devices burning up the airwaves these days. According to Forrester Research, 24 million tablet PCs are projected to be sold in the United States this year, up from 10.3 million in 2010.

Resource Interactive and Toys “R” Us tapped into this growing trend for the holiday shopping season. Resource teamed up with the leading toy retailer to create an iPad app that was easy and fun for parents and kids to use together.

The Great Big Christmas Book app allowed shoppers to browse hundreds of the hottest holiday toys in an immersive shopping experience. Using virtual stickers, kids could flag the toys they love and add them to a virtual wish list. The app allowed parents to share those gift lists with family and friends via email and text. An in-store savings section and store locator made finding the best deals effortless. The Great Big Christmas Book was one the hottest iPad apps of the season, turning Toys “R” Us into the next best thing since Santa for time-starved parents.

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THINKABLE MOBILE

RI: The Future of Mobile

If past is prologue, as Shakespeare wrote, then 2010 set the stage for mobile to soar to new heights, both as a way of life and a way of commerce. Mobile has now become an embedded behavior for millions of mobile consumers whose lives and devices are always on the go. Up next are fast-evolving devices and apps that engage and reshape consumer experiences, changing the face of commerce along the way. Here are a few mobile technologies and uses that we believe will continue to reshape the mobile landscape.

Mixed Reality for Real ROI—Mobile is helping to remake reality, with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) combining into mixed reality (MR) experiences that give consumers greater control, visibility and creative input into purchases and experiences. Mobile experiences such as Sherwin-Williams Color Snap (which allows people to photograph a real-world hue and match it to a Sherwin-Williams paint color) are turning the real world into a virtual palette for personal exploration. Likewise, MR experiences are enabling everything from virtual product personalization (as Puma’s Creative Factory does) to simulated dressing rooms. Macy’s “Magic Mirror” system, installed at its flagship store during New York Fashion Week in September 2010, allowed shoppers to virtually try on clothes with the help of an iPad that “dressed” them with clothes they picked from a program. We expect MR to crop up everywhere, driven by mobile apps and devices that add an instant layer of virtual products to almost any shopping experience.

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THINKABLE MOBILE

RI: The Future of Mobile

Tags Take Off—Mobile tags, also known as QR codes, are already sweeping through stores, allowing shoppers to compare and share product features and prices at the snap of a smartphone. Now tags, including those produced by Microsoft (which has its own Quick Response system), are offering ever richer and more engaging information to support the decision process. Once a consumer has downloaded a free tag reader, a snap of a tag (or, in some cases, a plain old bar code) can load up everything from a video from a fashion designer (as does Macy’s Rachel Roy line, tagged by Microsoft) to an instant sweepstakes prize (as August 2010 readers of Allure magazine readers discovered when they scanned to win their share of $725,000 of free beauty booty). Tags can go anywhere you can leave an imprint, from bus stop displays to cocktail napkins. The result: The entire world is now a potential shopping cart.

Stores Turn to Tablets—iPads and other tablets are becoming de rigeur on the sales floor of stores ranging from the Apple Store (of course!) to Old Navy. Tablets are empowering product and inventory searching and sampling at stores such as Best Buy and The Disney Store, while also mobilizing the sales force, allowing them to escape from behind the cash wrap to finalize consumer transactions (and more effectively up-sell and cross-sell from the floor). We anticipate that tablet kiosks will soon become as common as promotional displays, creating an expansive new way for brands to showcase custom and out-of-stock products, while enlivening the exploration and decision processes for shoppers.

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Final Thought

Stephen Burke Vice President, Mobile

Email: [email protected]: 614-621-2888

All of the pieces are in place to turn mobile engagement from a speculative cost into a core element of profitable digital execution strategies. Retailers, consumer products brands, and manufacturers alike are leaping into mobile, sometimes without looking deeply at the increasingly available array of tools and options which are already familiar to many US consumers.

By the end of 2011, an estimated one billion people around the world will be connected to the mobile web, and 50 percent of all Americans will own a smartphone. Because of the explosion of web-enabled mobile devices, mobile usage is now on a hockey-stick trajectory: Searches on smartphones and tablets have increased 4x in the last year, and the world of mobile apps continues to engage mobile users in their every waking moment—125 years’ worth of Angry Birds is played every day! —The Official Google Blog, Feb 2011.

Connect with Stephen—Make sure your brand isn’t left behind. Let us help you look before you leap.

mobile: the great connector

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