Author: Joe Barber
I read with interest (actually disappointment) the recent research titled ‘The State of Digital Marketing 2012′ in Australia published by Econsultancy and as reported in Marketing magazine. What particularly caught my eye was the fact that mobile ranked a frustrating eighth on a list of 11 different ‘online’ marketing techniques being used by client-side marketers. […]
Joe Barber sits down with Lifelounge Group CEO Dion Appel to extract some valuable insights into leveraging SoLoMo. Social networking and mobile web use are no longer the new kids on the block. They have integrated themselves into our lives and their influ-ence is both powerful and lucrative. We let our social (So) networks […]
This instalment of Joe Barber’s column first appeared in the April 2012 issue of Marketing magazine. More than half the emails I receive each month are questions regarding statistics and mobile usage, along with campaign ideas and insights on how to execute properly. The questions usually relate to a specific campaign and what could or […]
It seems we are very slow learners here in Australia. Maybe it’s the lack of innovation coming from a stale agency world or maybe it’s the lack of willingness by brands to think beyond what they did five or 10 years ago. Or maybe it’s simply a lack of understanding about the real power of […]
Until recently I hadn’t spent a lot of time in the dungeons of mobile advertising; that is, using web banners and other mechanisms to generate a response to some clever call to action. So let me take you on my discovery journey of facts, stats and fiction. I am sure Morgan Stanley has found this […]
Why do we resist change and become so protective of the past? History shows that everyone, from countries and corporations to small businesses, must learn to evolve in order to survive.
It’s been nearly seven years since I first started evangelising mobile as a ‘powerful one to one ubiquitous marketing and loyalty channel’. I recall the very first pitch trying to sell MMS messaging for a membership drive and spending most of my time explaining MMS, mobiles, why they’re important and very little time on the execution and objectives.
There is a major transformation occurring that is barely being recognised – the ability to exploit the power of mobile. Yes, mobile gets a lot of coverage, yet, in my view, most people have not grasped the true potential of this medium.
How quickly things move in the mobile world. As a 20-year veteran of the IT industry, I was often astonished at the pace of the web. It was bewildering to see the growth and uptake of web-based start-ups, while other seemingly useful companies simply crashed and burned. Incredibly, however, the mobile market is making the web pace seem like a slow walk in the park. Unfortunately, the pace and change has caught many people out and led to an expensive lesson when it comes to apps development.
It seems mobile coupons are finally coming of age. While there have been many early adaptors and technology solutions waiting for a market for quite some time, the last six months have seen an incredible increase in brands embracing the full mobile voucher (coupon) opportunity. As early as 2005, I saw the first very crude attempts to use SMS coupons: redeemed via a cash register and point of sale (POS) terminal using a series of jerry rigged register keys counting coupons presented and POS terminals fashioned to fit coupons into a gift card type model. Irrespective of the success, mobile coupons have struggled to gain traction because the redemption tracking was challenging and disruptive to the checkout process.
Interestingly, just on two years ago, I wrote about the same issue that I am covering this month: ‘taking the web to mobile’. Except, in the earlier article, I had to focus on trying to convince the market that the mobile web was set to explode and that consumers would become more conversant and accepting of accessing websites via their highly restricted small form factor phones. It was a challenge finding strong supportive statistics and only a few analysts wrote with any degree of conviction. I recall receiving a number of passionate emails dismissing my commentary as mindless soothsaying.
Take a look at the typical American family fridge and you’ll see a litany of well-organised coupons and vouchers. But the typical Aussie fridge is mostly void of coupons and is instead covered in kids’ artwork, photos and magnets from the local plumber and lawn mowing service. In my case, its void of anything.
I enjoy hearing back from readers and receiving emails debating some of my commentary and others contributing some interesting viewpoints. By far the most common request, however, is for some mobile stats and facts to support a pitch, proposal or campaign brief. So here is the latest compilation of some pertinent facts and figures along with their source.
Could you imagine a high profile retail brand that targets woman aged 18 to 30 not having an online presence? Definitely not – maybe in the late 90s, but not in 2011. The same can now be said for a mobile presence. Recently, however, I met a marketing director of such a brand that questioned the value of mobile to his target market. Has he been living under a rock? Or does he own shares in a TVC production company or printer?
