filter by tag: mobile

Brands would be wise to redirect some of their ad spend this holiday season – if the results of the latest Retail Advertising and Marketing Association research mean anything. According to the survey, a mere 17 percent of consumers said their favorite holiday TV commercial motivated them to shop at that retailer. This bleak statistic must be leaving retailers quaking in their boots because, despite expectations that holiday sales in 2009 will beat those of 2008, consumers are sure to be more selective with their money.

When it comes to deciding where to shop, TV commercials just don’t have the oomph they used to. To get customers through the door, the answer isn’t a 30-second spot…it’s money-saving coupons. Nearly half of respondents said coupons were the top media influencer when it came to deciding which retailers to shop. Meaning, a consumer may forego his favorite store if it means saving a little cash.

And it’s not just TV commercials losing out to coupons. Retailers saw a 15 percent decline in visits to their Web sites during Black Friday 2009 versus 2008, but searches for “printable coupons” jumped 50 percent. Few retailers seem to be getting the hint, however, as most are in a stand-off with thrifty customers waiting until the last minute to get the best deals.

JCPenney is one company on top of the trend. It began offering mobile coupons, which let cashiers scan coupons on customers’ mobile phones, back in September. American Greetings is getting on board, too, as it just upgraded its iPhone app to offer coupons, and Gap and Banana Republic are testing mobile coupons at outlet and factory stores in certain markets. The moves should pay off, too. A Deloitte study (client) showed 20 percent of consumers plan to use their mobile phones to assist in holiday shopping.

With only eight shopping days left until Christmas, perhaps now we’ll start to see retailers put a little more marketing muscle – mobile or otherwise – behind stretching customers’ wallets.

A recent blog post from cell phone analytics start-up Flurry suggested young consumers of Apple’s iPod touch would be future consumers of its iPhone later in life. “Apple is using the iPod touch to build loyalty with pre-teens and teens, even before they have their own phones (think: McDonalds' Happy Meal marketing strategy).” I didn’t get my first cell phone until my seventeenth birthday, and I considered myself to be on the cusp of the technological track. But if the assumptions are true, within the next five years, we will see a lot more tweens and teens using Apple’s high-tech mobile device.

Following in Apple’s footsteps, many companies are starting to realize teens are technologically savvier than older consumers. Sites like Mattel’s Everythinggirl.com and MyePets.com have created virtual online worlds that invite younger consumers to participate in interactive environments. And, in 2008, Disney Records, the online home for everything Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers, led the list of Web video sites, with kids compromising more than 49 percent of its unique visitors.

But what does this increase in tech-literacy among American youth mean for marketers?

Teens are becoming a stronger force in online shopping and purchasing decisions and are extremely desirable marketing targets. In fact, the 2008 Global Habbo Youth Survey found 24 percent of teens are spending more than 15 hours a week online, and of those surveyed, 58 percent have made an online purchase and on average spend $46 per month – 26 percent spend $50 or more per month. Want more good news? Despite clothing, shoes, accessories and music ranking at the top of the list of online purchases, brand familiarity remains the driving force behind nearly 74 percent of all purchasing decisions among teens.

Maybe Flurry’s prediction is right. If younger consumers have purchasing control and if brand loyalty is achieved early in life, as in the case with Apple, perhaps we will begin seeing kids grabbing their lunch, kissing their parents goodbye and checking their Facebook app, all before catching the morning bus to school.

-- Emily Koruda, Fall 2009 Marketing Intern

There’s good news for businesses online!

New media users are increasingly interacting with companies and brand in this environment. In fact, interactions are up 32 percent from 2008 with almost 80 percent (78%) of new media users engaging with businesses through traditional online or social media channels. This is according to our latest research, the 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study.

The2nd annual new media study, an update of the 2008 Business in Social Media Study, is a three-part survey which explored new media users’ interactions with brands, their support of social and environmental issues and their engagement with corporate responsibility practices. The research also reveals new media users:

• Feel a stronger connection to (72%) and better served by (68%) companies they can interact with via new media
• Believe companies should market to them through traditional online advertising (43%, up from 25% in 2008)
• Believe they can influence corporate responsibility decisions by voicing opinions via new media channels (62%)
• Believe companies and nonprofits should use new media to raise money and awareness for causes (79%)

For additional findings, please visit www.coneinc.com/consumernewmediastudy to download the research fact sheets.

Your weekly glimpse into the world of new media

Social: Just because your company uses social media, doesn’t mean people are talking about it. Well, burger chain Red Robin and Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati are doing something about that. After taking a post-meal survey in-restaurant, Red Robin invites diners who opt-in to post recommendations on their Facebook pages, which Red Robin then posts on its own page. In a similar call-to-action, Ducati rewards fans who disseminate a branded quiz, found on its new social networking site, with points that can be redeemed at Amazon.com.

Video: Rather than rely on consumer-generated videos to promote its new Fresh Ideas pre-sliced deli meat, food brand Sara Lee went out and hired actresses and comediennes posing as over-worked moms who manage to fit the sandwich meats into their busy days. The three video spots, available on YouTube and Facebook, feature mini, day-in-the-life vignettes of crazed working moms.

Research: Looking to jump on the iPhone app bandwagon? A recent survey from Compete Smartphone Intelligence reports smartphone owners’ favorite types of apps are entertainment, games, music, social networking and weather. Want more good news? Nearly a third (30%) of all smartphone owners are comfortable receiving targeted marketing on their phones.

Mobile: Speaking of apps, Finnish cellphone maker Nokia is promoting its latest customizable phone, the N97, by allowing consumers to create their own apps. Creators of the top 10 apps will win a free phone pre-installed with their creation.

Misstep: New media are rapidly gaining in popularity, but it seems they’re missing the boat when it comes to being a source of daily news. According to the First Amendment Center, Americans still consider traditional media the top source for news. A VERY distant second are the Internet, Twitter and social networks.

Our favorite: Red Robin and Ducati. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Driving fans to your social network is only half the battle. So engage your consumers and put them to work as brand ambassadors.

We all know the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but for marketers, it’s more a question of getting to his wallet. And, the answer? Apparently, it’s a good laugh at his friend’s expense. At least that’s what these brands targeting the 18- to 34-year-old male are hoping for:

• Captain Morgan is literally “Calling All Captains" after launching an online tool that that lets users send prank voicemails to their friends. The messages range from angry bartenders and boyfriends to the “hottie” from the bar last night. Messages can be personalized by adding the recipient’s name and even references to clothing worn the previous evening.
• Those who’d rather place live phone calls should download SpoofApp to their phone. SpoofApp lets users change the Caller ID display of the person they're calling and can even alter the caller’s voice to sound like a man or a woman. Every call can be recorded and played back later, just in case it wasn’t funny enough the first time. (iPhone users, however, are out of luck. SpoofApp was rejected by the iPhone App Store.)
  

As recent research demonstrates, there’s a definite ROI for humor marketing. According to a Canadian study, 67 percent of Canadians say humor is the secret ingredient that makes an advertisement most persuasive, more than overt sexuality and celebrity endorsement. (That’s too bad for Australian beer Skinny Blonde, whose temperature-activated bottle label features a curvy blonde who loses her bikini top as the bottle gets colder.) And, a 2009 behavioral study published in Psychology and Marketing found humor can indeed increase ad and brand recall when it’s unexpected and related to the product.

Using humor in marketing certainly isn’t innovative, but Captain Morgan and SpoofApp have taken an innovative approach to a tried and true tact. By allowing users to continuously interact with their brands, they’ve extended the humorous moment beyond an advertisement and turned it into a memorable (and lasting?) experience.