Unofficial blog @ desiblogz - The Big Mobile Marketing Funda

Thursday 30 August 2007 - The Big Mobile Marketing Funda

Posted in Mobile

This article makes my opinion in my last article on mobile marketing by mginger and a successful busines model for mobile marketing even stronger.

"The effectiveness of mobile as a marketing channel has been a subject of debate for many years and, while its benefits of being able to reach consumers at the right time with the right message are clear, it has still yet to fully achieve its potential.

The problem has always been getting consumers used to receiving commercial messages on a device that they consider personal and private, without it seeming intrusive. The simplest way to overcome this is to get the consumer to opt in and request information. This is why so many service-oriented businesses are beginning to build mobile into the fabric of their businesses to try to enhance the customer’s experience.

Using mobile messaging to market to consumers is tricky, but using the same channel to communicate with customers about things they care about — such as traffic updates, auction statuses and news alerts — is much more effective.

To some businesses, the integration of mobile as a marketing platform into the overall marketing experience has become so vital to their operations that they could not operate without it. A good example of this is roadside recovery business the AA. Its breakdown services are automated from start to finish, with mobile telephony playing a central part in the operation.

Mobile involvement begins when the car owner calls up to say they have broken down. Mobile mapping services can be used to locate the stranded customer; automated technology then dispatches the nearest recovery vehicle, based on their position, which is determined using GPS technology.

For 30 years, the AA operated its own radio network to control its recovery business but, four years ago, it switched to the Vodafone network, before recently moving again to work with O2. Once the rescue vehicle locates the stranded motorist, who has been kept up to date by SMS messaging to let them know how far away the recovery vehicle is, the mechanic uses a Bluetooth-enabled laptop connected to the motorist’s engine computer that beams back diagnostic information to his van, where an assessment of the problem can be made. ‘We literally could not run our roadside business without wireless and mobile,’ says Trevor Didcock, director of information systems at the AA.

So successful has the introduction of mobile services been for the AA that it is now looking to integrate it further across other parts of its business. It runs a 2000-strong driving-instructor business, and is creating an online database to control lesson times and other information.

In addition, the AA is considering equipping its instructors with wireless PDAs so they can remotely access all this information. The insurance side of the AA’s business may also be overhauled - customer communication is currently carried out by email, though mobile plans are in the offing.

‘We didn’t set out to collect mobile numbers for this business, but we would consider it if it benefits customers in the future. With the pace of change that mobile is creating, we will definitely use more mobile services in the future,’ says Didcock.

Travel-oriented businesses are also a perfect fit for mobile services, as their customers are usually out of the house or office when they want information, and that information is subject to frequent changes.

Transport for London (TfL) operates a raft of mobile business services supplying Londoners with up-to-date information on the state of services, as well as features such as journey planners on interactive mobile maps. The services allow consumers to receive alerts advising of delays to their commuter route, plan an alternative journey to work or find their nearest licensed minicab.

TfL believes that the key to successful mobile information is to integrate and position the mobile channel within its multi-channel offering, leaving it up to consumers as to how they wish to access the information. The organisation also ensures that its services are available across all mobile networks and are not charged at a premium rate, with services including travel alerts provided for free.

‘The driver behind our mobile services is that electronic channels are very important in giving timely and relevant information to our customers. Mobile’s reach in London makes it vital and it gives us the opportunity to help our customers navigate the network,’ says Jon White, senior marketing planner within TfL’s group marketing strategy team.

TfL’s mobile services are a cost-effective means of collecting revenue and have been well received by users. One service allows drivers to pay the London congestion charge via their mobile phone, ensuring they have an option of paying the basic amount - before it rises for late payment - even if they forget to pay before heading into central London. ‘It is one of our most cost-efficient channels for congestion-charge payment and is very lifestyle-oriented,’ says White.

High-street banks have also been quick to embrace the potential of mobile, and some now enable their customers to receive balances and carry out other basic banking functions through their mobile phones. These services have been operational for about two years, though developing a secure system guaranteeing customers’ data safety took years to develop. Despite these initial hurdles, mobile banking is now flourishing, with most UK high-street banks having some kind of offering.

Lloyds TSB, the first bank to offer text alerts including balance information and details of customers’ last five transactions, is positive about the usefulness of mobile as a service channel. ‘It’s about offering choice of how the customer can communicate with the bank,’ says Anita Hockin, head of internet at Lloyds TSB. ‘A lot depends on the customer and their behaviour as to whether they will take it up, but we feel it is important to try to make our customers’ lives easier.’ Like many other companies in the UK, Lloyds TSB realises that, with mobile phone penetration standing at about 86% and mobile phone technology advancing all the time, it will not be long before consumer behaviour becomes more affected by mobile use. Customers will soon expect to be able to communicate with companies via mobile services. ‘There is a requirement to use mobile.

Customers expect good service at their convenience, whichever channel they use,’ says Hockin. Most mobile business services have to date been messaging-oriented, whether they are travel or news alerts, or updates on how much money is in a current account. However, the future of business services may lie in the mobile internet.

One industry in which this medium has already begun to gain a foothold is sport, and particularly Premier League football clubs. Premium TV, the company that specialises in helping football clubs generate revenue from their rights across the digital market, works with a number of Premiership clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Aston Villa, developing mobile services that can be sold to fans. A year ago, mobile internet traffic was fairly low-level, but Premium TV now has more than 100,000 subscribers to its football services, bringing in significant revenue for the clubs.

‘Mobile services are moving from being a marketing channel to being a revenue generator,’ says Premium TV chief executive Ollie Slipper. ‘At present, only about 12% of handsets are 3G. We need it to reach critical mass to really begin to use the mobile internet as a business tool.’

A good example of the use of the mobile internet mixed with messaging services to create something more than basic customer communication is eBay’s ‘anywhere’ service in the UK. Developed in conjunction with mobile content and technology company Volantis Systems, the service allows eBay users to receive alerts on items they are bidding on so that they can up their bids and keep ahead of rivals. The SMS alerts provide links to a WAP service from where the user can bid on items they want.

‘The approach we take is to look at the current offering and see what is suitable for mobile. Things that are time-sensitive are perfect,’ says Volantis Systems director of product marketing Susie Harris. Mobile communications have become so fundamental to everyday life that it is now a rarity to come across a major consumer brand without a mobile strategy.

While mobile’s development as a marketing medium has been hindered by consumer and brand scepticism, its use as a facilitator for businesses spanning from roadside recovery and congestion charging to insurance continues to grow.

With consumers’ use of mobile phones showing no signs of slowing, soon it will no longer be a question of whether a company should offer mobile services; consumers will already be expecting them."

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