Digital Perspective Blog

There is no doubt that mobile applications are hot – CNET just recently reported that Apple’s app store has had over 3 billion downloads since July 2008 (when it started with just 500 apps, now there are over 100,000).   And you have probably heard the famous tagline: “There is an app for that” – there really is almost an app for everything.

Recently my friend sent out a tweet: “Cool free app from BMW M Power that can record the performance data of your driving: http://bit.ly/7q5Tm6”.  I own an M3 (E36 – old but well kept) and was immediately drawn to click on the link which opened iTunes / app location directly.  While I do not own an iPhone (love my BB 9700) I was willing to risk “stealing” my wife’s phone to test the app.  But something happened – as I started reading the customer reviews I quickly became disenchanted with the app.

“Not Good” “Great but useless” “BMW, you should be embarrassed” “Nice graphics, but utterly useless” “Potential, but comes up short” So – after reading these not-so-great reviews, I decided to not even try it out myself – why risk a domestic (I am exaggerating of course).

A few things are quite evident:

• We listen to our friends (Tweet got me to check out the app – I have a feeling that my friend did not really test it himself)

• We listen to people (and are influenced by them) that we do not know but who have had an experience with the product / service / destination / etc.

• Jumping onto trends just because does not work – we see too many brands trying to ride the wave, be it Twitter, a mobile app, or other without thinking it through and being strategic.

Ask yourself: what value will my creation / participation bring to you? I think BMW M Power Meter can improve and work on version 2.0 – listen to your drivers.

I recently chatted with JP McCaffrey, who has spearheaded development of a mobile capability at Burson-Marsteller, about the role of mobile in today’s economy and what he sees as key next steps for adoption and growth in 2009 and beyond. To see past About B-M interviews, view the archives view the archives.

Digital Perspective Blog: What role do you see mobile playing in the marketing communications industry this year?

JP McCaffrey: Mobile should become more of a connector between multiple communication channels and not just a stand-alone application or campaign.  Although a mobile campaign can survive on its own, I think it’s exciting to consider integrating it into a larger communication mix.  We know consumers carry their mobile devices 90% of the day so consistent message delivery becomes a huge benefit to our clients in conjunction with the other ways they are receiving information.  This is especially important for businesses or brands whom are seeking innovative and cost-effective methods for increasing revenue and raising brand awareness.

DP: Are there specific types of campaigns that are seeing greater ROIs in an economy like this?

JP: Consumers are getting more a more comfortable with digital consumption, especially on their mobile devices. With approximately 2.4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, the timing is right for most businesses to go mobile, even in a down economy.  In fact, if we’ve learned anything from our most recent election, President Obama built and maintained his reputation through a heavy amount of digital programs.  He delivered messages that motivated people to act or respond – via web and mobile.

Almost 70% of mobile phone users have responded to a marketing driven text message, whether it is a direct response or redemption driven SMS campaign.  The most successful campaigns, in my opinion, utilize point-of-purchase, on-packaging, or other marketing programs to encourage consumers to opt-in for SMS promotions along the lines of coupons, prizes or simple product updates.

DP: Can you share any success stories where B-M has involved mobile?

JP: I am hopeful that everyone at BM has texted GoGreen to 484848 at this point! The Clear2Go SMS campaign was truly a connector to all facets of the launch program the Burson pulled together for Applica to build awareness of the impact that bottled water has on the environment.  Consumers were able to and still are able to add their individual pledge to help reduce disposable bottle use. We are providing weekly updates on goals attained and are also using the platform to send product updates as appropriate to keep raising awareness of the Clear2Go brand.

The global digital leadership team met two weeks ago in Palm Harbor, Florida (right outside Tampa) to discuss strategy for 2009. Each year, the digital team gathers to review past initiatives and plan for the upcoming year. I was happy to see friendly faces from around the network again: Charlie Pownall, B-M’s Lead Digital Strategist for Asia-Pacific, Desiree Collier and Stephanie Bonnet, Co-Lead Digital Strategists for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Felix Leander, Lead Digital Strategist for Latin America and a new face, William Kemp, Lead Digital Strategist for the United States.

Over the course of three days, our regional strategists presented current market findings, potential areas of growth and possibilities for integrating new products and services. We reflected on successful internal campaigns of 2008, most notably Digital in Action, the company’s hyper-targeted digital training program which was rolled out in nine markets (and counting), and Digital Week, showcasing our digital thinking and our new mobile capability. As we move into 2009, and in light of the economy, digital continues to show its full potential in the marketing communications field. Burson-Marsteller’s digital perspective truly revolves around educating our clients on how digital can improve their brand, why investing in relationships with the client’s stakeholders is more important than a singular transaction, placing the impetus on participating and lastly, creating a persistent presence at anywhere and anytime.

I look forward to traveling to our offices worldwide next year and focus on enhancing our global digital capability, ranging from innovative and relative products for Burson-Marsteller and its clients to demonstrating our wide-array of digital expertise in the ever-evolving market.

What are your plans for 2009?

I got a text message from a number I didn’t recognize yesterday. When I stupidly opened it, I was greeted by a pitch for a male hair loss product. I have lots of beauty problems to be solve, but fortunately hair loss isn’t one of them. Earlier today I got another spam txt with a URL embedded and a message saying , “seen your profile and ur cute. want to chat?” No thanks.

These messages got me thinking. Mobile spam has the potential to present a bigger challenge than e-mail spam, most notably because of the fact that folks always carry their mobile phones and therefore there is more opportunity for spammers to reach people. Therefore, as marketers continue to look for ways to reach consumers via mobile marketing, I think it is critically important that they do their part in preventing spam from the beginning. How? I’m not really sure, but a few initial thoughts include:

• Don’t buy mobile phone lists. Buying names and numbers contributes to spam and doesn’t really generate strong results anyway. Instead, build your list the old fashioned way – by contributing to the community, adding value, and having participants opt-in to hear from you.
• Don’t give your list away. I know there is sometimes great temptation to let partners use your data lists. Don’t do it. If you are so compelled to get your partners’ messaging to your subscriber list simply include them in communications that you send. The messaging will be more relevant to your subscribers and will likely generate better results.
• Establish a mobile privacy policy. You have a privacy policy for your website – you need one for mobile efforts and need to be unassailable in your compliance with it.
• Support regulatory efforts to minimize spam. Marketers need to be involved in setting guidelines to minimize spam and should champion for stronger penalties for spammers who are caught.
• Provide technology solutions. We can’t all contribute to this one, but the technology companies and/or mobile carriers need to make it easier to block and report spam messages. When spam sneaks through my filters via email I mark it as spam and never hear from that domain again. What can we do to create a similar process for mobile spam?
• Work with reputable companies. Sure, this sounds like a plug to work with Burson-Marsteller since we are launching our mobile marketing capability. The reality is that it doesn’t matter who you work with. Just work with a company with a proven track record, that follows MMA and WOMMA guidelines and that can be trusted with your reputation in their hands.

What else should we be doing to limit mobile spam?

Today’s marks the end of our second annual Digital Week at Burson-Marsteller. It sounds odd to talk about Digital Week when we live in a digital world but I think it is important to stop frequently and think about the implications of digital media on communications in general and our work as communications counselors.

It is not news that digital has changed the way consumers access and absorb information. What continues to evolve however is the way that companies adopt to the changing preferences of their stakeholder groups. I am proud to work for an organization that celebrates these changes and puts resources against creating dialogue with employees, developing training opportunities, and for adapting to our clients’ needs. Despite our great team and passion for digital, things are fluid and it can be tough to stay ahead of the trends. Thus, Digital Week provides an opportunity to get everyone speaking the same language in addition to celebrating great work from our colleagues around the world.

We’ve had a big week. We launched a self-guided training program, unveiled the next iteration of our intranet, hosted special events for employees, launched a mobile marketing program, created a collaborative internal thought leadership environment, and released the next phase of digital content on our corporate website. More importantly than all that though is the fact that we have demonstrated as a company the reality that digital media presents a personal opportunity for all of us to grow our knowledge and value by participating and a professional responsibility to be current on digital trends and strategies for our clients.

I want to send a special shout-out to the digital team that managed all of the content and logistics for this week. Our global digital coordinator David Ambrose has done a wonderful job overseeing this event with a fantastic team including Ashley Finch, Stephanie Bonnet, Desiree Collier, Felix Leander, Charles Pownall, and Tery Spataro – thank you all. Of course there are dozens of other folks who contributed as well, ranging from IT to design and everything in between, and we appreciate your support too. Thank you.

While it may be true that every day is Digital Day in a Digital World, I still think it is smart to take time to step back, consider what is important, and allocate resources against moving forward. For our employees, i hope you enjoyed this week and found it to be a valuable learning experience. And for our clients, I’d ask you to take a moment and reflect on how you are leveraging digital media within your organization and think about ways to be better, faster, and bigger. It will make a difference.

Last night I was talking with my wife when she received a text notification on her phone. Turns out it was our dentist’s office reminding her of an upcoming appointment – my dentist is cool, he freedives, but now he just became REALLY cool.

I have been going to his practice since 1999, and what impressed me then is that he had TVs and headphones in every room. What a pleasure to watch shark documentaries while receiving a cleaning and not having to listen to the high pitched sounds coming from the torture tools.

The office always seems to have the latest gadgets in dentistry, and while the idea of SMSing patients is nothing new, it is new to me (having actually received one), and in my mind only furthers the patient/dentist relationship. It is the complete experience that makes me feel comfortable, confident, and willing to recommend my dentist.

So here goes the shameless plug, If you live in Miami, go to: Jose R. Abadin, I wonder if I can pitch a web-redesign

Last night I went to The Police concert here in Miami – great show. As I was looking at the crowd (had a great view from far away – not so great to see Sting, Andy, and Stewart) I saw hundreds of small lights sprinkled throughout the spectators. What used to be lighters had been replaced by small LCD screens, concert goers were now holding up their mobile phones, cameras, and other devices recording the show.

This morning I decided to search YouTube and Flickr – sure enough both videos and photos of the concert were already posted – some directly from the stadium. While the immediacy of information and content created by the users is nothing new – it was extremely interesting to witness it in action on such a massive scale.

While the lines may not have started forming outside the Apple stores just yet, they certainly will begin well before the iPhone goes on sale on June 29 at 6pm.  The debate rages – some can’t wait to get their hands on the new iPhone, and others snub the idea of being defined by a handheld device. 

Aside from all of the hype, the reality is that the iPhone will dramatically change the way we access video content on smart phones.  Mobile penetration is growing with access of mobile Web sites in the U.S. having grown three-fold in the past year.  Mobile users are accustomed to sending and receiving text messages, and are getting more comfortable accessing mobile Web sites.  Mobile applications are growing in prominence, but video is the one area that is lagging due to bandwith and the handsets themselves.  The buzz has already started about the iPhone pushing the envelope on mobile video and pushing adoption across broader user groups. See how simple it will really be.

The promise of mobile is for companies to have a persistent presence with their stakeholders at all times.  The iPhone is likely to be the first device that truly delivers on that opportunity.  I can’t wait for mine.