CMOs are focused on bringing mobile branding to life: TNS

This report came about while research was being conducted for the  TNS’ global mobile life study and focuses on conversation with 14 CMOs from multinational organisations including  Simon Sproule, global marketing communications, Nissan CVP; Joanna Wang L’Oreal CMO, Greater China;  and Doug Busk, mobile brand strategy, global connections, The Coca Cola Company.

One of the strongest themes that came across during these interviews is that crafting a mobile proposition is becoming a business imperative rather than simply a marketing challenge—and that brands can no longer afford to “wait and see”.

“Things have changed from the days when the web and social media was new," Simon Falconer, report author and global platform director for TNS, said in an exclusive interview with Campaign Asia-Pacific. "Now CMOs seem far more confident about learning by doing.” 

For example, he said, one business didn’t just try Google Wallet in one store. It did it in 11, despite the considerable cost of in-store configuration and sales-staff training.  

Having learnt from navigating the impact of the web, and then social media however, CMOs are now used to change and are optimistic but pragmatic about mobile, added Falconer.  

“Consumers are demanding solutions and experiences that fit their own fast-evolving mobile habits," the report said. "CMOs have decided that the best approach is to trial mobile solutions and explore in real-time what they can deliver for their business and its customers.”

Paul Berney, CMO and managing director, EMEA, for the Mobile Marketing Association, commented in the report that the hardest part is understanding how far and fast to deploy a mobile strategy. “The reality is that consumer adoption of the mobile channel is moving at a faster pace than marketing activity, and brands need to move to close this gap”, he said.

Mobile has also become far more than a just a marketing channel, and it’s happening at an unprecedented pace.

“So much of mobile has become a technology or business, rather than just a CMO decision,” said Falconer. “The CMO is still involved of course; mobile payments in-store, for example, are seen as brand marketing, as are sales enablement and loyalty programmes.”

Mobile branding

“Mobile allows brands to be available at any point, so moving away from the idea of mobile advertising toward mobile brand presence,” Falconer said.

Apps for example, are increasingly viewed by CMOs as needing to earn their place alongside mobile web-optimised content, said the report. “Few marketers deny the reality of the branded app junkyard, the long tail of the app stores, where thousands of carefully developed and well-resourced apps go to die after enjoying less than 1000 downloads each.”

The mobile browser is increasingly regarded as a more effective and efficient platform than the branded app. However, the challenge of optimising existing websites is a significant investment in time and budget.

“One of the frustrations faced by CMOs is the lack of agencies who demonstrate strong and internationally scaleable mobile credentials—particularly for B2B brands with masses of online content to optimise,” said Falconer. “Who do they go to for a 67-country mobile presence they need to design for?”

While 40 per cent of consumers with mobile Internet access check their social-networking sites via their mobile every day, platform partnerships have also emerged as a major area of focus. These social-media presences can also function as a bridging platform while the brand’s own online properties are being optimised for mobile.

“Many refer to the potential for improving reach in the mobile space through partnering with pre-existing mobile platforms such as those of Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Google Wallet, Foursquare, Pinterest and YouTube,” observed the report.

Mobile and the path to purchase

From price comparisons to research, mobile has had a profound impact on the consumer’s path to purchase. The TNS mobile life study found that in developed markets, 34 per cent of consumers who use their mobile in the path to purchase do so to compare prices and 18 per cent scan product barcodes to get more information. In emerging markets, with typically lower smartphone penetration, the numbers are smaller but still significant: 25 per cent of those who use their phone during the path to purchase do so to compare prices.

Joanna Wang, CMO for L’Oreal China, said in the report that she believes mobile will have a transformative effect on the path to purchase for the beauty category. “Mobile can help us replicate that personal, consultative experience.”

Starting with the pre-store phase, mobile draws consumers with lifestyle apps offering demand-generation features, location-based search that can guide shoppers to products that have limited distribution or visibility, and mobile couponing—an area in which CMOs see significant opportunity but also potential brand risks, said the report.

But it’s when the consumer is in-store that CMOs most stress the requirement to align business operations as a whole around a mobile offering.

“The shopper is looking for two things, save me time or save me money. Those are probably the two main triggers for them,” noted Mike Hornigold, director of emerging shopper technologies, The Coca-Cola Company.

However, it is here that CMOs acknowledge a gap. They are keenly aware of consumer frustration with mobile experiences stemming from slow in-store connectivity leading to long-waits for information or information arriving in a format not optimised for mobile.

“Ensuring that a mobile strategy can adapt to deliver the right information at the right time and in the right place is a key objective for CMOs,” said the study.

Mobile payment

Amongst the CMOs interviewed by TNS, Google Wallet has been a primary testing vehicle for mobile payment. “Businesses report positive signs, including higher-than-expected interaction rates," the study said. "But in such early days there is a consistent sense of ‘not knowing what good looks like’ just yet."

The push for experimentation has been helped by the participation of providers like Google, Square, Amex or Paypal who are happy to fund or partner in the initiatives, said Falconer. “It’s not just left to the brands themselves.”

CMOs are also already talking of preparing for socially enabled mobile wallets—which could enable the sharing of coupons and retail promotions. As social becomes more deeply embedded in mobile commerce, CMOs expect to glean another valuable layer of intelligence in terms of shopper behaviours.

Mobile loyalty programmes

Even before mobile payment, the advantages of mobile loyalty programmes have been obvious to brands. My Coke Rewards, for example, allows consumers to earn points at checkout and then redeem these points in-store as an alternative to paying using credit or debit cards. This allows the shopper to save time and money, and for Coke to enjoy more of a direct relationship with the customer.

“It’s mobile loyalty marketing that could well drive uptake of newer technologies like NFC [near-field communication], arguably able to have greater impact than the current more top-of-mind partnership many expect between NFC and mobile payments,” predicts the report. Apple’s Passbook will doubtless drive greater adoption by brands of time- and location-targeting capabilities, it added.

Brands should also note that increasing loyalty and commitment ties closely to fast frictionless payments and personalised content and services, advised the study.

“The holy grail for us is that a customer can walk into our store and we know who they are, probably based upon their being a loyalty programme member, and recognise them through their mobile device,” said Mike Hogan, CMO, GameStop, in the report. “We can then use their mobile as the vehicle by which we communicate with them in a highly personalised way.”

Mobile is seen as a consistent and constant touchpoint for consumers by brands, said Falconer. “Brands are increasingly looking at getting consumers involved earlier on during product generation and pre-release. Loyalty doesn’t have to end at the purchase and mobile is great at keeping that relationship going.”