Into the future with mobile marketing
Target groups At Xongress 06, Alexander Oswald from Nokia presented the young marketing method of mobile marketing.
Target groups At Xongress 06, Alexander Oswald from Nokia presented the young marketing method mobile marketing There is a trend that will change marketing. We are talking about communization. Whole groups want to realize themselves and set signals. Mobile marketing ties in with this trend. Mobile technologies such as SMS or MMS are being used like crazy to send signals. In his presentation at Xongress, Alexander Oswald, Marketing Manager at Nokia Alps, was firmly convinced that cell phones will once again completely change our lives. Together with Gerald Tauchner, Managing Director of DIMOCO (Direct Mobile Communications GmbH), Oswald has written a book on mobile marketing. For both authors, it is clear that cell phones will play a more important role in the future than they do today and will open up new opportunities for the PR and advertising industry. New relationship managementWhen talking about new opportunities, Oswald is primarily referring to the new form of relationship management. "Mobile marketing should have less to do with advertising and more to do with opening up the opportunity to make direct contact with users." Oswald illustrates this with the example of Club Nokia. He offers Club Nokia members the chance to test a product and write test reports that are published on the Internet. "People want to test cell phones like crazy and be mentioned on the website," says Oswald. However, the Austrian advises against using cell phones for traditional advertising campaigns. "A lot of damage has been done to consumers with sloppy SMS advertising campaigns," says Oswald. Today, cell phone users are quicker to categorize unwanted text messages as spam.
Remote control for lifeThe mobile marketing method is still in its infancy. Although two billion people worldwide now use a cell phone and the target group characteristics are certainly attractive for the advertising industry, a few very sensitive factors determine the success or failure of mobile marketing. One reason why many companies are still cautious is the time factor. When a text message reaches the recipient is a decisive factor in whether they react to the campaign. Oswald: "Who wants to read a text message at two o'clock in the morning?" If a text message is sent too late, the message may be irrelevant to the recipient. In addition to keys and money, cell phones are now carried everywhere. The cell phone is therefore something of an intimate object on which you don't necessarily want to be bothered with advertising messages. Oswald: "It's impossible to imagine life today without the cell phone. It is the technical part of people, the remote control for life."
For this reason, Alexander Oswald recommends preventing traditional advertising via cell phones. "Mobile advertising is perceived by users as forced gratification."
Oswald also advises against push campaigns, i.e. campaigns in which companies send their customers information via text message. He sees the use of mobile marketing in building and deepening the customer relationship. "In the long term, marketing must bring about a change in customer behavior." By this he means that development is progressing faster and development times are becoming ever shorter.
For example: while the internet took 15 years from its invention to passing the 50 million mark, it took seven years for cell phones and only a few months for camera phones. According to Oswald, it is therefore important to get in touch with customers in order to identify trends and changes in behavior. Mobile marketing provides the opportunity to talk to customers and get their opinions.
"Mobile marketing gives you the opportunity to listen and pick up on users' ideas," says Oswald, "with playful elements you can get an incredible amount of interesting information out of users."
The figures collected to date still assume a low level of mobile marketing acceptance among the population. However, Oswald says that it is already possible to work well with today's basis. With the experience of yesterday, a view to tomorrow and the imagination of today, Alexander Oswald predicts a great future for mobile marketing. If he had to spread his message in 160 characters via SMS, it would be: Two billion cell phone users can't be wrong.
Christian Lüscher
Remote control for lifeThe mobile marketing method is still in its infancy. Although two billion people worldwide now use a cell phone and the target group characteristics are certainly attractive for the advertising industry, a few very sensitive factors determine the success or failure of mobile marketing. One reason why many companies are still cautious is the time factor. When a text message reaches the recipient is a decisive factor in whether they react to the campaign. Oswald: "Who wants to read a text message at two o'clock in the morning?" If a text message is sent too late, the message may be irrelevant to the recipient. In addition to keys and money, cell phones are now carried everywhere. The cell phone is therefore something of an intimate object on which you don't necessarily want to be bothered with advertising messages. Oswald: "It's impossible to imagine life today without the cell phone. It is the technical part of people, the remote control for life."
For this reason, Alexander Oswald recommends preventing traditional advertising via cell phones. "Mobile advertising is perceived by users as forced gratification."
Oswald also advises against push campaigns, i.e. campaigns in which companies send their customers information via text message. He sees the use of mobile marketing in building and deepening the customer relationship. "In the long term, marketing must bring about a change in customer behavior." By this he means that development is progressing faster and development times are becoming ever shorter.
For example: while the internet took 15 years from its invention to passing the 50 million mark, it took seven years for cell phones and only a few months for camera phones. According to Oswald, it is therefore important to get in touch with customers in order to identify trends and changes in behavior. Mobile marketing provides the opportunity to talk to customers and get their opinions.
"Mobile marketing gives you the opportunity to listen and pick up on users' ideas," says Oswald, "with playful elements you can get an incredible amount of interesting information out of users."
The figures collected to date still assume a low level of mobile marketing acceptance among the population. However, Oswald says that it is already possible to work well with today's basis. With the experience of yesterday, a view to tomorrow and the imagination of today, Alexander Oswald predicts a great future for mobile marketing. If he had to spread his message in 160 characters via SMS, it would be: Two billion cell phone users can't be wrong.
Christian Lüscher
