This blog post comes to you live from ad:tech Chicago 2009. On September 1, my Razorfish colleague Patrick Moorhead discusses integrating mobility and advertising with Kim Luegers of DraftFCB and Michael Chang of Greystripe. The session is moderated by Zaw Thet, 4INFO.
The session begins with panelists discussing their agencies’ work and perspectives on mobile.
Michael Chang discusses how Greystripe integrates rich media ads into mobile applications. “We’re trying to deliver something as exciting as an advergame on the iPhone.” For Axe Unilever, Greystripe helped promote the Axe Dirty Night Detailer product (a loufa for guys). Greystripe created a playful advertisement that demonstrates how the Detailer works — made expressly for the iPhone. The application ran from 21 December 2008 to 5 January 2009. The ad ran as an interstitial for people as they download applications from the iPhone application store. Engagement: 1.77 percent click-through rate. More about that here. Michael goes on to recommend that it costs anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 to get a small mobile campaign launched.
Kim Luegers indicates that she’s part of a special DraftFCB MC Media, a unit established to service MillerCoors under DraftFCB. Kim discusses a project her company did for beer brand Keystone Light. In setting up her case study, she says that her challenge is injecting emerging media into well established media (TV). “Keystone is a good example of activing traditional media with mobile,” she asserts. The work itself consisted of a Keystone Light ad appearing on Fox Sports Net, which promoted a Keystone sweepstakes prize by asking consumers to respond with an SMS from their mobile devices. (Here’s a bit more detail about the promotion itself.) What she learned from the experience: first, a website remains the preferred mode of entering a sweepstakes. Second, 7 out of 10 initial SMS replies converted to successful sweepstakes entries — in particular, a successful opt-in rate for a beer marketer, according to Kim. Finally, about half the mobile entries originated from the TV ads, which demonstrates the power of the TV/mobile integration.
Patrick Moorhead introduces Razorfish as a digital agency that aspires to deliver transformational business ideas. Patrick discusses Razorfish client work as spanning Fortune 500 brands ranging from banks to retailers. The self-described contrarian of the group, Patrick discusses the iPhone in his opening remarks. “The iPhone has changed the game — there is no doubt about that,” says Patrick. “But the Keystone Sweepstakes by DraftFCB has nothing to do with an iPhone. It has everything to do with giving consumers a reason to interact with a brand.” Patrick goes on to credit the iPhone for making it easier for marketing executives to understand the possible ways to make mobile marketing work. But despite rapid growth, the iPhone audience remains limited. “Many companies are chasing after a very, very small sliver of an audience. The paradox is this: iPhone has made mobile accessible, but its users represent a very small share of voice.” He adds that there are 62,000 applications available for about 6 million available hand sets.
“If a client demands an iPhone application, I will build it,” Patrick says. “But we need to discuss the risk of breaking through the clutter of applications on the market. The mobile opportunity needs to occur in context of some common benchmarks like reach and usefulness.”
Michael counters Patrick’s opinion by stressing the growth rate of the iPhone market.
“I’m not anti-iPhone,” says Patrick. “I’m just saying the iPhone is not the end-all and be all. Delivering value to the consumer is.”
Speaking out in support of the iPhone, an audience member points out that audience consumption and usage are as important as handset devices, which Patrick and Kim concede as as a valid point.
Says Patrick: “We’re operating in an environment of high business skepticism. Then the iPhone comes along, and we’re all in — so long as an iPhone is involved.”
An audience member surveys everyone in the room: how many of us own iPhones? Interestingly, about half the audience says they own them. The question arises: are we doing too much navel gazing and not enough asking about how consumers are using iPhones?
Kim recognizes the relatively high percentage of iPhone owners in the audience. But she cautions, “When you are selling an iPhone to a client, beware of the reality. Be ready when your client complains that only 300 people downloaded your client’s iPhone application, and they don’t like it.”
Adds Zaw Thet, “The iPhone does not have to mean an application.” Building off Zaw’s point, Patrick points out that creating a new app might not the answer — but advertising on a successful application might be.
Michael Chang asserts that Axe was pleased by the results of Greystripe’s work to the point of creating an application. “But the lesson learned is that the application came about about as part of a larger media plan.”
For more Razorfish insight into mobile marketing, please contact Patrick Moorhead, @chi_media_guy on Twitter or patrick.moorhead@razorfish.com
