Theories abound as to why Nokia has not been a successful player in this market. Advertising agencies feel that they need to improve their spending on all channels. Then again, Apple and Google have set the marketplace with their respective iPhone and Android operating systems.  Advertising will not make a difference when Nokia products are not being carried with any mobile companies.  Finnish arrogance from executives about the “vapid” U.S. consumer has been battered around by tech columnists.  Nokia’s clear strength is in hardware manufacturing and distribution. Critics dub them the same, when the other market leaders specialized in a software services for the consumer. In essence, two Davids stoned Goliath to his knees.

Despite the lingering effects of the credit crunch, American consumers are slowly opening their wallets again. Those consumers of Nokia technology are not the model to begin a new campaign push. A recent survey from Forrester Research indicated that Nokia product owners are older with small purchasing powers. They also do not use the mobile internet for gathering information.

The new executive team of Stephen Elop and Jerri DeVard have an unfavorable task. The sale metrics of Nokia phones are declining without a strong foothold in one of the world’s consumer bases. Nokia will have to innovate judiciously to expand their product line for software development while maintaining its outreach in emerging markets.  Can they connect with the American consumer in time? On any level?

1)  Promote Your Call to Action. You can have the best offers being sent to your subscribers.  Nevertheless, if you do not promote the mobile call to action, you will have no one signing up.  Add the call to action on your existing marketing materials, Facebook page, Twitter handle, and print/direct mail.  Most importantly, have your employees tell every customer about the new campaign.

2)  Reward Your Customers for signing up. Sometimes, a little reward or bounce back coupon goes a long way towards not only gaining subscribers, but building goodwill for the brand.  For example, a pizza place considers this promotion:  ”FREE 2 liter soda with your next Large 2-topping Pizza Purchase for texting PIZZA to 83936.”  Customers are giving you their mobile phone number and thanking them for doing so will raise your opt-in rates.

3)  Limit the amount of offers you send. Don’t send offers every few days.  The best practices and highest redemption rates result from text offers only being sent once a week or even better, 2 to 3 times a month.  By this standard, customers know if they miss taking advantage of this offer, the next one is not right around the corner.  Businesses who send text offers too frequently drive down their redemption rates and increase opt-outs. Exclusivity is a marketers’ temptress, and quality seals the deal.

4)  Reward Your Preferred Customers. Send great offers that are different from your regular specials and other coupons.  Rewarding people who value your products and service increases your sales and profit.  They will tell good friends about your quality.  Some time-tested examples are “Buy One, Get One…” “FREE”, “Dollar Amount Off” are the campaigns with the highest conversion rates for mobile marketing.

5)  Spread The Word. At the end of each text message, include the words “FWD 2 a friend.”  People enjoy sharing good deals and offers with friends.  Your earning potential rises faster as you connect beyond the database list on a bigger viral platform.

These are your mobile marketing tips from the Blueliner 7 Pillars of Digital Strategy.

The iAd, like mobile advertising, is at an embryonic stage.  Media professionals want to see if the iAd can lead the way in optimizing the mobile experience.  The iAd debuted earlier this summer in July, promising a new wave.  Apple CEO Steve Jobs claims that the “iAd offers advertisers the emotion of TV with the interactivity of the web, and offers a new way to explore ads without being hijacked out of their favorite apps.”  Apple has engaged partnerships with several leading corporations, including Unilever, Inc, JCPenney Co, Best Buy, Inc., and Citigroup Inc.  As mentioned, the standout features of the iAd include the delivery of interactive advertising without the user leaving or closing the application being experienced. It’s far from a trend, though.

Apple likes setting a precedent. They like to start with developers who wish to work inside The App Store.  One example of a recent iAd was a creation for Nissan’s Leaf automobile, where the user can shake the device to see the vehicle’s different colors.   The definition of interactive technology is widening with this creation along with the Microsoft Kinect, the new video gaming console where the user must incorporate physical motion to engage with the content.  Marketers must monitor these developments in the future and develop advertising for content where not only is the consumer mobile, but in motion.

Apple executives have set a campaign in motion across the pond.  Last week, the iAd announced a December launch in the United Kingdom and France with several brands. Some of them include L’Oreal, Louis Vuitton, Absolute Radio, and Perrier. Since its July release, the iAd has earned a market share of 21%.  These figures also ride on the emergence of iPad as another mobile device that sets a new market: the tablet.  Again, Apple will handle the production of all the creative tools for European partnerships, but offer them as a free download for developers.  They employed this strategy in late July with the “iAd for Developers,” where developers can create a simple static banner ad.  Apple is charging developers 25¢ per click-through. A click-through is when a user clicks on a banner, causing an ad to pop up.  It will be interesting to see the feedback from European brands in the near future regarding their experiences with Apple.  

Apple also plans to partner with The Dentsu Group, a Japanese advertising agency based in Tokyo starting in 2011.  Apple again remains heavily involved with the hosting and delivery of its own iAds, but cedes the creative and selling through the Japanese marketplace to Dentsu.  This is the first known agency working with Apple, and it is interesting that they are using Japan as a test market.  Japan has a longer history of mobile technology and its consumers possess a strong cache of knowledge about its development.  They are a culture that responds well to creative innovation, so the developments could be noteworthy.

As the mobile advertising industry develops a standard platform for software implementation, and a scaling ladder for pay-per-click advertising budgets, Apple’s reach with the iAd across global markets is obvious.  The brand oozes with credibility and edge, exemplified in its minimalist product design.  They are the cool, smart kid on campus.  Corporations desperately seek that glow with a more frugal consumer base.

Despite that frugality, Apple knows that consumers are willing to pay a premium for their products.  Their durability and innovative techniques cannot be understated.  The iAd has an opportunity to legitimize the mobile advertising industry, and its rising market share percentages are a testament.  Thus, corporations are willing to use the iAd’s campaign as an unabashed press release.   It remains to be seen whether they deploy the tools necessarily for innovation, but that task is left to the web developers.

In my mind, the development of a workout application symbolizes the value of a smartphone.  The ability to maximize your physical performance, receive auditory sounds in the form of music, and still create a voice for phone calls is an undeniable attraction.  The monotony of training needs secret pleasures, regardless of the size.  As the article mentioned, the badges represent an opportunity for advertisers to pitch nutritious goods and services.  This domain seems like one for the recent wave of interactive media where the user can shake and twirl their phone to unlock secret motion graphics. Except in this case, you can lift a dumbbell in your right hand while spinning your iPhone or Android on your finger for one rep. Men who want to get involved with the Training forum can check out Nike BOOM for details.  Here’s a demonstration video to start the ladies off right for 2011.

The statistics coming into the press say that e-commerce sales totalled over $1 billion.  Coupling this fact, EBay, Inc. saw a spurt of 146% in mobile commerce sales from this point last year to this past weekend. The majority of transactions were cars and trucks.  The easiest observation is that e-commerce is a diversified strategy whose potential has yet to be explored.  The difficult observation is projecting whether that potential will be maximized.  Mobile commerce continues to circulate traffic between parent e-commerce sites and smartphones with an uptick in spending rates.  Stores, as to be expected, are still the reliable segment of sales transactions. E-commerce sales check in at 8-10% of U.S. retail spending.

The moniker of Black Friday has taken negative connotations over time with assaults and deaths.  You still have those who cannot live without a bargain and camp out in front of Lowe’s overnight. You get enough rest to fend off elbows and rubber from shopping carts.  Some consider this the ultimate shopping experience while others think it’s the ultimate fighting championship and look elsewhere for a strike.

Consumers with limited budgets can find a bargain anywhere. First, they need the tools to put in research.  The global economy recovers slowly, but citizens are still unemployed at high metrics.  Luxuries had to be let go for self-preservation, including your iPhone 4.

Those with access have search engines galore. They are optimized to pull up the rarest gifts for your friends and family’s fickle tastes.  Those savvy shoppers will use their smartphones and tablets while in the store to gage inventory.  Then you can confer with the sales representative to settle your list.  Your elbows are not sore and the skin feels good.  We all know that urban camping is an inherent contradiction. Why shiver when you can click? Target the bullseye for more hits this holiday season.

Unfortunately, the studio business model is not yet equipped to scale the value of their content for online consumption through various channels.  This would help marketers create interactive experiences based on new technology such as the iAd’s interactive integration for Nissan Leaf.  Film executives would have to understand that the public is starting to view digital content as an entity to be shared.  The industry has always relied on creating majestic experiences that overwhelm the senses. Rather than allow those emotions to surface naturally through the movie’s quality, Hollywood is draping every single one in 3-D pixellation. Not everyone is playing the fool this time.  People now have the choice to see the product in their personal setting. We are just more saturated than ever, and the cinema pricing turns people off when a cheaper, more convenient option is available.  Hollywood has an opportunity to control video piracy once they take some initiative.

On YouTube’s end, it would also represent an opportunity to control some of the file content sharing through casual search.  As the WSJ wire says, older movies may be available free with an appropriate online advertising model. Enjoy the show anyway.

Foursquare created a mobile application segmented for today’s poll results.  Once you check into an authorized polling site, the details you receive are staggering.  Techland spotlights the features, and they range from seeing the number of voters in real-time to posters updating the status of machines.  Last but not least, you can find the closest polling site in your district.  As the article mentions, the true value of Foursquare can shine with the voting exercise because people naturally share their leisure experiences through the application.  Demographics also could be more accurately measured, which could help state and local governments with tight budgets.  They can use a more efficient campaign strategy to get relevant information to key districts about candidates. The potential for engaging others with similar tastes about their civic duty is tantalizing.  As politics blend into the online discourse of our social order, mobile engages.

1.  Facebook, Microsoft Strengthen Partnership

This week, the two firms reached an agreement  to develop a more comprehensive stream of content by using Facebook’s treasured vault of personal data, which will enable Bing to reach new segments.  The move threatens to breach privacy boundaries, leading to more possible controversy for Facebook users.  According to the WSJournal link above, the new settings can be opted out from your personal profile, meaning that your name will not list unwanted information in search results.  Executives from both sides believe, however, that stronger integration will lead to lost acquaintances connecting on more authoritative levels.  The headline provides more details for those interested in more.

2.  Microsoft Releases Windows 7 Mobile Phone Portfolio

I wrote a piece earlier this week about Microsoft’s latest foray into mobile technology, and those who missed it can click the headline.  Again, Microsoft is coming behind into a market where the competition is starting to solidify after a year of rapid introductions.  The impetus for differentiation is dependent on their ability to develop mobile applications that stand out from others.  Financial Times talks about the strategy for Microsoft executives here.

3.  The iPad Lands On Verizon

It was only a short week or so that long-time news of Apple and Verizon creating an iPhone that will end the exclusivity between Apple & AT&T in early 2011.  Now with the iPad being pitched in conjunction with Verizon’s MiFi card, debate rages on whether the two companies are trying to pitch an improved product to consumers or just giving more hardware and the same inconsistent network at a higher cost.  According to Mashable, more data will be available on the plan menu.  Time will tell, but this alleged partnership reeks of the R. Kelly-Jay Z union, being full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing.

4.  Secretive Trial in Connecticut Covered By Twitter

In case you needed any doubt about the impact of social media in our world of endless content disbursal, here is another example.  According to the New York Times, the triple-murder of Dr. William A. Petit, Jr’s wife and two daughters seemed to be excluded from the local media affiliates.  No cameras were allowed entry into the courtroom.  Several media channels of the Connecticut media, however, tweeted the testimony’s gruesome details.  The New Haven Register had monthly views raised from 3 to 3.5 million in just the trial period.  Courts are wondering about permitting the use of mobile devices in future cases, especially those with sensationalist attention.  The integrity of our judicial system faces a challenging task in maintaining the privacy of case details. This could be a benchmark for future policies. Fascinating.

5.  New Gap Yesterday, Old Gap Today

The Gap didn’t heed the past when delivering their new logo last week.  Don’t mess with your seminal brand. Coca-Cola got this lesson when trying to roll out a new product (New Coke) over twenty years ago, and that was in an era without mainstream mobile technology and cyberspace.  As Mr. Garfield points out in his piece, when a firm’s impact reaches that level, the lay of the land feels an emotional ownership to the brand equity.  These brands are benchmarks for millions of customers in the transient nature of life, and management needs to start understanding that when looking to implement new marketing strategies.  It is far more prudent to take an extensive survey of your proposed changes in this situation.  The fact that Gap was surprised at the negative feedback alarms even more, and their swift action cements this belief.  It is impossible to strategize a new campaign when the product becomes acid in public view.  Companies that have managed social media for net gain have used it to really understand customer desire and tailor their products for those measures.  Gap clearly needs to get back in the lab and find out their identity once again.

That’s the Blue news for now.  Enjoy the weekend.

Those unsure of the distinction between the two can follow this distinction.  Google Places is seeking to overtake Yelp, Facebook, Craigslist, and other classified search hubs through acquiring third party publisher sites.  Third party publisher sites are created for advertisers to provide server space, campaign delivery, and reporting facilities needed to show content at an optimal cost.  Yelp clearly doesn’t have the financial resources of Google, so third party publishing is a fiber of their cyberspace identity with cookies being the sweet tooth. Cookies are placed on viewed websites to eliminate repeat pop-ups per page open, establish an advertising sequence, and monitor web traffic for analytical reports.  It gives them the platform for their unique customer reviewers to post routinely, creating a bucolic online community.  I think this will be a permanent discontinuation since the e-classified market needs to distinguish itself.

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1.  Facebook Places Is On The Corner

I discussed my viewpoint of the social network giant’s foray into the geolocation sector, and it can be found here. The potential for revenue on many levels is startling, and will probably jeopardize the future of smaller specialized sites such as Craigslist, amongst others. Facebook users should also be aware of their privacy settings, as one reporter from The Huffington Post details here.

2.  Google CEO Eric Schmidt Interview

In the WSJ,  the Google executive shares some candid insight on current topics ranging from net neutrality, the future of privacy, and ongoing battles with tech rivals like Oracle.  His responses seem to belie the nefarious criticism from many in the cyberworld.  But alas, it’s only an interview.

3.  Intel purchases McAfee for $7.7 billion

Intel made this striking purchase earlier in the week with the vision of leading the market in smart chip security as content travels through multichannels and various platforms.  Marketing executives found the purchase strange on many levels, and I don’t know how it fits either.  I know that Intel has made some strong advertising campaigns for decades now, and generates revenue through their hardware chips in every PC.  I just never once thought them as a player on the consumer technology front, like Apple or even Microsoft.  When was the last time you visited J&R for Intel chips? Unless you are a tech manager?  The future could make this deal seem prescient, but right now, hmm…

4.  Textbooks Get Interactive In Time for the Academic Year

The iPad is starting to get universities to embrace digital textbooks by debuting an application today selling McGraw-Hill best sellers in various disciplines at $2.99 per chapter and $69.99 for the entire textbook. The price for the entire text will be raised to $84.99 soon thereafter.  The article notes that one university in Pennsylvania is passing out close to 2,000 iPads for students.  I think that despite the explosion of e-titles over the past year, parents will be hard-pressed to spend an additional $500 on a device which holds few titles that fit schedule needs.  Kindle, inversely, has stepped up their hardware with the iPad’s challenge.  It, however, lacks the graphical capability that professors would want for more visually dependent interaction.  I think a sea tide will follow when tablets gain traction, but not right now.

5.  Apple To Close Quattro Wireless

Apple’s decision to close Quattro was expected for awhile, as the head of Quattro joined the iAd Development staff sometime back.  This will help clarify Apple’s strategic initiative into mobile advertising, which remains murky on an industry level at best. I discuss my thoughts in more detail here, and along with Intel’s purchase of McAfee, the mobile industry is taking shape by the day.

That’s the Blue News this week.  Until next time.

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