Lean Back vs Lean Forward Experiences.

 

Last week at the mCommerce Summit in New York there were quite a few interesting speakers (including yours truly). One of the best speakers was Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay Mobile. 

Steve had great insight (backed by rigorous primary research) into the difference in usage between an iPad browsing experience (lean-back) and a PC browsing experience (lean forward).

Lean-forward

A PC is a lean forward experience. He also called this the "research" mode. You get on your PC when you've got real work to do, e.g. real shopping, real research, paying a bill, etc.

Lean-back

An iPad on the other hand is a lean back experience (the lean back on the sofa device). He called this the "don't make me work" mode. You're sitting back, probably with a cocktail, and your expectation is to be entertained. "Entertain me!". He actually quipped that after 8pm at night when a lot people have had a few drinks their checkout conversion rates sky rocket and suggested that if anybody had any ideas how to get somebody to drink more before using their app to contact him :)

The eBay experiences built on the PC vs iPad app are very different. An eBay iPad app is large-print, surf-oriented, entertainment-oriented experiences. As if to drive the point home he highlighted that if you visit eBay.com on the iPad you are taken to the PC version of the site. The bounce rate (the number of people who leave the page straight away) is 5x higher on an iPad. His rationale for this is that even though the iPad has great screen resolution, the user's lean-back expectation says that if you make me pinch and zoom to do anything I'm outta here.

Great stuff that will make me think twice before redirecting iPad users to a regular website ever again.

Patrick at 5thfinger.com

Medtronic VCF iPhone App: New Procedures, New Tools

The pace of innovation and medical breakthroughs has never been greater, and Medtronic is using mobile technology to ensure that health care providers have access to the latest research, insight and procedural advances in treating vertebral compression fractures (VCF), a condition which goes undiagnosed thousands of times per year in the US.

Medical equipment sales is complex. Reps meet with doctors. Doctors diagnose patients. Patients make health care choices and then physicians perform procedures. Medtronic is a pioneer in Balloon Kyphoplasty (BK), a non-invasive procedure for treating fractured vertebrae. 

BK is a relatively new and rapidly evolving procedure, and Medtronic identified a need for their sales team, physicians and patients to better understand the diagnoses of VCF, and BK as an option. The business requirements for their tool included "in the room" with the physician and patient, available online for content updates, and offline for use during procedures, all to allow maximum accessibility by sales team members, health care givers and patients.  

Mobile was the only logical solution.

Medtronic launched their VCF Mobile app into the iTunes store in August as a communications platform with physicians to deliver up-to-date medical research, the latest diagnostic tools, provide videos of current procedural standards, and serve as a discussion tool with patients around vertebral repair options.  

With more than 50 years of innovation across all areas of medicine, mobile is helping Medtronic continue to deliver the best information, research and medical devices to hospitals, health care providers and patients.

What retailers think about mobile

 

For the last 2 days I've been at shop.org in Dallas Texas. The conference was very impressive. It was clear that mobile is a hot topic for retailers and in-store mobile solutions is a very hot area. The above info-graphic does a good job of portaying the current sentiment of retailers towards mobile at this present time. Clearly mCommerce is dominating their thinking... it is synonymous with mobile.

Some interesting stats and consistent messages that came out of shop.org for me:

• Mobile is a white-hot topic and everyone was focusing on it.
• URBN CEO believes that mobile may impact in-store more than online. (This is also my belief). In fact, this was the primary headline from the NRF this morning.
• 72% of retailers have a planned mobile strategy for 2011 (Forrester).
• Most vendors and retailers agree that starting broad with a mobile web strategy is smart and then drive niche after that with apps, starting with iPhone and then heading into Android and RIM.
• Both Godiva and Barneys receive about 3% of revenue coming from their mobile web site. Was 1% last year, and they’re expecting it to double to 6% this year.
• Typical conversion rates on mobile with an unoptimized website is about 0.7% - 1.0%. With an optimized mobile website in place that conversion typically lifts to 3-4%. However average order size is slightly lower on mobile and the bounce rate can be slightly lower too.
• Wetseal have launched an in-store “scan” application and are getting 1M page views in the app per week. 25% are happening in the store itself.
• In the mcommerce experience the checkout process needs to be given the most attention during the build phase to maximize conversion.
• Many retailers are accompanying their app/mobile web site with a text call to action in the store. (My opinion, I would recommend “Text JOANN to 75920 for instant offers. ” We can then load an offer straight into their wallet.)
• While Apple has 10 times the number of apps in the app store even though android now has more handsets in the market. Several retailers advised that iPhone/iPod/iPad still account for 70% of their mobile traffic.

Some interesting stats and consistent messages that came out of shop.org today:

·         Mobile is a white-hot topic and everyone was focusing on it.

·         URBN CEO believes that mobile may impact in-store more than online. (This is also my belief). In fact, this was the primary headline from the NRF this morning.

·         72% of retailers have a planned mobile strategy for 2011 (Forrester).

·         Most vendors and retailers agree that starting broad with a mobile web strategy is smart and then drive niche after that with apps, starting with iPhone and then heading into Android and RIM.

·         Both Godiva and Barneys receive about 3% of revenue coming from their mobile web site. Was 1% last year, and they’re expecting it to double to 6% this year.

·         Typical conversion rates on mobile with an unoptimized website is about 0.7% - 1.0%. With an optimized mobile website in place that conversion typically lifts to 3-4%. However average order size is slightly lower on mobile and the bounce rate can be slightly lower too.

·         Wetseal have launched an in-store “scan” application and are getting 1M page views in the app per week. 25% are happening in the store itself.

·         In the mcommerce experience the checkout process needs to be given the most attention during the build phase to maximize conversion.

·         Many retailers are accompanying their app/mobile web site with a text call to action in the store. (My opinion, I would recommend “Text JOANN to 75920 for instant offers. ” We can then load an offer straight into their wallet.)

·         While Apple has 10 times the number of apps in the app store even though android now has more handsets in the market. Several retailers advised that iPhone/iPod/iPad still account for 70% of their mobile traffic.

Victoria’s Secret: On-brand mobile marketing. Now that’s INCREDIBLE.

 

What’s makes Victoria’s Secret’s new INCREDIBLE bra so…well…incredible? It finally incorporates features that women have been seeking for decades—a cushioned underwire, a flat closure system and self-adjusting straps just to name a few. With a product like this, it’s only natural that the brand would want to spread the word with an equally incredible mobile campaign. 

 

 

So, a series of 4 poll questions was sent out (to existing Victoria's Secret mobile subscribers as well as those who opted in via a website call-to-action). Each creatively worked in a feature of the bra, but then posed a multiple choice question that got recipients to respond. 

 

The best part was that these questions had a playfulness to them. Slightly flirtatious undertones even. And this is exactly the kind of communication you should expect from a brand that sells push-up bras, thongs and bustiers. 

 

 

QR Codes and Retesting Assumptions.

The last 2 years has seen a surge in the popularity of "smart phones" in the US market.  This has us all looking for the next "big thing" to do with these amazing devices.  But there's also a realization that some technologies that seemingly failed previously may have been waiting for this revolution all along.

Take QR codes, four years ago I was sure QR codes where a dead end.  Nobody had a decent QR code reader,  and getting one loaded onto handsets was almost impossible.  I can recall watching twenty people, who worked in mobile, trying to load a popular reader onto a phone.  One succeeded, and we wanted people walking into a store or down the street to attempt the same thing!  Fast forward to 2010 and you'll see a resurgence in QR codes.

They're once again appearing, in street sign advertising, on store windows, as separate labels on products, on websites, and even on t-shirts.  The smart phone revolution has meant that not only do we now have the apps to make use of the codes, be we also gain the all important data network in order to really make the information contained with the codes truly useful.  And generally speaking, "being useful", is a great motivator to get people to use something.  The codes are also easy to incorporate into current creative assets, as well as becoming well enough understood that instructions on tier use can be minimal.  There's also something interactive and neat about scanning the code that's a lot more enjoyable than typing a Url.  It's worth keeping in mind that sometime new technology makes "old" technology useful again.  Retest your assumptions in light of what's available to you now, it's interesting to see what you might find.

Some great QR code uses:

- Google provides businesses with stickers for their window, which send the customer to a mobile friendly version of their Google Place Page. 

- The Cellar Key is adding labels to wine bottles which redirect to a mobile site containing tasting and pairing notes etc.

- Scvnger is "a game about doing challenges at places", they make extensive use of QR codes inside buildings where GPS doesn't work so well. 

- Google provides developers deploying apps on their market a QR code.  People can then scan the code from a PC monitor, and be directed to the app on their phone. For an example see the mobile shopper app.

- Calvin Klein chose to make QR codes the central part of a recent campaign.

A retailer’s Dilemma: to mcoupon or not to mcoupon?

 

Store-based retailers work primarily on two big problems. The first is driving foot traffic into the store, the second is converting customers who are in the store into buyers. Mobile marketers have improved their ability to drive foot traffic to the store in recent years, using a variety of tactics from offers, loyalty clubs and sweepstakes all directed at enticing customers into the store. But the second problem of converting consumers standing in the store is a problem which has received little attention by mobile marketers. Until recently.

Shopkick launched a few weeks ago with much fanfare, raising awareness of the in-store opportunity that mobile marketers can affect. I’ve been engaged in many in-store mobile marketing programs over the years but I would never say it has moved past experimental. How many retail outlets have you visited recently that encourages you to pull your phone out of your pocket and engage with the brand? It is rare.

I’m intrigued by the dominant approach in the industry toward addressing in-store conversion: couponing. That is, how do I convert a shopper into a buyer when they’re standing in the store? Well… I give them a coupon of course. When all you have is a hammer…. Everything looks like a nail.

Crossview very recently published a study in Mediapost saying that most consumers (37%) prefer to receive their coupons and offers via email and only 11% of them are interested in receiving offers in-store. If so few customers are interested in receiving offers in the store, why are we pushing it so hard?

Last week I had the honor of co-presenting on a panel with esteemed and respected mobile marketer Andrew Koven from Steve Madden. After discussing the broad range of impressive mobile activities he is undertaking at Steve Madden we got to talking about the new Shopkick app. Mark Walsh from Mediapost moderated the panel and drew the following insight out of Koven: “I don’t want people to come into my stores and play games to get coupons. I want them reviewing our merchandise and converting to buyers.”

The retailer CEOs I meet will tell you that Coupons are a drug. Once you get hooked and let your customers get hooked, it’s hard to come back. So there is a constant fight to reduce the reliance on coupons from a marketing perspective

So if coupons aren’t the answer, what is the answer to using mobile to help convert shoppers into buyers?

There is a well known store conversion statistic that applies at most retailers. I call it the 10-4-1 problem. Of 10 customers that walk into a store, 4 of them intend to buy. 3 out of 4 of those consumers walk out empty handed, only one of them buys. The retailer’s job is to convert 3 out of 4 non purchasing intenders. Retailers have tried many different in-store solutions to this problem and they’re all working hard on it. Most retailers know that the reason these intending purchasers don’t buy is that they couldn’t find anything they like. They didn’t say, it was too expensive and if they’d given me a discount I would have purchased, they said, “I couldn’t find anything I liked.”

So one of the biggest obstacles to converting a consumer is, the lack of inspiration and education.  Retailers attempt to use store associates to solve this problem. Retailers wage a war in maintaining the cost of getting great associates who are able to inspire and educate their consumers. We also know that consumers are often wary of commission hungry store associates. This is why consumers do their research online then head to the store and hunt straight for the item they’re after. By providing critical inspiration and education tools to consumers in the store, the consumer can find what they’re after quickly and easily.

We know mobile can bridge the divide between the store and the online website. How do we make that happen? How do we use mobile to inspire customers when they’re in the store?

Imagine for a moment you are standing in a Banana Republic store. There are no store associates around, and you see an in-store poster encouraging you to try their “mobile companion.”  You pull out your phone and the companion entices you to scan the barcode on the pants you’re admiring. You scan the pants and the companion offers you 10 ensembles containing the pants. The ensembles are in BBQ mode, casual mode and work mode. Why be limited to a store of only 10 mannequins, when I can have 1,000 mannequins in my hand built around any item I’m interested in?

The companion then tells you where in the store you can find these other items in the ensemble. If the items are out of stock, Banana Republic gives you free shipping for the item (still closes the deal). Since the companion is bridging the store and the online world, I’m able to easily see any reviews and complaints about this product. The pants come with a recommendation to a tie and so the Companion offers up a Summer 2010 how to wear a tie education article.

Sound far fetched? I don’t think so. These  forms of inspiration and education are going to become common place in the very near future. I believe that bridging the gap between stores and online is inevitable and an exciting new adventure in the progressive world of mobile.

I had a recent conversation with Michael Boland of BIA Kelsey a boutique research firm that specializes in the local social mobile space. He saw the “in-store mobile” domain to be a rapidly growing sector. He also agrees that the foursquares and Shopkicks are going to have to move beyond game mechanics and that “…there is going to be a shakeout where there has to be an exchange of real value going on between the retailer and the consumer.”

 

Teens + Mobile + Retail = $

 

Most brands and retailers have not figured out how mobile can really deliver on its promise of sending the right message, to the right customer, at the right time and place -- the ultimate dream of digital marketing. It is not their fault, as many come to mobile marketing with a lens limited by the existing paradigms of TV, Internet and direct marketing.

As many of us know, teens spend an inordinate amount of their waking hours connecting via text messaging (most people can't fathom how the average teen can write 100+ text messages/day), but this doesn't mean that teens want to be marketed too via text. Receiving a retailer's jargon-filled, stiff text message while conversing with a friend can be jarring. So how do we get their attention, while still making it personal and relevant?

My wife likes the idea of taking their phone away to get their attention. But for the average marketer, we have some more constructive techniques -- the one with the most reach being text messaging.

STEP 1: Ask the teen for permission to speak with them via their phone. Teens need to feel in control. 

STEP 2: In the first month, ensure you share with them the best promotion you have to offer, so you maximize your chances of building a positive exchange through the mobile channel. 

STEP 3: Be conscious of the "voice" you are using in the mobile channel.  If your brand comes stomping in with a third-person corporate voice, it will stick out like a sore thumb. 

STEP 4: Determine the mobile promotion for your business that makes teens say yes. The messages must convey maximum value and relevance. 

STEP 5: Develop an in-store experience that engages. 

In the end, the best way for a typical retailer or brand to engage teens on mobile is to start by building a segmented text messaging program which allows you to communicate to teens with a separate voice and set of relevant offers just for them.

By giving them value and deals they can share with friends and alerts to significant in-store and brand events, you will maximize their long-term engagement with the brand and ultimately in-store sales. In-store is a huge opportunity. One which teens are primed to take advantage of because of their comfort with their phone, but that is a discussion for next time ...

(This post is based on an article I wrote for MediaPost. For the full article, click through to MediaPost here.)

Steen

What's in it for Teens?

 

Have you ever run into a teen without a phone or, better yet, one who isn't asking, "What's in it for me?" Rarely, right? So, when looking at marketing strategies targeting teens, you can't ignore mobile. You should even consider it as a primary media channel.

We've all heard the phrase "the medium is the message." In the case of teens, this is even more relevant. Teens will judge your brand in an instant. But by communicating in a first-person voice in channels in which they "live," you put your brand on a level playing field. You can grab their attention more easily than with a TV ad or other traditional medium and effectively drive them to take action.

SMS is just one of the many dimensions of the mobile channel that creates results. To harness its power, you have to grab young consumers' attention with a simple, yet strong call-to-action. An SMS program's rate of participation -- regardless of its targeted demographic -- is the result of media exposure coupled with a compelling call-to-action and offer. The equation looks something like this:

SMS Call-to-Action Response = Media Exposure x Call-to-Action Strength x The Offer Value

If you follow the five rules below while keeping this in mind, you'll be on the way to creating a powerful SMS call-to-action and offer.

1. Your shortcode is your new URL. 
2. Don't forget about the value proposition! 
3. Out with vanity codes. 
4. When in-venue, remember the rule of three. 
5. If online, stay online. 

Remember, mobile is a teen's remote control for their world. It holds the key to their friends, family, social networks, and it goes with them everywhere. So respect the unique perspective and needs of teens, and you'll get them engaged in your mobile program.

(This post is based on an article I wrote for MediaPost. For the full article, click through to MediaPost here.)

Steen

Haiti meets the intersection of Mobile Marketing and Social networking

Firstly, if you haven't already, consider texting HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 following the devastating Earthquake on Jan 12. Whilst I'm saddened by the tragedy of Haiti, the 90999 shortcode has already raised $10m. At $10 per donation, that's 1 million Americans who have donated to this cause using text messaging. But how did 1M people hear about this incredibly simple channel to donate? It went viral on every social network possible, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

The 90999 shortcode is being run by mGive. I met with the CEO,  Tony Aiello, of mGive a mobile marketing company focused on not-for-profit companies and co-founded by Alicia Keys. All of their donation efforts to donate are dwarfed by the scale of this Haiti campaign. Mobile marketing has turned a corner.

For some reason mobile marketing with SMS has developed a stigma amongst certain consumer groups over recent years. This was even witnessed by wide spread fear-mongering over the 90999 code being a scam. This is not a scam. There are industry veterans like Jim Manis and many at the telecommunications carriers who have been working very hard for years to setup a workable model for mobile giving and which allows for mass-scale donations over private infrastructure, in a way that ensures that the majority of the dollars head toward the required charity.

I live in San Francisco, so I hope other aren't donating via 90999 to help me this year. Otherwise, 2010 will be a great year for mobile marketing

Congratulations to Jim Manis for all of his hard work on establishing Mobile Giving as a viable channel for donations and to Tony Aiello for persevering with mGive. Without the two of you, who knows how much of that $10m would have been donated through other channels.

Patrick.

are mobile search ads for every marketer?

"No" according to 5th Finger CEO, Patrick Collins. The gloves come off in a feature from DMNews.com about marketers and mobile search advertising.

"To ensure an optimum user experience, mobile search should only be used when a brand can support the activity through the mobile phone. Driving mobile users from search to a PC's Web experience, as opposed to a mobile optimized Web site, is a mistake that many brands make when first entering the mobile search arena."

For the full article AND DMNews' decision click here: Are mobile search ads for every marketer?