Mobile Fix: The market is tough. The consumer is spooked – Philip Green

Simon Andrews, founder of the full service mobile agency addictive!, on the growing momentum of mobile shopping threatening the retailers…

Today is Black Friday. The day when US retailers traditionally open very early and offer big discounts to lure people into stores on the day after Thanksgiving. Many of the big e-commerce players are using mobile to try and disrupt this tradition.

Some retailers like BestBuy are trying to fight the tide of mobile savvy shoppers by not displaying manufacturer’s barcodes on products, so people can’t scan them to read reviews or check online prices. But they do have QR codes that lead to BestBuy mobile pages.

Others like department store Nordstrom are offering free Wi-Fi, commenting “The shopping landscape is changing very rapidly, and so we want to evolve with our customers.”

IBM is keeping a close eye on US retailers and has just released this data;

• Early results for Thanksgiving 2011 indicate that it is going to be a strong online shopping day
• Thanksgiving 2011 sales are up 20% over Thanksgiving 2010 for the same time period.

Mobile shopping is also off to a very strong start:

• Mobile Traffic: The number of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site reached 15.8%.
• Mobile Shopping: The number of consumers using their mobile device to make a purchase reached 10.1%.

Here in the UK the news that Philip Green is to close over 260 shops supports the thinking that retail is going to get shaken up by mobile shopping and with data suggesting people are getting more comfortable buying more expensive items on their phone, it won’t just be the stocking fillers that get bought through mobiles.

But with around 80% of sites effectively shuttered for mobile buyers some retailers could be missing out as a recent review of 22 retailers shows that most have lots to do to maximize sales from mobile shoppers.

Amazon – any phone for 1 cent

If you were thinking of launching a phone in a year’s time how would you try and prepare for that? How about you offer such an amazing deal you get loads of people to buy from you now, in the hope you can sell your new phone to them when their deal is up for renewal?

Amazon.com is selling most of the best smartphones for 1 cent in a promotion with AT&T. Just as rumours about their own phone surface. Coincidence?

And as if not wanting to be left out, there are more rumours about a Facebook phone emerging.

NewTV

Google’s Tom Uglow has produced some smart thinking about modern marketing. One key thought is a build on the Jacob Neilson 1-9-90 theory of social – that whilst 1% of people produce content and 9% share it around.

Tom expands this to;

Engaged user. Community.Spectator. Passive consumer (at a ratio of 1.10.100.1000)

This feels a bit like how TV works when it is done smartly. Rather than chase passive consumers, brands like YeoValley are choosing to focus on those places where the spectators are, in an attempt to build community and engagement. Of course great TV ads are very powerful – as part of the team that brought you Howard from the Halifax we know just how effective TV can be. But even back then, we were looking for a way of having a Part 2 to the TV ad, just as the YeoValley ads drive people to Facebook.

Various conversations with smart agencies and smart brands over the past few weeks have reminded us that marketers are looking for engagement rather than merely reach. So the big question is how do you use TV to drive your community to a deeper more engaging experience?

Shiv Singh of Pepsi argues that TV ads have to become trailers, “When TV ads become teasers for digital experiences, the ROI will improve significantly as the digital experience will stretch out the brand experiences beyond the 30 second clip.”

Collaborate Marketing Services talk about how connected TV is about to disrupt the cosy world of traditional TV and point to how video is finally becoming professionalised.

In this new world, it feels like mobile has a huge role to play. People are using their devices whilst watching TV so it’s the natural place to try and build the digital experience. But we’re convinced that the mobile/digital expertise needs to be involved at the start of the thinking, rather than bolted on at the end. However, reach isn’t always a good thing, long term engagement is what’s really valuable – if you can turn it into permission.

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