At this point, mobile optimized websites should be the cost of entry for luxury brands, particularly retail brands.  Amazingly, they are not, as Chanel, for example, is the only brand among Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Gucci to offer an optimized web presence as of early May). Not only is there massive penetration of smartphones among the affluent, but the wealthy are using these devices to compare prices (76 percent) and make purchases (27 percent). Smartphones have become shopping companions.

Mobile applications offer an even greater opportunity for luxury brands since they can use them to offer their audiences personalized, engaging and memorable service. It is no surprise, with their proclivity to purchase smartphones, the affluent segment is an early adopter of these mobile applications.

A marketing medium disguised as a useful service, mobile applications offer an ideal means for a luxury company to stay connected to consumers without compromising its brand perception. In fact, it’s not hard to imagine that a mobile application addressing a latent need has the ability to actually enhance brand loyalty.

As any target-centric marketing professional would agree, while many companies today should be focused on developing a deliberate, thoughtful means to integrate social media into a broader marketing strategy, luxury brands should prioritize mobile, as well. Right now. Mobile marketing offers luxury brands the potential for a dramatic impact – ultimately – on the bottom line.

My first experience was the new “Facebook Places” mobile application. Similar to Foursquare and Gowalla, users ‘check in’ on their phone when they arrive at a destination to let their friends know where they are, as well as take advantage of special deals the location may be offering. The Gap was one of the first major retailers to experiment with FB Places, offering free jeans to 10,000 customers to check into their store using the app on Nov. 5th. After so much bad press, I was rooting for a win for the beleaguered brand. I like Gap merchandise, and now I was armed with a smart phone, and hey – we all need pants.

In this social world, I heard about Gap’s promotion in a traditional way, by reading about it in an emailed newsletter. My first step was to download the app, which took several tries, probably because I was among 10,000 trying to do the same thing.

So Gap’s Free Jeans Giveaway Event comes, and I clearly wasn’t alone in my quest. On my way to the closest Gap, I got a call – the jeans were gone already. This was seven minutes after they opened.

Ok – I press on; to what I expect to be the more crowded mall. Upon arriving at a different Gap, the store seemed pretty empty. I fumbled with my phone to check in, and the sales associate sees me and says, “Oh, yeah, people are having trouble with that… must be the cement or something. But here you go,” and she hands me a coupon for free jeans. Simple as that. Or not so simple. She points me to the jeans that apply – they don’t have my size. I ask if there are any more in the back, she checks. I’m thinking I’ll end up driving around town to get them (time I don’t have), but the manager appears and says I can have a pair that is valued at $10 more in my size instead, no problem. They still had about 10 more coupons to give away when I left, almost an hour after they opened.

Some bumps in the road are expected with the adoption and application of any technology, but as a successful focus group of one, here’s my take on what Gap did right.

• Offered a social promotion of value – jeans are fairly high ticket item and symbolic of the Gap brand. 10,000 Gap jean ambassadors, right before the holiday season, are a valuable marketing asset

• Prepared their employees – a week earlier, Brueggers Bagelry emailed around a coupon for 6 free bagels, and by lunch they were sold out all over town. One weary employee was apologetically stamping make-goods while bemoaning the fact that they were unprepared. The Gap associates told me they had been notified weeks ago, that corporate-to-store communications were really detailed and informative – no surprises here.

• Offered a consolation prize – 10,000 happy customers is great, 100,000 unhappy ones is bad. A coworker recently participated in Lowes’ Facebook sneak peak event for Black Friday deals, 100 Kitchen Aid mixers at 90% off. That left 2600 participants with nothing more than aggravation, as noted on their wall, and a visible blunder to more than 200,000 Lowe’s FB fans. In Gap’s case, if the free jeans coupons were gone – anyone who checked in via Facebook Places received an offer of 40% off any item in the store. That’s not half bad for a non-winner.

• Customer Service is still king – to get as far as I did, and leave without the jeans, would have been more sour than sweet. My Gap manager felt empowered to make decisions that built my brand experience.

• New technology is exciting, but traditional media is not dead – traditional PR outlets covered the Gap promotion and drew my attention. The most successful marketing leverages the best of all media options. Organizations that make good use of relevance, urgency and value will be welcome in my email stream. And don’t discount good old fashioned media like radio and television, which are among the first to plant seeds that I then recognize in other social outlets

As for the future of Facebook Places, it remains to be seen if consumers are as excited about the possibilities as we marketers are. Despite the fact I sit here blogging in my new jeans, I am not quite programmed yet to always check the location or even the “Coupon” app on my phone when I enter a store. But hey – at the rate my son wears through the knees in his pants, it could be a habit in the making. Kind of like remembering to bring those recyclable bags into the grocery store, not just carried around in my trunk.

On October 30^th, the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle featured a QR tag for the ubiquitous orange Giants rally towel — a virtual towel embedded in a video. In one quick scan of the code, thanks to a free QR app I downloaded in seconds on to my iPhone, I was waving my virtual rally towel in my kitchen, ready for that night’s game. As I sat there in my Giants sweatshirt, a black SF painted on my face, I finally saw the light.

I was not alone in this epiphany – suddenly all my neighbors were talking about QR codes, thanks to the rally towel download. People who had barely understood how to text on their smartphones had downloaded virtual rally rags, showing it to friends at the farmer’s market and talking about their adoption of “cutting edge” technology. At the Giants’ homecoming parade, tens of thousands of people waved their phones with their virtual rally towels as the ticker tape rained down. And like that, suddenly it seemed that QR codes had moved beyond a concept to a much-needed tool that we all had to have to not only show our support for the greatest baseball team in the world, but to make smart buying decisions post-Series…and QR codes were popping up everywhere.

In Sunday’s 30-page toy circular (the “buy this for me, mama” catalog), Target took advantage of Fisher Prices’ new QR codes to tout merchandise whose value was not immediately seen. With a quick scan of a QR code, videos launched to either explain the toy’s functionality or to highlight long-form commercials with kids as the clear target. My children began scouring the book for more codes, eager to be marketed to via my iPhone.

Later that day we visited Best Buy, where QR codes on each product tag allowed me to read consumer reviews, compare features and email the information to my husband to see if he could talk me out of it before I reached the check out line. For many consumers who have been hesitant to buy in brick-and-mortar without access to third-party reviews that might save them from a poor buying decision, this type of immediate information could change up the game and move an online buyer in to one that actually enters the real world to shop. And real-world shopping often leads to higher volume shops, thanks to accessory upsells and impulse buys – a definite upside for retailers.

The downside for retailers? As Best Buy has learned, it takes a lot of man hours and printing to keep up with the latest info on any given product – in fact, the date and time that the tag was printed is shown on each, to assure shoppers they have the latest and greatest. According to a recent article on RetailGeek.com, these tags are reprinted twice a month, meaning Best Buy is printing over a half BILLION tags each year across all stores, as well as paying for employees to install them. That’s approximately $312 million dollars in labor, printing not included. It would seem that the next natural step in in-store QR code adoption will be digital tags, a one-time investment that can allow for faster, cheaper and more frequent updating of tags across all locations.

QR codes are here to stay, and their availability and quality of information can only get better. As move into the holiday shopping, with the “new” Black Friday already behind us, look for QR tags to appear in circulars, magazines and catalogs, and perhaps even in a retailer near you. You’ll feel more confident in your buying decisions, knowing that you have the real facts and perhaps even consumer reviews, and won’t end giving this year’s pet rock. And marketers are sure to see the value in this investment, as shoppers overcome any fear they have of buying off-the-page or off-the-shelf, driving them to perhaps buy more — and more often.

The patrons love to use a new gadget, and the restaurants love what it’s doing to sales. Anecdotal (and self-reported) evidence suggests that non-wine drinkers are more inclined to consider a wine purchase once they use the iPad wine list, and those who normally do order wine are buying more expensive bottles.

Some versions even come with wine reviews by noted critic Robert M. Parker Jr., which provides an objective view of each selection and lets patrons trust someone other than the sommelier for an opinion.

However, what these apps don’t seem to have is either a social media or user-generated content element. How great would it be to mention the wine you are drinking on a foursquare check-in? Or have the option of reading user reviews and adding your own opinion about a wine after you have enjoyed a bottle? I hope that version 2.0 of these “iWine Lists” invites diners to not just consume information but also share their opinions with others.

I asked a few of our employees who are known to be heavy users why they check-in. The most popular response? “Deals and discounts.” Yes, it may be fun to be mayor, but as one person pointed out, it can be “too easy to cheat.” And Foursquare now even predicts when you will be mayor, so the element of surprise is fading. The Foursquare loyalty program we developed for F.Y.E customers addresses all of this and goes beyond just catering to mayors. You can get discounts just for checking-in, no mayorship required. And with the consumer proliferation of smart-phones nowadays, the fit was perfect.

There also are ways to keep interest and engagement beyond the retail coup you could get for checking-in. Some brands are really finding creative ways to do so. Zagat is using Foursquare to leave tips for foodies all over the U.S. And if you’re inclined, you can use Foursquare thru MTV to find out where the kids from The Jersey Shore like to hang out (if only so you can avoid those places). You can even “check-in to history” with Foursquare and the History Channel.

Gowalla recently launched Highlights, where you can “tell the world about your favorite places.” It’s a little like those polls on Facebook where you can tell people about your favorite albums, the first person you kissed, favorite childhood toy, etc. Highlights asks users to share places like the best spot for live music, where you get your caffeine fix, where you like to go on date night, even where you proposed. From basic recommendations to warm fuzzies, Highlights looks to compile them.

And what about deals and discounts? Yes, being mayor or collecting badges may be fun, but saving money will always be a perk. Maybe the best way to keep these location-based services running is to combine the economic incentive with tips, suggestions – even the occasional warm fuzzy.

In addition to FOX, the contest is being promoted and sponsored by AppNation, the first global conference for application developers. It’s no coincidence that the subtitle for the conference is “Show Me the Money”, as independent app developers have long-struggled to truly cash in on the smartphone and i-app craze. This promo sponsorship provides the contest with the credibility it may need to overcome the building backlash against CGA; some feel CGA is just brands taking advantage of free efforts by others, with little investment or responsibility. Will this leap into the application development pool be different, at least for the first few brands that take advantage of its novelty.

CGA began it’s surge around 2007 with the now-famous Dorito’s Super Bowl contest, still going strong and with probably the best level of execution – it’s 2010 consumer-generated Super Bowl ads were ranked #1 by two Twitter surveys, in number of Tweets, TiVo replays and Hulu post-game views.  But it’s not a success story for everyone – Chevy Tahoe’s first and last foray into CGA ended up with a slew of negative videos that went viral, all positioning the vehicle as environmentally criminal. Others simply suffer from terrible execution, a la the Folger’s “Best Part of Waking Up” 2010 jingle contest, being held up as proof that CGA has truly jumped the shark. In 2007, AdAge pronounced consumers the “Agency of the Year”. Yet a recent AdAge article about CGA opened quite brutally with these words” “Dear consumer, your 15 minutes are over. You suck.”

FOX, never one to shy away from innovation or risk-taking, has high hopes for Pimp My App, and so far has enjoyed a backlash-free launch. Any search for “Pimp My App” brings up top app dev bloggers and other influencers touting the contest and driving traffic to both the FOX site and AppNation’s. We’ll soon see if app developer contests become a new vein in the crowd-sourcing movement, or if they, like FOX’s ill-fated Tweet-peats, come to a crashing halt amid cries of “foul”. In the meantime, let the pimping begin.

The popularity of the app gave rise to last week’s first annual Foursquare Day, the first globally recognized grass-roots celebration of the power of social media. Indeed, it was the power of social media that took Foursquare Day from being a simple idea to an actual live event: One day, an ordinary Foursquare user named Nate Bonilla-Warford had an interesting thought – why not celebrate the app on April 16 (reason being that four-squared equals 16), and have everyone “check in” to it on that day? He floated the idea around online, and it took off through the social web. It eventually caught the eye of Foursquare employees, who liked it, created an official 4sqDay badge, and set up their own party to join in the celebration with their users.

I was lucky enough to have received an invitation to join in the festivities. While I was there, I got to meet co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley (who had time to snap a quick picture with me). The party drew quite the crowd, and featured Hollywood A-listers like Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, as well as big names in media and tech, like Digg CEO Kevin Rose. But the best part about Foursquare Day was that among the hundreds of party attendees were many normal, everyday Foursquare users – just like me.

And that’s the beauty of Foursquare – it knows what makes its brand tick. It recognizes that its success rests in the hands of its users, without whom there would have never been a Foursquare Day. The truth is that conversations are taking place every day through Foursquare, and the company has chosen to join in, have fun, and celebrate not with a VIP-only who’s who list, but with the people who check in at their local Starbucks on their way to work every morning.

No matter the platform, there are literally dozens of apps to choose from, making it a painful finger stroll through any given app store. To make things a bit easier for you, we’ve compiled some of our thoughts on a few of the Twitter apps currently available.

Here is an Apple and WebOS view from a self-admitted Tweet-oholic, Media Logic’s Sr. IT Coordinator John Jordan.

Hi, my name is John, and I have a tweeting problem. I’m ALWAYS connected to a number of social media sites, the main one being Twitter. Whether I’m at work, home or on the go (or sometimes in my sleep!), I’m using one of many mobile clients to communicate with friends, family, and complete strangers all across the Twitterverse.

I’ll start off with Apple’s popular iPhone. Let me start off by saying that I myself have never owned an iPhone, as I’m not a big fan of AT&T and their spotty service in the areas I travel most (Apple? You there? Offer the iPhone on Verizon or Sprint!). I do, however, own an iPod Touch – which allows me to use the same great apps as iPhone owners. Over the past year, I’ve used a number of the available apps trying to find the one that works best for me. In this time, I’ve come across some that are great and offer a number of features. I’ve also come across a number that were just mediocre. For the iPhone/iPod Touch, I’ve found that out of the 50 or so available, I really only enjoy 3 different apps. They are TweetDeck, Twitterrific, and Tweetie. All three are well built applications that not only have excellent interfaces, but also provide the user with an experience better than any other.

Palm’s WebOS is the newest to the game, but has already generated a lot of buzz and in doing so some great Twitter apps have been developed. I’ve tested out those available (currently at 14 with a few in development), and have come to the conclusion that Twee (available as a free download or $2.99 in the Palm app store for a more feature-filled version) is by far the best currently available. It is fast and has a great interface as well as some features that other Twitter apps do not offer, such as the “nearby” feature. This feature has to be one of my favorites, as I’m able set a radius of anywhere from 5 to 100 miles, and then see tweets from local users that I do not follow. Other WebOS contenders are Tweed, Spaz, and the newly released Bad Kitty, which has received a lot of praise among the WebOS community.

So what about Twitter apps for Google’s Android platform? For that, we tap into Media Logic’s Director of Media Integration and unapologetic Android supporter, Patrick Boegel.

I like my gadgets, but I also like ease and function. I don’t necessarily need a high-rolling bell and whistle app, just something that gets me through the ABC’s. Twidroid is the most similar app, in my opinion, to the aforementioned Apple fave Tweetie. The application is available in both a limited free version and a pro version, the biggest distinction for the average Twitter user being that the pro version offers multiple accounts management. I am not sure exactly how many users have multiple accounts, but if you do, it would come in handy. Personally, I have yet to justify $5 to go with a pro account, but would have to imagine that for a user on the Android OS with multiple accounts to service, $5 pays for itself rather quickly. If you are a conversation manager of multiple communities, it is a pittance.

One of the better features of Twidroid is that it allows users to send images directly from their phone without leaving the application – nearly instantaneously. Newer apps such as Seesmic (discussed below) are clunky several-minute load times, while the very recent addition of HootSuite seems to make this function a bit of a breeze. An area where Twidroid is lacking, from a user experience, is a central part of the Twitter experience: viewing a user profile. A lot of the benefit of Twitter is user discovery, and the user profile on Twidroid is simply not appealing. The ability to easily follow (or in some scenarios un-follow) a user is buried off the primary touch screen. This might sound like a petty issue, but remember we are talking about using this service on a device that fits in your pocket. Ease of use is paramount.

Here is where Seesmic comes in.

I have to say straight off the top, I have tried the various versions of Seesmic’s desktop apps and they never quite did it for me. I was eager, however, to play laboratory gadget rat with the Android app and they do an excellent job maximizing the mobile environment. The interface is smooth and easy to navigate. Profile views are clear, which is increasingly critical as you make new connections. The overall UI allows for easy, visible touch screen access to items (such as search and lists) that you are used to taking care of on the desktop Twitter environment of your choice. Seesmic only just came to the Android platform and has already rolled out an update which includes the addition of multiple accounts offered on their desktop clients. Overall, I would score it a slight notch above Twidroid and it will be worth keeping an eye on how they add features in future updates. If you are most comfortable with basic twitter interface or a desktop app such as Tweetdeck, Seesmic is going to be the most familiar and easy-to-navigate app for you. It is also, dare I say, the one application on the Android platform of any kind that is the most iPhone app-like. Curious, because Seesmic is not available for iPhone.

HootSuite just launched their app suite for iPhone and Android a little over a week ago. It is feature-rich and comes in Lite (free) and regular (paid) versions. The primary difference between the lite- and full-featured version is a 3-account limit (lite) versus unlimited accounts (full). The full version also includes click-through statistics tracking.

Everyone is trying to provide various utility; I suspect for power desktop users having a similar and interconnected interface will be a primary factor in deciding which apps to use. In my opinion, HootSuite, much like TweetDeck on the iPhone, has tried to take too much of the desktop product into the mobile environment. Like I said earlier, I like simplicity… for my on-the-go access needs, Seesmic provides that in spades.

So there you have it. A few of our favorite mobile Twitter apps that help to keep us connected to you. Do you have a favorite? Let us know below, by sharing your thoughts in the comments section. We always look forward to hearing what our readers think.

Related articles

• First Look: Seesmic’s Upcoming Windows Phone 7 Twitter App [PICS] (mashable.com)
• Will Seesmic for Android be the Tweetie of the Android Market? (techzulu.com)
]]> http://blog.mlinc.com/social-marketing/app-spotlight-two-hundred-sides-to-every-tweet/feed/ 0 http://blog.mlinc.com/social-marketing/conversatiated-mobile-ad-evolution/ http://blog.mlinc.com/social-marketing/conversatiated-mobile-ad-evolution/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:35:38 +0000 Josh Martin http://logicaljuice.mlinc.com/?p=2475 Advertisers everywhere are prognosticating the future of mobile advertising in modern integrated marketing. In this edition of Conversatiated, Media Logic Account Supervisors Josh Martin and Fred Ulrich share their perspectives on the evolution of mobile advertising in a conversation-centric world.]]> In our regular installment of Conversatiated, two Media Logicians share an ongoing dialogue about marketing issues and challenges in a conversation-centric world.

Josh:

Hey Fred, I was recently doing my daily perusal of The New York Times online (in my infinite quest to look cultured and smart) and came across this article: “Is the Day of Tiny Ads Finally Here?” In a nutshell, the author surmises that due to recent technology introductions – like the iPad and the Droid – marketers will begin to spend more dollars on mobile advertising, specifically purchasing mobile banner ad units.

Are we about to go through this again? Haven’t we learned from a decade-plus of web banner ads that the banner ad unit is a flawed advertising vehicle? It is disruptive in the wrong way, pulling consumers from the content they seek and dropping them elsewhere; and is often hijacked by marketers pushing messages unrelated to the desired content consumers have sought. As marketers, we’d be doing a disservice to advertisers if we tried to repackage this marketing tactic. We are still in the relative infancy of mass adoption of mobile devices. We still have the opportunity to get it right.

I think the author is missing the true advantages that mobile technologies offer marketers. As we move forward, shouldn’t the keyword be VALUE? Instead of “ads,” we need to help our clients develop applications and tools that offer value to consumers – that help augment their lifestyles, their day-to-day. This idea of finding a way to evolve web banner ads into mobile banner ads seems crazy to me. What do you think?

Fred:

You’ve got a good point Josh, but I think what the “analysis” from the article is trying to say is that the banner ad is not really good enough for the iPad and the Droid, and that marketers may need to invent new ad units. Of course, this ignores the fact that I already have tiny ads on my mobile device – there’s one for Target, The Home Depot, Sears, Amazon.com, ESPN, The New York Times, NPR, FedEx, my bank and my insurance company. These are the apps that you alluded to above.

And if we view apps as ads, then what’s missing is not only the value piece that you mention, but RELEVANCE and the ability to bridge the divide between my traditional online behavior and my mobile app usage. Right now these two ways that I interact with brands exist mostly in silos which misses a huge opportunity to give me the most relevant and targeted content in both channels.

Instead of inventing a new ad unit, marketers and media companies might be better served by thinking up a way to integrate these channels. The companies that come out on top won’t be the ones that find the perfect tiny ad, it’ll be the ones that figure out how to connect all the ways we already interact with their brand.

Related articles

• Predictions for 2010 part 3: Mobile advertising needs to grow up or ship out! (mobiletribe.com)
• Giving Mobile Ads a Makeover (online.wsj.com)
• Mobile Execs Less Optimistic (Except About Apps) (mediapost.com)
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