Mobile marketing finally hits Canada; global market forecast to hit $25 billion by 2013

Toronto's chorus of billboards and arena-sized television screens are about to face some stiff, interactive competition. Silverback Media and the Yonge Street BIA recently joined forces to quietly launch a marketing campaign with local merchants using much anticipated Japanese QR (quick response) codes embedded in storefront windows and posters, and corporate giants like Molson Canada and Ford Canada have become comprehensive adopters of mobile marketing tools. Consumers can scan these multi-functional codes with a camera phone for discounts, to connect to a merchant's mobile site or receive branded content from the store. "It's really up to the merchant," says Silverback's managing director Jim Brown. Although Silverback isn't offering many details on the campaign, Brown sees this as part of the new wave of mobile marketing. "I definitely think you'll see a lot more of these campaigns being rolled out in the coming year." Michael O'Farrell chair of the dotMobi Advisory Group and author of Mobile Internet for Dummies, agrees QR 2D barcodes will play a major role in mobile marketing over the next year. "I think you'll really see a rollout, particularly for identifying sites and mobile coupons and tickets," he told CNM during the Mobile Marketing Workshop in Toronto last week. The Canadian Wireless Telecom Association reinforced O'Farrell's point; workshop attendees were invited to a concert by Montreal-based rockers Mobile via 2D code tickets sent to their mobiles. "QR codes are an incredibly useful tool to get people to a site or into a store, but not all of them are integrated into point of sale systems, and that's the real problem," cautions Toronto-based Jambo Mobile's Derek Colfer, VP strategy. "More code-based messages will come out, but they won't necessarily be QR or require scanning, they could just be SMS." As CNM reported in March, Toronto-based Luna Corp. is working to integrate QR codes in the next generation of camera-phones, since many mobile devices in Canada are not yet equipped with the scanning software required to read the messages. Bluetooth devices, however, are quickly becoming ubiquitous. According to IMS Research, over 60% of North American mobile devices were armed with Bluetooth technology. Jambo has already seized on this potential. Last November it launched a Bluetooth marketing campaign for Ford Canada's Sync Technology; a voice-activated in-car communication system. The four-week long campaign rolled out in 90 locations across eight Canadian markets, including Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. Consumers whose devices were set to discoverable would receive a message asking if they would like content from Ford Sync. Over 26,000 consumers were propositioned, with a download or open rate of 25%- or just over 6,500 videos and wallpapers. "Being the first campaign of its kind in Canada, we believe this was a very successful execution," says Jambo's Ian Collins. "If we factor in the viral component, and assume that half of the people who watched the video showed it to someone else, that number goes up to 9,840 people. I believe that to be a very conservative number." Many marketers salivate at the prospect of being glued to consumers' hips, but having a brand connected to consumers' lips and fingertips may prove to be more profitable. "Social networking and the viral nature of content is really going to push mobile marketing," says O'Farrell. "Just look at the popularity of YouTube and Facebook. You, the consumer, are your own social network." A consumer is no longer one person, but an entourage. "We've got our consumers working for us. They're really pushing out the message and that's the great thing about mobile," Molson Canada's Ross Buchanan, director digital and relationship marketing, said at the workshop. "You give them something good, they'll pass it on to their friends." Molson has executed over 300 mobile campaigns across its brands, including text-to-win promotions for exclusive concerts and get-a-ways. Some contests encourage users to share the content for additional entries. Molson's database of mobile consumers has grown over 500% over the past year, according to My Thum Interactive's David Brown, who has worked closely with Molson. They are currently averaging 2,000-3,000 new members a month. While some consumers may be wary of mobile marketing messages, a recent survey by ABI Research found that their perspective depends on whether they see some advantage for themselves. Over 50% of respondents indicated they were opposed to mobile marketing messages, but 70% of those same respondents said that an incentive, such as a free ringtone, might make them more receptive. Global market forecast to hit $25 billion by 2013 Discount offers, contest entries and exclusive giveaways are already paving the way for substantial growth in the industry; ABI predicts the global market will reach $24 billion in revenue by 2013, up from $1.8 billion last year. As recently as last year, Informa Telecom & Media predicted the market would only reach $11.35 billion by 2011. "This is not the next new media," said Carlson Marketing's Phil Barrett during a panel discussion, "this is the NEW media." And some, such as ooober Inc.'s CEO Kashif Hassan, are trying to bring this tool to the masses. Toronto-based ooober has created a platform where members can create, execute and manage their own SMS campaigns, quickly and with little expertise. "We really want to democratize mobile marketing." Members set up a campaign with a shortcode secured by ooober, select a keyword, campaign details - such as voting or a contest - and manage and alter the campaign in real-time themselves. The platform is geared primarily to smaller businesses and organizations that may lack the time or expertise to orchestrate all the details associated with SMS promotions. A recent campaign launched through ooober by the South Asian Alliance, a university group with 10,000 members across several schools, garnered 4,500 messages within the first 45 minutes. "They needed it for one day, with the ability to change components as interest grew or waned," says Hassan. Just as the complexities of launching small-scale campaigns are being curtailed, so are concerns about compatibilities across different handsets and carriers. Sites such as www.deviceatlas.com and www.ready.mobi can evaluate the mobi-readiness of .mobi sites with different devices and inform users of the capabilities of different models. Creators can thus ensure that their campaigns will function across thousands of models. While it's becoming easier to launch campaigns that go beyond SMS and for more players to enter the mobile marketing fray, there are still barriers to be overcome. "The agencies have really dropped the ball on this one," says O'Farrell. "They just aren't informed about the next technologies and mediums and are almost ignoring mobile - but you can't." "The problem is agencies continue to look to the traditional methods and even the Internet. Brands are getting it," says O'Farrell pointing to Molson's work in the space. "Agencies are the ones who are lagging. What they need to do is join up with organizations like the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and learn about it. The consumers want it, the (marketing) agencies need to start delivering it." While Colfer agrees that expertise is still lagging in this area, he believes high data costs are holding the industry back. "What needs to happen in Canada is we need better data plans. The only way we'll get more rich media content is if data rates go down and carriers come up with more unlimited plans." Rogers Wireless' recent announcement of plans to launch the iPhone is largely viewed as the necessary driver to incorporate more consumer-friendly plans, and Colfer is optimistic. "Once data rates go down, you'll really start to see more video campaigns and more entertaining content," he says.

Mobile marketing finally hits Canada; global market forecast to hit $25 billion by 2013

News | 05/23/2008 1:56 pm EDT

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