Picking a Mobile Partner: Would You Let a Surgeon Operate After 4 Months On the Job?

By: Carrie Chitsey

3Seventy booth at NRA 2012 Show

The 3Seventy team just returned from the Food & Beverage industry’s biggest trade show, the 2012 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, IL.  There were thousands of attendees, food samples as far as the eye could see, and master chefs showing off their talents.

However, the biggest thing that everyone was talking about was mobile marketing. From every point-of-sale (POS) system company advertising their new mobile POS, to QR codes for restaurants, text message marketing, and over 20+ loyalty app companies, it is clear that mobile is the next big thing for the food & beverage industry.  However, a few things stood out to me from an implementation point of view:

1. There is a larger need for education about mobile that needs to take place with restaurant owners. The corporate and larger franchise groups know they need to get there, and have done research on mobile to ask appropriate questions.
2. The independent restaurant owner isn’t a marketer and struggles with social/email marketing programs. So, for him or her to stay tuned to the newest technologies like mobile is a real struggle. This restaurant owners needs ease of use and results.
3. A large number of vendors/exhibitors at the show were showcasing technology that wasn’t truly mobile and had not been developed to mobile web or application best practices.
4. The majority of the QR codes on products, booths, and even show material didn’t go to a mobile website. The majority went to a traditional website and a few went to a responsive mobile website.

There is a large interest in mobile in the restaurant industry, which is a double edge sword. Mobile is projected to generate billions of dollars in a few years and this attracts a lot of opportunists to the space looking to make a quick buck. Before selecting a mobile partner, there are several critical questions you need to ask during the evaluation phase:

1. Are they using 5-6 digit numbers or 10+ digits numbers? Ask to see an example of their keyword and short code for yourselves. Your text messaging campaigns need to come from a short code (only 5 or 6 digits) and adhere to the proper mobile compliance and regulations.
2. Does the message have STOP or HELP in it? Does it allow you to reply with either of those words and get a confirmation message back?
3. Does the partner offer two way messaging? What I mean by this is you text a keyword PIZZA to a keyword 375275 and you get a message back. This message allows you to respond A, B, C, D and when you respond instead of getting a confirmation message (just text back) you receive another question that allows you to again respond to a questions with A, B, C, D again.
4. How long has the company been in business and what type of clients do they have? You will find a lot of the companies have been in business a very short time and don’t have a good client portfolio on a national level.
5. Ask the company if they own their SMS platform or if they are merely reselling another company’s technology. Find out about the company that built the technology and research them too.

The bottom line is that, in order to be successful in mobile, you must find a partner with experience, thought leadership and technology ownership in order to build successful campaigns and a long term strategic relationship. After all, you wouldn't pick a surgeon after 4 months on the job, you shouldn't pick your mobile partner that way either. The life or death of your mobile initiative depends on it.

The Hybrid Experience - How Digital, Interactive, Mobile, and Social Interact

Retailers today struggle with what to give customers in store, how to create a memorable experience, and how to create additional value and revenue. All are trying different tactics to increase revenues and loyalty through mobile /social sharing in store.

The question is, are these repeatable models to scale? Who owns this experience in a brand? Is there a central owner? I’ve heard more times than I can count that within each brand there are no short of 5 heads of marketing, each having different P&L, responsibilities and agendas. And then there are the brands’ agencies (plural), which all have different roles and agendas. So which agency and which VP of Marketing owns the “new hybrid” customer experience in store? When you determine who the owner is, where is their knowledge coming from? The lack of knowledge in the industry today on mobile is one of the main reasons so many brands have not done mobile, or have not done mobile well.

Mobile is exciting and it’s all over the news; you can’t help but read about a new mobile campaign rollout these days. Should you make corporate decisions by following what other brands have done? Do you really want to follow exactly what your competitor is doing? Anyone can hit one homerun but that doesn’t get you an over .300 batting average. You have to engage a company that lives and breathes mobile, you can’t run your business day to day and be in tune with every new technology out there.

Now, let’s talk about the new hybrid customer experience. This is the experience in which customers engage with a brand in store in the new “digital, interactive, mobile, social” realm. The reason I don’t give it a name and it can be classified into four categories. No one knows what to call digital interactions in store.

One size consumer experiences do not fit all. We have to look at our new consumers groups and how they want to engage, the channel they want to engage and how to get them to re-engage and come back into the store. This is the biggest miss by brands in the marketplace today.

Each brand usually is targeting multiple demographics. First you must outline a mobile strategy to understand your demographic channels, how to engage and how often to re-engage. It’s just as important to first run “blocking and tackling” campaigns prior to “trick plays”. We see more brands trying to do far out innovative things and a only few will stick, but creating a foundation for building a mobile database that will last and not just be “one timers” is built from the main steps in mobile.

So who are the demographics and how do you reach them?

Moms with kids

• High text frequency
• Use text to keep contact with kids
• Search for locations and products on the go
• Opt-in to mobile campaigns to get value add
• Growing in smartphone usage

Minorities

• Cell phones are primary household phones
• Low landline usage
• Low in-home internet access
• Primary text users and watch cell phone minutes carefullyLow smartphone usage, typical phones are WAP or xHTML

Business Stakeholders

• Sales, technology, and management
• High smartphone usage
• Uses a combination of text, email, and internet
• Typically has 7-10 applications downloaded and uses 2-4 regularly

Corporate Business

• Corporate America employees connected through Blackberries
• This group works for corporate America , uses Blackberries frequently due to fast response via email and text
• Low adoption rate of smartphones due to security issues with iPhones and Androids
• Uses internet often, limited applications downloads

Tweens

• Uses feature phones and "smaller" Blackberries
• Parents pay phone bill to reach this demographic
• 90% texting, 10%
• Very limited smartphones in this demographic due to cost

High School/College Kids

• Similar to tweens, using text frequently, voice less often
• Limited smartphone usage due to costs, although growing in college aged demographic
• High Facebook usage, although connects through mobile web vs. application

Non Mainstream Male

• Early adopters of latest in technology and gadgets
• Gamers, surfers, skateboarders, and musicians 23-35 year old male.
• Highest demographic using Android OS powered devices
• Uses mobile devices for gaming and texting, not a fan of "voice" conversations

So how do you connect and make an emotional connection and experience with these different consumer groups in store? You understand the key drivers around purchasing behavior, social behavior and choose interactions and experiences that go across multiple mobile channels to appeal to each demographic.

If you roll out a QR code program for tweens or minorities it will fail. If you roll out a QR code and SMS program for tweens, minorities and Moms, you will see the interactions by channel and give these groups multiple ways to engage with the brand.

More on Hybrid experiences and closing the gap in my next post.

Hybrid Experiences – Integrating Mobile with Print, Social, Digital for Winning Customer Experiences

Retailers today struggle with what to give customers in store, how to create a memorable experience, and how to create additional value and revenue. All are trying different tactics to increase revenues and loyalty through mobile /social sharing in store.

The question is, are these repeatable models to scale? Who owns this experience in a brand? Is there a central owner? I’ve heard more times than I can count that within each brand there are no short of 5 heads of marketing, each having different P&L, responsibilities and agendas. And then there are the brands’ agencies (plural), which all have different roles and agendas. So which agency and which VP of Marketing owns the “new hybrid” customer experience in store? When you determine who the owner is, where is their knowledge coming from? The lack of knowledge in the industry today on mobile is one of the main reasons so many brands have not done mobile, or not done mobile well. Mobile is exciting and it’s all over the news; you can’t help but read about a new mobile campaign rollout these days. Should you make corporate decisions by following what other brands have done?.Do you really want to follow exactly what your competitor is doing? Anyone can hit one homerun but that doesn’t get you an over .300 batting average. You have to engage a company that lives and breathes mobile, you can’t run your business day to day and be in tune with every new technology out there.

Now, let’s talk about the new hybrid customer experience. This is the experience in which customers engage with a brand in store in the new “digital, interactive, mobile, social” realm. The reason I don’t give it a name and it can be classified into four categories. No one knows what to call digital interactions in store.

One size consumer experiences do not fit all. We have to look at our new consumers groups and how they want to engage, the channel they want to engage and how to get them to re-engage and come back into the store. This is the biggest miss by brands in the marketplace today.

Each brand usually is targeting multiple demographics. First you must outline a mobile strategy to understand your demographic channels, how to engage and how often to re-engage. It’s just as important to first run “blocking and tackling” campaigns prior to “trick plays”. We see more brands trying to do far out innovative things and a only few will stick and work, but creating a foundation for building a mobile database that will last and not just be “one timers” is built from the main steps in mobile.

So who are the demographics and how do you reach them?

Moms with kids: These ladies are high texters, it’s the only way they can get ahold of their kids, they use the internet on their phones regularly to find things while on the go, they opt in to mobile campaigns to get value add and share with other mothers. This group is growing in smartphones but doesn’t use applications frequently as of today.

Minorities: This demographic uses their cell phones as the primary phone in the household. They have low landline usage and don’t have internet in home. They are primarily text users because it’s unlimited in their plans and they watch their cell phone minutes carefully. Typical phones are WAP or xHTML, very low smartphone users in this demographic.

Business Stakeholders: this is your group of business people that are in sales, technology or management and have a smartphone primarily to stay connected to work. They have applications downloaded on their phones and use a combination of text, email and internet on their phones. They typically have 7-10 applications downloaded on their phones and use 2-4 regularly.

Corporate Business: This group works for corporate America and is connected to Blackberries. Corporations aren’t getting off the Blackberry servers anytime soon due to the investment of the security issues with iPhones and Androids. These folks are Blackberry lovers because they can type fast in response to the high email and texting usage. The Berry Group, does use internet regularly but not as often as the other Business group and very limited applications downloaded.

Tweens: This group of cell phone users are feature phones and “smaller” Blackberries. Their parents need them to have a phone to reach them but don’t want to pay for a data plan. This demographic is about 90% texting, 10% voice, very limited smartphones.

High School/College Kids: Very similar to tweens, however this group uses text frequently, less voice, and limited data plans due to the costs. This group is very into Facebook and usually connects to this through the mobile website and not the application on their device.

Non Mainstream Male: this is the gamer, surfer, skateboarder, and musician 23-35 year old male. This group is the highest Android group and doesn’t want to conform to Apple and likes to be different and support new things. This group is big on gaming application downloads and texting, this group is not a fan of “voice” conversations and sometimes is irritated with phone calls.

So how do you connect and make an emotional connection and experience with these different consumer groups in store? You understand the key drivers around purchasing behavior, social behavior and choose interactions and experiences that go across multiple mobile channels to appeal to each demographic.

If you roll out a QR code program for tweens or minorities it will fail. If you roll out a QR code and SMS program for tweens, minorities and Moms, you will see the interactions by channel and give these groups multiple ways to engage with the brand.

More on Hybrid experiences and closing the gap in my next post.

Mobile Devices to Lead the Way in Holiday Shopping

If you’re like me and are not a huge fan of going to stores during the holiday season, you may want to embrace mobile technology this year and shop with your favorite electronic device. The day after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday” may even lose its distinction of being the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S.

Search engine giant Google is predicting that a whopping 15 percent of “Black Friday” searches for merchandise will be made from mobile devices. This makes perfect sense to me: if I can save time and maybe some money by shopping online, that is the way to go. Using a mobile device makes it even more of an attractive option to me, and I bet that plenty of other shoppers will feel the same way.

An interesting trend is that shoppers are getting an even bigger jump on their holiday shopping by starting the process on Thanksgiving Day. Retailers who attract customers through Facebook appear to be the big winners here, with companies reporting that Turkey Day was the biggest single day for sales for the entire year. Internet users who visit a social networking site first and then click through to the parent site convert into buyers at twice the standard rate.

Savvy online retailers take note: there are customers who are ready to pull out their wallets once they get up from the Thanksgiving dinner table, and you tap into this market by establishing a presence on social networking sites.

Source: http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/executive-style/2011/10/13/five-disruptive-holiday-shopping-trends

Mobile Strategy is a Lot Like Playing Poker

Over the last three years of being in the mobile business, I’ve seen a lot of mobile companies come and go. Someone every day says have you heard of “XYZ Company?” It seems as though someone new is popping up with an idea and investment money every day. And by number of increased phone calls I get on a weekly basis from venture capitalists wanting to invest in mobile, we all know it’s hot, stats are crazy and everybody wants a piece of the pie. I guess I started to realize while flying to the DMA show this week, mobile is very much like the game of poker. This struck me because I’m an avid poker player and I love the game for the challenge, reading people, being creative and winning, and the mobile field is similar in many regards.

So, I started to put myself in the shoes of our client, prospects, and folks we talk to on a daily basis. Several things have become very clear about folks that are thinking about getting into mobile:

1. They are in “research” mode and they don’t know what they don’t know.
   
2. Someone has sold them or they have “tried” on mobile siloes solutions they are selling.
   
3. When approaching mobile solutions, the “mobile ecosystem” as a whole is not being thought of.
   
4. The database you are trying to build is really an afterthought and not a key focus.
   
5. And if you’ve tried mobile before, you are looking for a better second marriage. You know what you want this time, you have goals and you want a good partner, not the “bill of goods”. We love the second time folks; they know a good mobile partner when they see one. These clients usually lead to a life of happily ever after.

So how does mobile strategy remind me of poker? It’s easy.

• Picking your table is key, if you end up or stay too long at a bad table, you lose all your money. Same is true with mobile, if you pick a bad partner, not only will you be unsuccessful, it leaves a bad taste.
  
• It’s ok to switch tables if you know you sat down to a bad table. If you aren’t seeing performance, or the technology is not what it cracked up to be and you aren’t getting mobile strategy support, move. Time is of the essence in mobile you can’t wait 12 months to get a good mobile partner.
  
• The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy that wins the most money. Mobile is test and learn, not everything you do is going to be a huge success. Test, learn and repeat the good stuff, adjust the stuff that isn’t working. You need to build a foundation for success, anyone can win one jackpot but try hitting multiple.
  
• Don’t play games you don’t understand even if you see others winning by luck. There will always be something new and shiny in mobile. Innovation is good, but enhancing the basics vs. inventing them in mobile builds a foundation for long term success.
  
• Learn by playing the game, reading and theory are great but nothing replaces actual experience. Get going: the time is now, pick a great mobile partner and throw in some chips. After all, you don’t have to go “all-in”.

Does Anyone Know How a QR Code Works?

Today makes me wonder more than ever, do companies really know how to roll out QR codes or is this fad worse than I thought? I guess it’s the cool thing to say “take a picture of our QR code” on your marketing pieces, however, at the DMA show where everyone is a Direct Marketer, I would expect them to work. When I say “work” I use the term loosely, because I define “work” as a QR code that gives me a mobile experience, i.e. I want to take the picture of the QR code and get a mobile website, not your traditional website or an “invalid error”. So, to experience what I’ve been preaching, I took a walk around 1 (yes, ONE) aisle of the DMA show. All around, there were big tradeshow booths with huge 3 foot QR codes prominently displayed on all of the booths. There were chances to instantly win, watch videos, like them on Facebook and get a coupon. I tested 5 QR codes in less than 10 minutes, and the results even shocked me. I told my colleague that I bet 3 out of 5 were going to not work and would go to a traditional website but, to my dismay, all 5 went to traditional websites. I went up and talked to each person (not knowing I was a mobile person) and asked them why there QR code went to a traditional website and it wasn’t a good mobile experience or how QR codes were meant to work. I got a few of the following; “What do you mean, it came up on your phone, right?”, “Isn’t a mobile website just a site that comes up on your phone?” and even a few folks that told me not to tweet about it, sorry.

QR codes are meant for consumers to snap a picture and instantly get a mobile experience on their phone; they are not meant to just take someone to your traditional website. Before you roll out QR codes for any company, brand, or customer, be sure the end user experience follows QR Best Practices 101 and takes them to a mobile website, mobile video, mobile sweepstakes or lead form, not a traditional site or worse, an “invalid error.”