Coca-Cola's mobile initiative is expected to drive interest and awareness from other brands to invest in mobile. But there are still challenges to overcome.
In This Article:
Coke's Mobile Strategy
Coke's Sprite Yard
Coke: Bottle Films
Capsule Snapshots
Coke's Mobile Strategy
The classic 1970's song from the Who titled "Going Mobile" could very well be the catch phrase these days for many companies that are quickly realizing that innovative, out-of-the-box mobile video campaigns cannot only help generate sales but can also increase brand awareness and capture customer loyalty.
"With the move to new media and phone-based content, the race is on between leading brands to create a vehicle for advertising that works in these new environments," said Rob Enderle of The Enderle Group, a market research company.
Enderle said that Coke's strategy for two recently launched mobile video campaigns (Sprite Yard and Bottle Films) is a work in progress.
"They're applying a variant of the strategy that was successful on TV, but embracing the power of the more interactive cell phone platform," he said. "We're very close to the birthing moment for this strategy, and not everything Coke does is likely to be successful."
Still, Enderle noted that properties like Sprite Yard show a substantial amount of promise as the industry moves to new formats and platforms like cell phones that could eventually replace the old.
Teens, for example, live off their phones, especially in countries like Japan and South Korea. This creates a problem for traditional advertisers that don't want to lose touch with potential buyers. Coke, Enderle added, may thus establish itself as the company that did cell phone media right and embarrass companies like Apple who should have gotten this right first.
Many consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are already doing mobile video promotions, although for each brand it's different.
"They have to do what makes sense for the product and their target audience," said Julie Ask, vice president/research director for JupiterResearch. "Our research also shows that about one-sixth of cell phones have full video capability today. I like the idea of mobile videos, provided they load quickly and are created for the small screen, since it's hard to do branding on a 2" x 2" screen."
And the bottom line? Mobile marketers need to break the mold; it's not just about the brand anymore.
"It's about how well marketers give consumers what they want, the overall consumer experience they create, not just product push and pull," said Joel Parent, director of interactive business development for promotion solution provider IC Group.
Next: Coke's Sprite Yard