By John Hadl
The campaigns
If you’ve been waiting for a solid example of how the mobile channel can engage and even activate traditional media, here’s a textbook one: P&G’s CoverGirl brand launched a holistic campaign to drive female consumers to opt in to a mobile CRM program -- the "CG VIP Text Club" -- where they receive alerts, content and insider information about CG products. CoverGirl used mobile calls-to-action in print and online, launched a mobile website and made a mobile media buy (banners on mobile web [WAP] sites).
The results were impressive, with the opt-in rates from print topping the list, and the mobile site, built by Quattro Wireless, winning a Summit Brand Marketing Effectiveness Award.
At the same time, CoverGirl was leveraging its sponsorship of "America's Next Top Model." ANTM is a cultural juggernaut: Season after season, it dominates its time period in terms of viewership among that critical female demographic of 18-34. These women are heavy mobile users, making ANTM an ideal opportunity to reach, engage and activate young, female consumers with the CoverGirl brand.
The campaign invited viewers to text in for a chance to "Be a Top Model" and win a makeover by CoverGirl's top makeup artists, designers and photographers. Entrants sent a text message -- "model" -- to 41414. The response was so great that it crashed the mobile vendor’s servers during the season's first episode. So mobile companies, beware what you ask for.
The results
The results we got for CoverGirl in these two programs (ANTM and the CG Text Club) proved the business case for using print and TV to engage and activate an audience through mobile. This combination of channels is particularly important in an age when consumers are increasingly media fragmented, making it difficult for marketers to rely on a single outlet or channel to build equity and awareness.
The lessons
Leveraging mobile is key for at least two reasons. First, it's a relatively low-cost yet highly effective way to engage and activate consumers viewing traditional media. Second, most consumers have their handsets (not their PCs) with them at all times. As a result, they're more likely to respond to calls-to-action that give them the option of using wireless -- such as a text message -- rather than simply displaying your brand’s URL and hoping they'll remember to visit your site someday.
The CG Text Club is a great example of how mobile can build brand awareness and loyalty, particularly among the younger demographics that companies covet. If that weren't enough, adding a mobile component is relatively inexpensive, and it leverages existing investments in print and broadcast. Any marketing professional who chooses to overlook the power of mobile for engaging and activating the right demographics is a dinosaur, and we all know what happened to them.