A panel of media and mobile experts discusses how to acquire and retain customers through mobile marketing.

Monday's panel presentation featured Warren Dixon, creative services director, ELLEgirl; Cyriac Roeding, VP wireless, CBS Television/Digital Media; David Bluhm, CEO, GoTV; and James Kiernan, associate director of innovation, MediaVest. John Hadl, managing director at Quigley-Simpson Interactive, moderated the panel.

Hadl introduced the discussion with an overview of what mobile marketing offers. It is a thing people have in their pockets-- an interactive device. The capability with mobile is to "follow the consumer." Mobile phones can act as a distribution channel, as well as a response channel and a media measurement tool. As far as gauging the success of say, a 30 second spot, with the mobile element, you get the geography and numbers of those who engaged.

ELLEgirl mixes things up
Hadl then gave the stage to Warren Dixon. Dixon prefaced his presentation with the acknowledgement that "As the rep of old media, my whole career has been in print. But ELLEgirl only started five years ago. It has always been new media oriented, as a young publication. The average reader is 17 years old. The focus is on a diverse global group."

Fifty-six percent of teens have a cell phone, and one third of them are text messaging every month. ELLEgirl wanted to access this, to integrate the mobile component with reading the magazine, so it launched ELLEgirl's Instant Win September. In conjunction with mobot, ELLEgirl made its magazine interactive. The magazine asks readers to photograph ads in the magazine for their favorite products with their cell phone and send the photograph in to the ELLEgirl/mobot promotion in order to then receive give-aways, updates and coupons for the photographed products.

Over one percent of subscribers interacted with the campaign. Every advertiser got exposure. Participation increased 228 percent over course of campaign. The plan is to do this again in September 2006.

CBS makes TV interactive
Cyriac Roeding then took the podium to explain how he has worked to make television interactive. Last summer Big Brother offered audiences the opportunity to exercise their voting power by sending text messages that would bring someone who had been evicted back into the house. Roeding went on to specify that the cell phone is not a "constrained television." It is peer to peer, interactive and personal. For these reasons, CBS has developed CBS TO GO, with short clips of TV shows made specifically for the cell phone, with original content not run on the TV. Next on the horizon for CBS is a soap opera written explicitly for the cell phone.

GoTV weighs in
David Bluhm stressed that mobile is an interactive engagement medium. It's not a destination platform-- entertainment on phones happens concurrently with our lives. There is a big pay-off in discovering how to tailor entertainment/marketing to these specifications. Consumers have more control over the time, place and editing of the program. Consumers should have an active role in this medium. Bluhm added, "Think of mobile as a destination or as a portal where emotional and social needs are met."

Q&A
John Hadl: Is mobile what's now, or what's next?
James Kiernan: It's now.

Hadl: How much is spent on mobile vs. gaming, et cetera?
Cyriac Roeding: Coca Cola has spent $160 million in Europe on mobile marketing. As far as the effect of mobile on a campaign, McDonald's launched a mobile campaign that drove up sales more than any prior discount promotion.

Hadl: What works creatively to engage readers?
Warren Dixon: Honestly, everything is working. Every time we have a mobile campaign, there is a better response/higher interaction. But keep it simple. Make the pay-off for the consumer really obvious. For magazines in general, mobile has to be the next step because magazines are a mobile media. Taking a photo of the thing you like in a magazine with your phone and buying it right there-- that's the future.

Hadl: What is a success story, or what are the criteria of success?
Kiernan: How do you define this vehicle? As an engagement vehicle. Advertisers need to learn from CBS as far as how to involve consumers through this medium. This medium adds a whole new level of accountability.

Hadl: What is the biggest hurdle for this industry?
Kiernan: The lack of standards.

Hadl: What does mobile search mean?
David Bluhm: The context is so different online. Search needs to generate answers based on the specific person and his search needs. It must be a great user experience. Not a public service network. Mobile search is about merchandising just as much as information; it's about building strong transaction experiences based on the knowledge of each specific consumer. You might have his play list, video list and location!

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