Corporate Eye

...compare, compete, excel

Archives for August 2013

Top Reasons Consumers Use Brand Mobile Apps

iphone apple iosIn a study of mobile consumers, Ipsos OTX and Ipsos Global @dvisor found that 52% of the global mobile audience and 42% of the U.S. mobile audience are more likely to buy brand products after using the brand’s mobile app. However, in all areas of the world except Japan, China, and South Korea, mobile consumers would prefer to follow brands on social media than use brands’ mobile apps. Globally, 55% of mobile consumers would prefer to use social media to follow brands versus 45% of mobile consumers who would prefer to use brand mobile apps.

For companies that do invest in brand mobile apps, consumers are looking primarily for three things: information, discounts, and convenience. The full breakdown of the reasons respondents to the Ipsos study gave for using brand mobile apps via eMarketer follows:

  1. Keep informed about the brand, store, or company = 43%
  2. Get discounts and coupons = 41%
  3. Easier and quicker than going to their website or social media page = 38%
  4. They have tools that help me = 35%
  5. They have fun, interesting, and cool content = 27%
  6. Participate in their contests = 20%
  7. Offer opinions and suggestions = 18%
  8. They make me feel connected to the brand, product, store or company = 17%
  9. None of these = 9%

One year ago, I published an article on Corporate Eye that included a long list of statistics about what’s next for branded apps in an infographic from Neolane. Based on the data in that infographic, 70% of iPhone users will have downloaded a brand mobile app. The data also showed that the most successful brand mobile apps provide users with information and and personalization, but most importantly, the best mobile apps provide users with a connection to a brand they trust.

Within just a few short years, the importance of mobile marketing has grown from an experimental channel to a critical channel for marketing and sales. With mobile app overload cluttering most smartphone device owners, brands no longer have to decide whether or not they should have a mobile app but how best to meet consumers’ needs with their mobile app.

Today, brands are finding that creating mobile apps might not be the best way to connect with mobile consumers. One thing is for certain, for a brand mobile app to have a chance at success, it needs to offer useful information and discounts in a faster way than consumers can get that information and those discounts anywhere else. Does yours?

Image: Gonzalo Baeza

Leadership: Tullow Oil CEO Interview

tullow-oil-ceo-interview-sTullow Oil’s website features a nine-question CEO interview. At the end of each year, Tullow’s CEO answers questions submitted by staff from around the world. The full interview was first posted on the intranet, and was then edited down and made available to the general public.

The interview helps to demonstrate that Tullow’s CEO is open to receiving questions, even if it is only once a year. It also helps to clarify the goals of the company in general, and gives people a glimpse of the company’s future.

This benefits potential customers and shareholders by showing that information is being shared. Also, the interview allows people within Tullow to feel that their opinion is valued by their CEO, further benefiting the company as a whole.

The State of Online Video Advertising

What do media, publishing, and marketing executives think about the world of online advertising in 2013? What are the biggest opportunities and challenges?

These are just a few questions answered during the Video Ad Effectiveness Summit. Will Richmond of VideNuze sat in on the day’s sessions and published an excellent summary of the key points discussed on the VideoNuze blog.

Richmond found three themes that carried through all discussions and among all executives, which he shared on VideoNuze. You can follow the link above to get all of the details, but to briefly recap, Richmond identified the following three themes from the discussions:

  • It’s still difficult to measure ad effectiveness across multiple screens.
  • CMOs value the security of television advertising and still want measurable proof that online video advertising is effective.
  • Experimentation is critical to learning more about online video advertising.

I thought these insights were particularly interesting given the findings in the comScore study about online display advertising that I wrote about on Corporate Eye earlier in the week. That study revealed that more than half of display ads aren’t viewed at all. For increased viewability, video advertising was suggested as a viable alternative to increase viewability.

All of these studies and discussions can be summed up briefly as follows: Everyone is interested in online advertising but no method is close to perfect. Just as advertisers can’t truly measure the results of most television ads, they can’t always truly message the results of many display ads and video ads online. The tools have evolved and consumers have more screens to view branded messages, but tracking isn’t completely accurate for any medium.

What’s a marketer to do? Refrain from online advertising? Keep investing in television advertising because it’s the safer investment (i.e., everyone is familiar and accepting of its ROI limitations)?

For executives, the problem comes down to a weighing of risks versus rewards. No executive wants to be the one who makes the decision to shift advertising investments in great amounts to newer opportunities like online video. They’re excited about it but quick to cover themselves by saying it’s not proven and they’re not going to make any bold decisions related to it.

This failure to act spells opportunity for smaller companies that are more willing to take big risks and make leaps of faith to drive needed results. Online video is growing rapidly and brands that move too slowly will need to catch up eventually.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts about online video advertising.

Image: stock.xchng