Today the overwhelming majority of people with mobile phones use it to communicate with each other. Interactive communication is the most predominant, most consistent, and most active use of the mobile today.

The mobile phone is a communication and social tool. The mobile has given a freedom to the consumer to be contactable, organise, gather knowledge, to fill downtime. For brands to be successful in mobile they need to identify and tap into these ideals.  

Many today do not utilise the moments of interactive communication to inform consumers of products, services and opportunities. The most common approach is to create another mode of opted-in, one way communication.

Is no one in our mobile ecosystem reading the statistics about how people are actually using their phones?  As an industry, why are we not tapping into the primary use of the phone today – interactive communication – for marketing purposes?

Certainly, mobile ad networks have been successful, and will continue to be successful, for the right clients with the right campaign. Most support the traditional method of marketing – audience reach.

The question we really need to begin to ask is how can we create advertising that people want to receive and act upon as part of their daily interactive communication activity?  How can we position messages that influence but not in an assumptive and intrusive way?

While they are talking, while they are texting, while they are gathering and sharing information and knowledge, how can we leverage the personalised and contextualised process of interactive communication to help inform people of products, services and opportunities that appeal specifically to them at that particular moment in time?

For mobile advertising to reach its potential we need to be less conscious of what we want to tell people and more conscious of what they are doing, saying, their environment and what they may find useful. It is in the specific moment of interaction that a message will resonate the loudest and have the greatest impact.

Having recently read about the raging debate at Marketing Week on the potential impact online video will have on television advertising. Yesterday the bus waiting experience came true. Nothing for a while then a couple come a long at the same time. Online video as a promotional medium – broadcasters may well be worried.

Ok. YouTube has been around for an age and the ability to view video online is not new. But one thing that struck me yesterday was the actual power that video holds as a marketing vehicle for businesses and brands. Traditionally I have though of the online vehicle as a great and cheap additional distribution mechanism for TV campaigns, especially when you consider the impact of viral distribution on a recent campaign such as Evian Live Young (created by BETC Euro RSCG). Viral has delivered significantly more audience reach than airing on the TV would ever have achieved.

Where it becomes interesting is if you virtually eliminate the costs of generating reach and significantly reduce the costs of production you suddenly have a medium that still carries the marketing impact but instantly becomes far more accessible to marketers.

The first video that got me thinking this way was for a revolutionary new probiotic product called Symprove (No I am not taking the stuff but a close friend is behind the launch). As a communication I think the execution is superb, creatively very good. It ticks all the boxes simple, informative and appealing. Yet all for a fraction of the cost of a typical TV ad. How will it get audience reach?  Well I have already sent it on to a number of people from as far afield as Kazakhstan and Australia, and you are reading this so you too have become the audience.

Shortly afterwards I viewed another three online videos.

The first was from an estate agent for a house they have for sale. The impact was amazing. It presented a highly visual interpretation of the property that simply could not be replicated using a printed brochure.  The interesting part was the video was made up of a series of still images very well placed together and a voice over applied, so it would have been very low cost to produce.

The second was for a privately owned country hotel. Again it was a series of still images with a voice over applied giving a full tour of the hotel and its core facilities. The execution gave what could only be described as an almost personal viewing, you actually gained a feel for the hotel and surrounding area, something that would have been virtually impossible to achieve in a written form. 

The third was for a Tax Consultancy that specialises in supporting businesses claim government rebates for investment made in product and research and development. In under a minute and a half the video covered the type of activities that are eligible for rebates, the potential rewards and the process to make a claim. A brief but very informative snap shot in to a businesses activity which I know would have made very dry reading in written form.

As a marketing vehicle each video was an extremely powerful communication, that is why TV advertising has such appeal. The interesting part was to see how this medium and type of execution could actually work for such a diverse set of businesses, their products and services. The dramatic reduction in costs mean for the first time I can genuinely see that this type of medium could actually be a very accessible part of the marketing mix for a whole array of small, medium and large businesses. Online video as a promotional medium – broadcasters may well be worried!

Directory Publishers Can Beat Google & Co. To Lead In Local Mobile Search & Services If They Provide Actionable Answers

In-Brief: Directory publishers are better positioned to deliver compelling location-based information and services than rival portal providers and search engines.

At first glance it may appear that the nimble newcomer Web 2.0 companies bursting on the scene are best-positioned to benefit from the buzz around location-based services. However, a closer look reveals that it is the directory publishers – namely, the established location information providers we know from print and the Internet – who have the corporate DNA and the track record to deliver compelling location-based services and – more importantly – monetise them through mobile advertising.

Granted, it may be early days but, in my view, that is all the more reason why directory publishers must prepare to seize the mobile opportunity. Indeed, with revenue streams for paper directory and published products in near-term decline, and an increasingly fragmented market for online services, mobile is the only channel that offers real and sustainable growth. Without a doubt, mobile is going to play an important and valuable role in reinforcing the presence of directory publishers and their product offering, and deliver a significant supplementary source of new revenue.

So how do directory publishers get there from here? To capitalise on this emerging opportunity, publishers must first create a consumer relevant mobile offering that can be delivered to a mass audience.

Put simply, directory publishers must “think” mobile. It is not just another screen, as some in the industry suggest. I contend the mobile environment is different for two main reasons.

First, neither the devices – nor the offers – can be classified as “one-size-fits-all.” The diverse range of mobile devices are all extremely varied in their capabilities, user interfaces, core features, computing power, memory capacity, and operating systems. To complicate matters, new devices are continually being introduced to the market that must be supported and factored into the service equation. As a result, directory publishers must develop offers that are accessible to a large potential user base across a broad range of devices, without incurring overbearing maintenance and support costs.

Second, mobile is about finding information on the fly. Consumers may browse on their PCs, but they expect a vastly different experience on their mobile phones. On mobile, requests and search queries are more likely related to the consumer’s individual circumstances or situation – in, short, their context. What’s more, they expect immediate answers and demand actionable results, all of which require customisation.

It’s easy to assume that only made-for-mobile companies – such as portal providers and search engine companies – have what it takes to cash in on the mobile opportunity. However, these players share a fatal shortcoming that plays in the favour of directory publishers. They lack a highly developed and effective sales force. Fortunately for directory publishers, this is a key strength in their competitive arsenal and one that I suggest represents the highest barrier to entry to competitors.

Put simply, if publishers can generate usage to mobile then their sales force will be able to monetise it. I therefore strongly advise publishers to sharpen their focus on mobile and do all they can to increase usage of this channel. Developing features for the mobile platform that will ultimately allow their sales force to demonstrate proven value is more than a winning strategy; it lays the groundwork for a slew of services that deliver consumers a genuinely relevant and useful end-user experience – a deliverable competitors are still struggling with. After all, the quality of answers a service delivers can only be as good as the information the service provider has collected and categorised – and I’ve shown directory publishers have a head start on both counts.

But this isn’t the only ace in publishers’ hands. They can also draw competitive advantage from:

• An established market position and existing brand recognition amongst consumers.
• Content that is focused towards a buyer and therefore ideal for a mobile user.
• A well developed classification structure and taxonomy, which is well understood by consumers.
• A depth of location knowledge and understanding of location hierarchy, which enables highly relevant local based results to be presented.

These combined strengths empower publishers to define the ideal service offering for mobile. But they must be careful not to lose sight of the consumer. I have only too often seen publishers overlook the end-user of their services, with severe consequences! It is essential that directory services focus on efficiently delivering information and results that empower consumers, provide them choice, and support an actionable outcome. These actions vary but can be divided into the following categories: call, share (with friends/family), save, book or buy.

With the ground rules for a successful mobile service offering established, what’s the next best step for directory providers determined to harness mobile? This depends to a large degree on the service the publisher wants to deliver and – more importantly – on the publisher’s own in-house capabilities.

Creating and customising mobile services is no easy task, and directory publishers should be careful not to overestimate their capabilities or underestimate the amount of planning and effort involved. They may have deep understanding of print and Internet, but this knowledge is hardly transferable to mobile. Put simply, the specialist nature of the mobile environment and technical challenges associated with developing, implementing and supporting services, are competencies that most publishers simply do not have.

On paper, directory providers possess the capabilities that put them in pole position when it comes to monetizing mobile. In practice, directory publishers nonetheless lack experience in the conceptualization and creation of compelling mobile services that satisfy the criteria I have identified.

If directory publishers are to deliver a market-ready mobile offering, then it makes business sense for them to outsource services development to companies that have mobile in their DNA.

Today, we are seeing a trend to outsourcing as more of the world’s leading directory publishers partner with specialist companies for core technology and development skills. These directory publishers realise that outsourcing key capabilities does not result in them losing control. To the contrary, outsourcing frees valuable resources, allowing publishers to develop a more flexible approach to market and deliver products and services with far shorter lead times.

In line with this trend, a number of companies have sharpened their focus on helping directory publishers extend their offer to mobile. Granted, each has its area of expertise, but directory publishers should choose partners that are specialised in three key areas simultaneously:

A winning strategy is one where the directory publisher and specialised partner have a clear division of talents and responsibilities. In this scenario the directory publisher outsources application development, implementation, and operation. Search and presentation rules, business listings, and advertising content are managed internally by the publisher.

This approach enables publishers to focus their resources on what they do best: Wielding their highly-developed sales force to wring more value out of mobile. This allows them to deliver benefits for themselves, in the form of monetiseable services and advertising, and for their customers, in the form of useful and relevant results and answers. Leveraging the expertise of a specialised partner ensures the delivery of a robust commercial channel.

With this check-list in mind, I have reviewed the players and value propositions on the marketplace. A company high on my radar is Mobile People, a local mobile search and advertising solutions provider whose capabilities mix includes significant strengths in the three key areas I outlined above. Notably, Mobile People’s client list includes directory publishers including Yell, Sensis, and World Directories – publishers widely considered to be among the most active – and successful – in the mobile space.

Mobile People is keenly focused on developing and operating mass market orientated services. To accomplish this, they port and operate services for large numbers of devices. The company, which has established its own User Lab to engage end users throughout the design process to evaluate the desirability of new ideas and possible solutions, views usability and performance as a top priority. This emphasis on the end-user experience pays off in rich features that delight the customer, drive additional usage, and move the mobile Internet a huge step closer toward becoming an indispensable part of our daily routine.

Location-based information and services are indisputably a potent way to generate value. Like all industry sectors, mobile will pay the biggest dividends for the companies who harness it first. Directory publishers currently have an important head start on portal providers and search engine providers, but these competitors are stepping up efforts to close this gap. For this reason, directory publishers are well advised to move fast and recognise their limitations. Chief among these is their inability to deliver an end-to-end mobile solution on their own.

Once directory publishers are clear about their true capabilities – and developing mobile services that deliver actionable results is not one of them – then they should choose a specialised company to partner with and get down to the business of monetizing mobile. As I said, reduced barriers to entry and shortened times to market mean the mobile space is not only crowded; it has become fiercely competitive.

Trial and error is a risky business strategy that costs time, resources, and shareholders’ patience. High performance directory publishers such as Eniro, Sensis, World Directories, and Yell demonstrate that collaborating with specialist companies is not only a smart move; it delivers sustainable results.

Published on mSearchGroove: www.msearchgroove.com