Studying the impact of innovation on business and society

The Mobile Marketing Value Exchange

Guest post by Scott Forshay, creator and editor of mobi.luxe. Following him on Twitter @mobiluxe

Establishing consumer relationships through mobile marketing, as with any successful, productive relationship, inherently requires a mutual exchange of value. Whether consumers are opting-in for brand communications via SMS or engaging with the brand in a single instance through scanning a QR code, the onus is on the brand to deliver value in return for customers’ valuable time and information. Without the perception that value has been exchanged for value, the relationship becomes essentially one-sided and unrequited attempts at interaction on the part of the consumer will spell the end of the relationship – perhaps permanently.

In the early stages of mobile marketing, the value exchange was almost exclusively defined through promotional-based marketing. Consumers were asked to share their mobile numbers in exchange for coupons. While seemingly primitive by today’s standards, text back couponing remains an effective behavior stimulus for many brands and retailers, but for luxury brands discounting flies in the face of the intrinsic value of the brand. The challenge for innovative prestige brands is defining how best to create a true value exchange with their most loyal advocates while remaining true to themselves and not cheapening the brand in the process of attempting to deepen relationships.
Any value exchange requires the exchange of currency. Whether the currency is monetary, emotional, or informational, it establishes the parameters necessary to define a successful exchange and secures a commitment to future exchanges. With this in mind, an analysis of the efficacy of any value exchange must be measured by the mutually beneficial exchange of mobile currency.

Affluent loyalists of prestigious brands seek greater intimacy with, and priority access to, the brands they most covet. In exchange for priority access, the affluent consumer will exchange premium monetary currency. A mobile campaign touchpoint that directs the consumer to an optimized landing page or microsite featuring a product exclusive to mobile subscribers effectively plays marionette with the heartstrings of affluent consumers by exclusively engaging a prestigious audience with exclusivity and access to product available only to a select audience. Tactics such as these create a successful value exchange whereby a monetary commitment is made by the consumer in exchange for priority access to the brand and the prestige associated with exclusive ownership.

The essence of any coveted brand is the story it conveys. And as Brian Solis believes, “the aspiration it evokes.”

The rich heritage and tradition of the brand is infused with creative vision and continued innovation as the brand narrative unfolds across mediums to engage consumers and create a vision of a lifestyle to be aspired to and desired. Traditionally the brand narrative has been told in a unidirectional fashion through artfully produced photography and film, but the consumer was only capable of experiencing the story in a disconnected way. Mobile, as a medium, is innately transitive in nature, serving as a persistent interface for consumers to navigate an ever-evolving digital ecosystem of retail touchpoints and become, themselves, players in the storytelling experience. Strategically dissecting the brand narrative to take on an episodic form allows the brand to engage audiences in the on-going drama, create desire to see where the story will lead, and create deeper emotional connections in the process. Whether bringing still imagery to digital life through QR codes or augmented reality, targeting desired audiences and engaging them with rich mobile display advertising, or consistently communicating emotional currency via SMS marketing, the mobile value exchange is successful in the exchange of permission to communicate with highly-valued consumers in return for deeper levels of involvement and engagement with the brand.

Regardless the strategies or technologies employed, successful mobile marketing relies heavily on a fair and evenly balanced value exchange between consumer and brand. Given the intensely personal nature of smart devices, coupled with the fact that the device is nearly always within arm’s reach, it is more important in mobile marketing to avoid being intrusive and irrelevant. Consumers will not give up their valuable information in exchange for clutter or noise. Focus on an understanding of the currency of mobile marketing and utilize it to create an exchange that delights both the audience and the brand that value them.

Scott Forshay is a Luxury and Premium Brand Marketing Consultant and Mobile Strategist who’s been featured in PSFK, Luxury Daily, Fashion’s Collective, Business of Fashion, and The Wall Street Journal.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

19 COMMENTS ON THIS POST To “The Mobile Marketing Value Exchange”

  1. Warren says:

    is  there an audiobook of The End of Business As Usual?  I’m disabled and simply don’t have the time to  read the written one.

  2. Jamie Turner says:

    Hey, Scott (and Brian). Thanks for posting this article. As you know, Gartner is predicting that by 2013 the #1 way people will access the internet is via mobile device, so this really IS the year of mobile.

    Even more interesting is research that indicates that 25% of all Americans access the internet ONLY via a mobile device. That’s crazy, but true. (That statistic makes more sense when you realize that many people in the Hispanic community live and breathe mobile and bypass desktop computers altogether.)

    Thanks again for the post. Keep ’em coming. Mobile has arrived at last.

    Best,
    Jamie Turner
    Co-Author, GO MOBILE

  3. This is a really great article for breaking down the whole concept of a mutual exchange of value. It makes sense but I think a lot of people go into mobile without bringing it down to basics and working out the intent behind it.

  4. Here is a little more statistics on mobile marketing:
    M-coupons will dominate mobile retail marketing spend until 2013, according to Juniper Research (March 2010):

    • Mobile retail will exceed US$12 billion by 2014 (mobile retail is
    defined as m-coupon redemption values, smart poster fees and advertising
    expenditure).

    • The mobile retail sector would initially be dominated by coupons, but
    mobile advertising expenditure will exceed coupon redemption values by
    2013

    – The m-coupon service of McDonald’s Japan is used by 4.5 million users, according to Infinita (March 2010).

    – The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) (October 2010) plans to use m-vouchers to deliver food aid to 40,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria by the end of 2010.

  5. Here is a little more statistics on mobile marketing:
    M-coupons will dominate mobile retail marketing spend until 2013, according to Juniper Research (March 2010):

    • Mobile retail will exceed US$12 billion by 2014 (mobile retail is
    defined as m-coupon redemption values, smart poster fees and advertising
    expenditure).

    • The mobile retail sector would initially be dominated by coupons, but
    mobile advertising expenditure will exceed coupon redemption values by
    2013

    – The m-coupon service of McDonald’s Japan is used by 4.5 million users, according to Infinita (March 2010).

    – The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) (October 2010) plans to use m-vouchers to deliver food aid to 40,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria by the end of 2010.

  6. Here is a little more statistics on mobile marketing:
    M-coupons will dominate mobile retail marketing spend until 2013, according to Juniper Research (March 2010):

    • Mobile retail will exceed US$12 billion by 2014 (mobile retail is
    defined as m-coupon redemption values, smart poster fees and advertising
    expenditure).

    • The mobile retail sector would initially be dominated by coupons, but
    mobile advertising expenditure will exceed coupon redemption values by
    2013

    – The m-coupon service of McDonald’s Japan is used by 4.5 million users, according to Infinita (March 2010).

    – The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) (October 2010) plans to use m-vouchers to deliver food aid to 40,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria by the end of 2010.

  7. Eric Woning says:

    Another great piece – but please keep in mind that the greatest part of the usage of mobile is on the couch at home (while watching TV). So campaignwise: make sure that what you make is legible on mobile platforms. Appwise: don’t just think of the mobile as something on the go.

  8. Very interesting information.

  9. So campaignwise: make sure that what you make is legible on mobile
    platforms. Appwise: don’t just think of the mobile as something on the
    go.

  10. buy essay says:

    It makes sense but I think a lot of people go into mobile without
    bringing it down to basics and working out the intent behind it.

  11. As a former mobile internet user, I can picture a scenario wherein people will mostly carry things with them with none other than mobile phones in the near future. So it is really important that as early as of now, business marketers must be able to adapt into the mobile internet technology to widen up their businesses by taking note of the fact that some percent of the people who are browsing the internet are not only using desktop PCs, laptops but also mobile phones. Especially now that I-phones had gone viral to the community with the great influence of the late Steve Jobs, not forgetting to mention the fast approach of Samsung mobiles mostly on Asia which commonly features a “Market” app which gives the user the power to install the apps (for free or for sale).  

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