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McDonald’s geo-targeted campaign proves context is king in mobile: keynote

The company, which acquired Navteq, let McDonald’s deliver location-relevant mobile ads to consumers who used its Nokia Ovi Maps. The campaign was powered by Navteq, which alerted consumers when they were close to a McDonald’s 82 restaurants in Finland.

“You want to really allow local advertisers to tag locations to people who are physically walking by or checking their map,” said Marco Argenti, vice president of media at Nokia Services, New York. “McDonald’s is one of the pilot advertisers that we did this with where we were delivering targeted coupons to people who are walking by.

“Consumers would also get walking directions to the closest McDonald’s,” he said. “The redemption rate was extraordinary.”

Context is power
Nokia is working with a lot of its partners and advertisers to leverage the power of content and context and make mobile experiences more relevant to consumers.

“The more the content is relevant, the more the conversion rate goes up,” Mr. Argenti said. “You’re seeing the concept of getting what you want.

“It’s about seamlessly navigating from one experience to another,” he said. “This drives a great business opportunity to advertisers.

“You’re connecting with consumers in a highly relevant way – it’s a highly contextual and targeted approach.

Mobile Internet is changing
According to Mr. Argenti, the mobile Web is growing and Internet growth will be driven by mobile.

“The frequency of access for mobile devices is sometimes 10 times higher than on the Internet,” Mr. Argenti said. “If you take the amount of money spent on local advertising, about 90 percent is still spent on traditional media.

“The local advertiser still doesn’t leverage the full power of the Internet,” he said. “The flow of information has completely changed and we’re not talking anymore about us going to the Internet, it’s about the Internet coming to us with the means of a mobile device – it becomes a part of what we do everyday.”

Mobile shift
Ad spend is shifting, per Mr. Argenti.

The executive suggests that brands and companies use the mobile Web to target potential or existing consumers.

“We used to say content is king, but now we say that context is king – it’s what make content relevant for you,” Mr. Argenti said. “It’s about having the Internet come to us in a new way.

“No other device knows more about you,” he said. “The context is the combination of things that are happening around you.”

The future of mobile
Mr. Argenti discussed the company’s new location-aware Gig Finder application, which he claims enhances information a consumer might be looking for and makes it more relevant.

“Content [is centered] around location,” Mr. Argenti said. “You have to see how this immersive mash-up of reality can also transform the world of entertainment.

“We’re trying to make this connection closer, tighter and more relevant,” he said. “It really is a global phenomenon.

“It’s all about relevance and localization – I believe that everything is changing.”