During the “Pandora’s Mobile Story: Connecting One-To-One With Consumers Through Mobile Devices” the executive spoke about how consumers shop both online and in-store via mobile. The session also presented brand case study examples of campaigns that Pandora has worked on.

“As a leader in mobile, we not only focus on our own consumer insights but we also dedicate ourselves to understanding what is going on in the marketplace as a whole,” said Kim Luegers, director of mobile marketing at Pandora, Chicago.

“The fact of the matter is that Internet radio is growing at a fast clip, and it’s for that reason we’re seeing a transformation in how consumers consume our media,” she said.

“Mobile – in everything that happens, even if the function happens outside of listening to Pandora – is a critical competency that we must have.”

Mobile intent
In the first quarter of 2010, 12 percent of Pandora’s traffic came through mobile. By 2011, mobile made up 40 percent, and in the first quarter of 2012 mobile accounted for 70 percent of traffic.

Pandora partners with both Nielsen and comScore for insights on its users. For instance, research from comScore found that Pandora users are 182 percent more likely than the average mobile user to check product availability from their devices.

Another set of research from Nielsen revealed that Pandora users spend an average of 417 minutes – or close to 7 hours – a month interacting with retail and shopping apps. These users go back into apps 79 times a month.

Pandora listeners also overindex on shopping in store with brands such as the Disney Store and Toys R Us.

“These are not small numbers like we were talking about five to ten years ago – these are real, significant numbers where true revenue can be driven,” Ms. Luegers said.

According to research from the IAB and ABI Research, half of smartphone owners in the United States are using mobile to shop through applications.

Additionally, 50 percent of tablet users engage with ads on their devices, showing the opportunities available to marketers to use advertising to drive traffic for mobile commerce.

Once a consumer interacts with an ad, 80 percent of smartphone users and 89 percent of tablet users take a direct action.

Additionally, a new study from Adobe found that consumers over a wide group of ages were comfortable spending up to $250 on a product through their mobile device.

Lead by example
Last holiday season, Toys R Us ran a cross-channel campaign to drive awareness and sales on a two-day sale. The ads used audio and banner ads to let users click through to buy products or find a nearby store.

Another effective method for time-sensitive deals are calendar reminders that keep an event top of mind for consumers after they leave an ad unit.

Last year, Cesar’s Dog Food equipped store shelves with mobile bar codes. When users scanned the QR codes, they were directed to the company’s branded radio station.

“QR codes are wonderful – the payoff at the end is what makes it significantly stronger and more successful for the advertiser,” Ms. Luegers said.

As an example of an advertiser that used mobile commerce and video to drive brand awareness and sales, Tiffany & Co. used a campaign that ran a video ad once per hour to drive sales.

Bank of America used a targeted advertising campaign to promote an iPad app that used rich media. The campaign had more than 7,000 branded different stations added.

“Mobile and tablet devices are here to stay – they are really becoming mainstream touch points for all of transactional commerce, and it is only going to get exponentially more important as the years go on,” Ms. Luegers said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York