LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ – A Zoove executive at the Mobile Shopping Fall Summit said that marketers need to make sure that they are using mobile to build a story for their brand with the consumer at the forefront.

During the “The retail mobile revolution – driving consumer evolution” keynote session the Zoove executive discussed different ways that brands have created a relationship with their consumers via mobile. One example was a Nickelodeon partnership with Target that saw a 30 percent redemption rate, ten times more than Nickelodeon and Target benchmarks.

“One thing is certain as we look at all the different channels, all roads lead to mobile,” said Marty Siewert, chief revenue officer at StarStar/Zoove, Palo Alto, CA.

“There are so many studies, there’s much data out there that just go to show, this is it,” he said. “It’s the first and last thing I check every day, and it affords me the opportunity to be much more engaged no matter where I am.

“How do we take advantage of that reach and do it in a way that’s simple and makes the consumer the star of the show?”

Storytelling
Marketing has always been about telling the story of the brand. The story needs to be optimized across channels and consistent.

Beyond that, however, the story needs to position the consumer as the star.

Consumers want to interact with the brand, and if marketers engage them and include them in their story, consumers are likely to offer information that can help brands segment. They may be willing to tell you information about the communities that they are in, or about their likes and dislikes.

If you invite them in to your story, they will be more engaged and more loyal to your brand.

The key is to make it easy for consumers to participate. If there is any friction, if consumers need to spend a lot of time in order to engage, they will be less likely to follow through.

Mr. Siewert gave two examples of brands that have created engaging stories with their consumers: NFL and Dove. Both brands created stories that exploded on mobile and social in a way that easily let consumers participate in the campaign.

StarStar engagement
Another example of a successful campaign was when Nickelodeon partnered with Target to increase sales of Dora the Explorer products.

The campaign placed calls-to-action in-store and on social media that invited consumers to dial **NICK for a special message from Dora for kids and a $5 off coupon to use on Dora products. This allowed kids to engage with Dora and Nickelodeon while at the same time providing financial benefits for the parents.

The campaign saw a 30 percent coupon redemption rate, which is ten times higher than Nickelodeon and Target’s benchmarks for standard mobile delivery.

“It used to be that getting someone to come to your store, that was it, that was your conversion,” Mr. Siewert said. “That quickly became I’m going to get them here to do research and buy somewhere else.

“We need to make sure that we’re not just telling stories, we have to let our customers participate in building these stories in a way that is simple,” he said. “We need to fight the threat of showrooming with something that’s going to better serve our customers.”

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York