“Focus On Mobile” Say Passionate Entrepreneurs Leading The Way

It is not a far cry to say that mobile phones are an integral part of our lives today. Based on a recent study conducted by creative agency We are Social, there are over 3.6 billion unique mobile users in the world. With 33 percent of the population using mobiles to access the Internet and nearly 1.7 billion people using the device to access their social media accounts.

So it is not a surprise to see advertising and marketing agencies giving more attention to this medium in their latest campaigns for their various clients.

Out There Media (OTM) is a global Mobile Advertising company, who were one of the pioneers of mobile marketing.

“The idea (for mobile marketing) came to us even before the iPhone was around,” said Kerstin Trikalitis, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of OTM.

“Even before the iPhone you could read a magazine on your mobile phone, and seeing that there was no advertising on them seemed crazy to us (Kerstin and Co-Founder Daphne Loukas). Only around in 2007, companies like OTM popped up and started realizing that mobiles are the only devices we carry with us 24/7 and it is important that we advertise on them.”

Today OTM is recognized as one of the leaders in Mobile Advertising, who add value to advertisers offering targeting at scale in combination with award winning creative capabilities, unique consumer insight through their proprietary Mobucks technology and their mobile operator partnerships. This leads to deep consumer understanding and sustainable customer relationships, which in return yields outstanding results in terms of response rates, conversion and ROI.

Their clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Unilever, P&G, Nestle, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, BMW, McDonald’s, GSK, HSBC, etc.

Mobile Marketing: A ‘Must Have’ Tool

“It is a very simple answer – because we spend approximately 17 hours a day on our mobiles,” said Kerstin when asked why Mobile Marketing has become such an important tool for agencies today.

“If you think about it all our ‘awake time’ is spent with that medium and that is not the case with any other medium anymore. People almost spend a third less time on TV than they did three years ago for example. The media we use to consume 10-15 years is not what we consume now.

“In TV marketing there is a saying – 50 percent of your budget is wasted, the problem is you don’t know which 50 percent that is. This is not the case with mobiles. The Mobile Marketeer can target exactly the audience they want,” added Kerstin.

But despite this there is still a level of apprehension amongst the marketers.

“The biggest challenge is that marketers still don’t consider mobiles as a tangible enough tool. Only five to seven percent of the budget is allocated to mobile in developed market and even less in others,” revealed Kerstin. “There is still a need to educate for brands and agencies – But it is improving rapidly.”

Signs are encouraging – in a recent study by eMarketer into mobile ad budgets shows that in 2015 mobile ad spending in the US accounts for 49% of digital ad spend, which is only slightly behind the trends of how people are using their devices.

These stats also show projections for future growth, which is important as it shows where the market is going. It is clear that mobile is the future, and within three years it will come to dominate digital ad spending.

Food & Beverage Industry and Mobile Marketing

As mentioned before OTM works with some of the biggest brands in the food and beverage industry – and based on their experience a lot of them have taken to mobile marketing like a duck takes to water.

“The food and beverage industry has been adapting to and embracing mobile advertising, a bit later than the likes of Finance and Insurance, but now that they have, they have been growing significantly,” said Kerstin.

“In general, the likes of Unilever, Nestle, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been doing a very good job. Most of them have been pioneers and now have a bigger advantage over their peers, as they have already experimented and now they know what works for them.”

From their own experience Kerstin fondly remembers this project they carried out for the bakery Paul in the Czech Republic.

Future Trends

So what can we expect from mobile marketing? We spoke to Kerstin over Skype and here (click play below) are what she thinks will be the top trends of mobile marketing:

By Mahir Prasad

(M Prasad is Sr. Journalist at marcommnews.com)

  Advertising, Coca-Cola, Digital, eMarketer, Feature, Food & Beverage, Kerstin Trikalitis, Marketing, Mobile, Must Have, Nestle, Out There Media, Pepsi, tool, Trends, Unilever, We Are Social