Kamar Shah opened his speech at IAB Canada‘s MIXX conference in Toronto yesterday with a quote from a Canadian Marketing Association whitepaper on the future of mobile marketing: “The fact that we now carry media centric devices that deliver an ‘always on,’ and ‘always on us’ experience, makes the possibilities for marketers seem almost limitless.”
Shah, the managing director of Vortex Mobile Canada, pointed out the mobile Internet adoption rate is about 16% in Canada (compard to 18.2% in the U.S.) and is quickly becoming a medium that can’t be ignored by marketers.
He presented stats to show companies plan to increase their mobile marketing spend across almost all mobile media types in 2010.
It’s estimated that consumers worldwide will spend $6.2 billion in mobile application stores this year, with application downloads expected to surpass 4.5 billion.
It’s important he said, to properly create, manage and execute a mobile strategy. In other words: don’t launch an app because it’s the “thing to do.”
Shah suggested that companies look at their marketing platform and identify what the strategy is to develop an app that properly addresses consumers needs.
“You don’t have to go fancy with it,” said Shah, who used the Toronto Eaton Centre‘s App as an example of an effective program. It lets mall shoppers access store promotions, find their way with an interactive mall map, and post updates to friends using Twitter and Facebook about special deals.
Another example: Volkswagen Canada‘s app that addressed consumer trepidation for purchasing a TDI because they believed it was difficult to find diesel gas stations in Canada.
Those that have the app only need to click on Diesel Locator/Dealership Locator to find the top five closest stations based on the user’s GPS location.
The map shows the station locations using pins as well as a directional line to show the best route.
