Few major brands are as sophisticated in their use of the mobile channel as Coca-Cola. To date the company has embraced a wide variety of activities and mechanisms, including apps, games, high-performing SMS campaigns, and even a music download store. At the other end of the spectrum, Coca-Cola has also reported successful mobile commerce trials involving mobile phones and specially equipped vending machines.

Coca-Cola is also one of the first to actively embrace branded apps. In December 2010 it joined with the GSMA to sponsor the Brand App Challenge, a competition in which mobile app developers created “brand apps” for a select group of global consumer brands, including Coca-Cola, with its Coca-Cola, Coke Zero and Diet Coke brands.

While Coke has been quick to jump into branded apps, some recent reports question whether applications can deliver positive results across the board.

A survey of 781 adults in the U.S. conducted by EffectiveUI on behalf of Harris Interactive found the vast majority (76 percent) of mobile app users felt that all brand name companies and organizations should have mobile apps to make shopping or interacting with them easier. However, 38 percent of mobile application users revealed they were not satisfied with most of the apps currently available from their favorite brands. What’s more, 69 percent reported that a brand name mobile app that is not useful, helpful or easy to use, results in a negative perception about the brand.

“Mobile applications are the sure fire way to extend a brand,” Rebecca Flavin, CEO of EffectiveUI, said in a statement. “It’s time for organizations to understand how to fully leverage the mobile channel and optimize a user-centered approach to drive adoption, as well as reinforce and drive brand loyalty.”

What is the business value of branded apps? Which marketing approaches deliver the best results? How has Coke harnessed mobile to encourage brand engagement and deliver effective (even location-linked) mobile advertising? We ask Tom Daly, Coca-Cola Group Manager, Global Connections.

Q: Coca-Cola is a mover in the mobile space. Your company is a premium member of Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and active in promoting the benefits of the mobile channel. Why is mobile so central to your strategy?

A: You need to first understand how we see mobile. For us it’s all about idea of making mobile an “enabler of desire”. Essentially, our mobile strategy was written some 70+ years ago, way before the first cellular connection was ever made. Back then it was about putting our brands “within arms’ reach of desire”. That sentiment was expressed by Robert Woodruff, who was our chairman. That was the way we defined the company’s role as a brand marketer, and as a partner to the bottling companies that manufacture and distribute our brands and our retail partners who carry our brands.

Our task is to create desire for the brands that we create. We have a choice: we can make the mobile phone and enabler of desire, or we can make it a barrier to desire. We chose to make mobile an enabler.

Q: Desire is the end-game – making consumers want to and be able to connect with your brands. What are the recent mobile activities you have pursued to achieve this goal?

A: We use all the mobile mechanisms available. Take simple SMS. We use SMS in a campaign that allows consumers to earn free airtime. They just purchase a Coke and text the code on the packaging to receive free airtime or free text messages. Teenagers, in particular, love our brands and love their phones, so it’s a natural marriage, if you will. It’s a great opportunity to leverage consumer desire for Coca-Cola and mobile.

For the World Cup we did a great program where we let consumers express their feelings about the brands using mobile. Consumers could upload videos of how they celebrated the goals. So this is a great expression of people’s passion and energy for football, which is their same energy and passion they have about Coca-Cola. We connected the two using mobile videos.

Q: One of your most successful campaigns has been Gimme Credit, which received an award from the MMA for its effectiveness and exemplary use of mobile. What can you tell me about the campaign and the key learnings?

A: Yes, that’s the campaign I mentioned that gives consumers free airtime. We have rolled it out in multiple markets and it’s been successful everywhere we’ve tried it. As a company we are testing and learning what works not in one market; but in many markets. We’ve learned that there are certain things that consumers everywhere want and Gimme Credit is success because people want free airtime and rewards for their purchases.

We’ve done something like Gimme Credit in India, the U.K. and Germany, and we’ve done it in tests in the U.S. as well. The challenge – and the opportunity – is how to get scale. The next step is to get the scale of The Coca-Cola Company and the scale of mobile technology aligned so we can really start building bigger, more broadly accessible programs. That way, by the time we get to events like the London Olympics or the next World Cup, we will have the ability to deploy these mobile campaigns on a much larger scale and on a much more global level.

Q: Gimme Credit is universally accepted, universally appreciated. But brands still have to have a local focus. What are the tensions or challenges of being a global brand and maintaining a local focus?

A: The challenge is to develop powerful core ideas for a campaign and then to localize the “art” of execution, while scaling the “science”.  One way we accomplish that is to empower a country to take the lead for certain global initiatives. For example this year’s [2010] Festive campaign is a global campaign with the digital –including mobile – led by teams in Germany. Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, or Kwanza, or Christmas, or have just celebrated Ramadan – it’s all about family and bringing people together. Coca-Cola is a part of that experience, but there’s enough that is similar to create common experiences around the world and across digital and mobile campaigns.  Broadly speaking, that’s the territory of the “big idea”. From there, we find ways to scale while at the same time enabling maximum flexibility for localization.

Q: Staying with the global push for a moment, how do you manage these, to drive global mobile services and marketing innovation at Coca-Cola?

A: It’s a disciplined process, as you might imagine. The key is to keep a clear understanding of the roll out and who is doing what. So, we may have a single lead agency for mobile, a company that is doing work at the center. The work they do and the deliverables they are responsible for are clearly defined. There may be a transition to a local agency that has the latitude to take a hand- off related to certain core ideas and assets.

We have elements that can be reused across geographies. It’s back to the idea of scaling the science and localizing is the art. Underlying it all, from a technical point of view, are well documented standards and processes.

Q: You are sharply focused on mobile and it is listed as a line item in your budget, which is quite a statement. Could you quantify for me the opportunity in mobile for Coca-Cola?

A: I can certainly share are a couple of data points with you. We serve our products 1.6 billion times a day, which means that 1.6 billion servings of Coca Cola are poured every day.  There are five billion mobile subscribers worldwide. Do the math and there is a lot of opportunity to use mobile to reach these consumers. And again, when you think that our core strategy is about enabling desire for our brands, then there is also opportunity to use mobile to reach and retain many of the five billion consumers who have mobile and may not currently drink Coke, for example.

Mobile is a line item in the budget. Mobile is included because we know we need to manage and understand mobile. Most importantly, we can not treat mobile as a standalone activity. We know that mobile works best when incorporated in a larger marketing context. So, to help us understand the optimal mix, we’re keeping track of it along with other line items. I can’t share the precise trajectory, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone to know that mobile is growing.

Download the updated Netsize Guide 2010 to read the rest of this interview.

In our latest report, “Netsize Mobile Marketing Survey 2009: Can companies and brands rise to challenge and cash in on the mobile marketing opportunity?”, we explore the do’s and don’ts.

Key results

• Companies and brands bullish on mobile marketing benefits, but lack skills set to execute campaigns
• Strong growth ahead for SMS and MMS messaging, positive outlook for branded apps and mobile websites
• High interest in targeting consumers, but high concerns that opt-in databases won’t deliver

Click here to request your free copy of the 12-page Summary Report of this study, and we’ll send you an email with your personal download link to the report.

We’ll present the results of this study at the MobileSQUARED Roadshow “Taking Internet Mobile” seminar in London, November 5, 2009.

• International survey reveals companies and brands bullish on mobile marketing benefits, but lack skills set to execute campaigns
• Strong growth ahead for SMS and MMS messaging, positive outlook for branded apps and mobile websites
• High interest in targeting consumers, high concerns that opt-in databases won’t deliver

Among the key findings:

• Mobile is part of the mix to attract and keep customers: The vast majority of respondents (56%) currently use mobile to acquire new customers. But that will change as respondents follow through on their plans to boost customer retention and loyalty through mobile marketing (64%), streamline transactions (37%) and enable commerce and sales using a mobile device (37%).
• Messaging is essential: Usage of MMS is poised for significant growth, with with 22% of respondents revealing plans to double deployment in the next six months. The use of SMS messaging is also on the rise, but will move from a one-way message to a two-way conversation.
• Marked interest in more innovative formats: Respondents reported use of branded content will increase from 29% to 35%, use of branded apps will rise from 23% to 35%. Finally, use of mobile coupons and QR codes will jump from 20% to 31%.
• Mobile marketing is teamwork: The vast majority of respondents (47%) outsource to providers that can meet their requirements for a fully-managed marketing solution. Campaign execution services was the most sought-after skill (57%), followed by measurement, analytics and reporting (54%), technical services and integration (52%), and mobile campaign management (52%).
• Quality of opt-in campaign databases is a main concern: One-third of respondents (32%) expressed concern over the quality of the customer mobile phone numbers stored in their opt-in databases.

“Market adoption of mobile marketing is accelerating. The survey results and analysis show companies and brands recognize the business benefits associated with mobile marketing and are serious about integrating mobile in their strategies,” says Stanislas Chesnais, Chairman and CEO, Netsize. “Respondents told us they are increasing use of messaging to engage in conversations with consumers on their mobile phone, and stepping up efforts to harness other exciting formats and approaches such as WAP sites, mobile websites and branded content. This momentum can only grow as the economy picks up steam.”

ABOUT THE REPORT

“Netsize Mobile Marketing Survey 2009: Can companies and brands rise to challenge and cash in on the mobile marketing opportunity?” is available from www.netsize.com.
The survey was conducted by Netsize to determine the role and usage of mobile marketing and the perceived business benefits. In total 221 respondents from four regions (Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific/Australia and Africa/Middle East) participated in this online survey for the period from September 15, 2009 through October 1, 2009.

Netsize, leading mobile commerce and communications enabler, today announced the launch of its Global market survey for Mobile Marketing.

The survey aims to uncover the extent to which mobile marketing has become a mature instrument in the marketing mix. Researched topics include strategic drivers, tactics, resources, opt-in data and short term plans for deployment.

The survey follows the one that Netsize conducted end of 2008 in collaboration with Informa Telecoms & Media as part of the Netsize Guide 2009. The study found that the number of companies that spend over 5% of their digital budget on mobile was expected to increase from 30% to 49% by 2010, a growth of 63%.

“The results very clearly suggested that mobile marketing is bound to become main stream,” says Stanislas Chesnais, Chairman and CEO, Netsize. “This year’s survey provides a reality check: how are companies moving ahead with mobile marketing in the current economic frame, and what did they do to enable successful campaigns.”

The Netsize mobile marketing survey report will be published begin October. A summary of the report is available free of charge to all participants.

Participate in the survey

Netsize is currently conducting a global survey on mobile marketing. The survey aims to obtain insight to what extent mobile marketing has become a mature instrument in the marketing mix.

We regard mobile marketing as the use of a mobile phone for marketing communications, commerce and services, between a company and its targeted audiences.

Please share your views and experiences with others by participating in this survey.

If you would like to receive the summary report, you may fill in your email address at the end of this survey and we’ll send it to you by email at the beginning of October.

The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete and participation in the survey is anonymous.

To begin the survey, click here.

The Netsize SMS plug-in enables users to launch SMS campaigns to target contact lists and also generate SMS alerts triggered by any user-defined events such as lead creation and entity modification. The Netsize mGateway messaging platform covers 200 countries globally.

Using powerful features, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Netsize messaging platform will enable Microsoft customers to easily tune and send SMS campaigns to a targeted audience. On top of this major feature, seamless integration of Netsize’s messaging platform with Microsoft Dynamics CRM will also provide significant value added features like defining SMS alerts based on business events set with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

“The mobile channel enables a true two-way and real-time, event-driven relationship with the customer. Mobile has become a critical CRM tool,” says Stanislas Chesnais, Chairman and CEO, Netsize. “Netsize mGateway provides users of Microsoft Dynamics CRM a fast, reliable and secure infrastructure for any type of mobile messaging application.”

Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers and integration/distribution partners can download and install the Netsize SMS plug-in from Microsoft’s open source project hosting web site at the following link: http://smscrm.codeplex.com

About Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and supply-chain management solutions that helps businesses work more effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing specialized services, these integrated, adaptable business management solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire business.

ABOUT MICROSOFT
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Paris, June 9, 2009 — Netsize, leading mobile commerce and communications enabler, today announced the availability of mMarketing V2.0, its web-based solution for managing mobile marketing campaigns.

“This new version enables resellers to provide their customers with a mobile marketing solution that runs out-of-the-box and can be custom-branded,” said Stéphane Roder, Group Marketing Director, Netsize. “Mobile marketing is crossing the chasm towards mass adoption. With Netsize mMarketing channel partners have the opportunity to start capitalizing on this trend in a key segment: small and medium-sized enterprises.”

Netsize mMarketing supports multiple media, including SMS, MMS, and Mobile Internet (WAP). Interactive marketing campaigns are simple to create as mMarketing supports the receipt of SMS responses.

During campaign execution, administrators remain in full control. They have a real-time view on progress and can suspend, resume and abort campaigns at any time. Campaign reports provide details on effective campaign reach and responses, including reply word statistics.

Netsize mMarketing is fully compliant with national messaging rules and regulations, and codes of conduct.

“The mobile channel enables a true two-way and real-time, event-driven relationship with the customer. Mobile has become a critical CRM tool,” says Frédéric Halley, Chief Operations Officer, Netsize. “Netsize mGateway provides users of Microsoft Dynamics CRM a fast, reliable and secure infrastructure for any type of mobile messaging application.”

“This alliance of our know-how will allow to maintain a consistent architecture whatever the device type and improve client satisfaction thanks to a global partnership with Netsize,” says Sophie Riottot, Dynamics Channel Director, Microsoft.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers can download and install the free Netsize mGateway interface component from the Microsoft Dynamics Partner site. The Netsize solution enables both standard and premium SMS text messaging. Customers can contact Netsize directly to enable their Microsoft Dynamics CRM mobile messaging account.

About Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and supply-chain management solutions that helps businesses work more effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing specialized services, these integrated, adaptable business management solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire business.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.