The Bloom Report

If you are a brand marketer with a presence at sporting events, malls, concerts, or similar, and aren’t doing mobile marketing, you are missing the boat. Companies routinely spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars on event marketing and mostly chalk it up to “branding”. Spending any amount of money without providing an interaction mechanism is pure lunacy. Luckily, our clients understand this and we have been fortunate to work on mobile campaigns at concerts, malls, and stadiums for teams in the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NCAA.

The executions vary greatly, from mobile coupon distribution to sophisticated lead generation campaigns, but the results are always worth the effort. The advertiser has 1,000 to 100,000 people ready to be engaged, yet the advertiser often just uses in-venue signage and hopes that fans will remember their brand when it’s time to order a pizza, buy a car, or open a bank account. This is not enough! It’s time to start providing value and the most effective way to do that is via mobile marketing.

I attended a professional baseball game this past weekend and a major sponsor at the game is a local pizza restaurant chain. They included huge scoreboard graphics on the screen and that was the extent of their sponsorship. No in-game promotions, no mobile coupons, nothing. Why spend the money to get the attention of so many people and then not go the extra mile to provide a compelling reason to communicate with your brand. A simple “Text BRAND to 25866 for $2 off any large pizza” would have been a simple execution and surely would have driven business as people were looking for somewhere to eat on their way home. Additionally, they could have been promoted to look up their nearest location, click-to-call to place a pick-up order, and asked to join a mobile alerts program for ongoing specials.

When used as an add-on to existing marketing campaigns, mobile marketing is an effective tool in building long-term value for both the brand and the customer.

General