Objectives
Kodak is a leading global provider of innovative solutions for conventional, digital and blended photo print production environments, with a brand that is recognized worldwide. Kodak Express outlets, located in cities around the world, are a one-stop destination for photo printing, products, and accessories, as well as photo customization and personalization.
Seeking ways to both increase foot traffic to stores in India, and gather and consolidate user profile and preference information from Kodak Express customers, Kodak decided that a mobile advertising campaign would be the best option.
The advantages of mobile for the campaign were clear. Usage of the Internet on mobile phones is huge in India. At the end of last year, there were more than 346 million Indian wireless subscribers, and the market was growing at the rate of approximately 10 million new subscribers per month. Much of the growth of the mobile Internet in India follows a trend seen in many countries throughout the world, where the mobile web is used as a primary Internet connection by people who do not have access to a PC at home.
Strategy
To execute its mobile campaign, Kodak turned to the BuzzCity Global Mobile Advertising Network. In addition to providing a platform, BuzzCity helped devise a strategy that allowed Kodak to effectively execute the campaign and get the most out of its budget.
“We brought some specific experience to the table that was particularly important to Kodak,” says BuzzCity CEO, KF Lai. “First of all, and perhaps most significantly, the BuzzCity network is global, and we have extensive experience serving the Indian market. In fact, the Indian market is currently number two in total mobile advertising page views generated though the BuzzCity network. Secondly, our system allowed Kodak to run a highly-targeted campaign. The company had the ability to target ads by geographical area, makes and capabilities of handsets, and more specific demographics like age and interests.”
Kodak decided to target mobile internet users in the ‘Community, Entertainment and Lifestyle’, ‘Information’, ‘Mobile Content (news and related content)’, and ‘Search/Portal Services’ categories. Additionally, the BuzzCity network allowed Kodak to utilize different types of mobile ads and easily implement a mobile survey that would allow it to gather information from users.
Kodak wanted to attract a broad range of potential customers, which was reflected by its tactical approach to the campaign. It decided to run both text and banner ads and target its campaign broadly to men and women between 15 and 40 years-of-age throughout India, with no specific city or regional targeting. For its ads, Kodak went with simple, concise messages, such as: ‘Kodak Express Shoot It Win It!’, and ‘Print them now. Win them now!’
As an incentive to complete the survey, the company devised a contest that required users to make 50 prints at a Kodak Express outlet from a digital camera or cameraphone. Once potential customers completed the survey, they were entered into a draw to win a 2GB iPod Nano or a 1GB memory card. In order to complete their contest entries, they were prompted to enter their name, mobile number, and camera capacity. They were then redirected to the nearest Kodak Express outlet to complete the process by ordering the 50 prints.
Results
The results of the campaign were impressive. In one month, it generated 11 million visits to the survey landing page, with a clickthrough rate of 1.7%. But beyond the numbers, Kodak also gathered important information for future interaction with its customers through the survey component. The Kodak team also gathered mobile numbers it could use for future SMS marketing, and was able to gather information about its customers’ camera capacities and functionality so it could better serve them in the future.
There were a couple of distinct takeaways from the campaign that advertisers can take to heart. The first is that engaging potential customers in a multi-faceted mobile marketing experience is essential for strong results. In this case, contact with the Kodak brand started with the ad banner, which redirected customers to a landing page that allowed them to take the survey, enter the contest, prompted them to find the nearest Kodak Express outlet from the ‘store locator’, and finally, encouraged mobile web users to become customers - thus completing the cycle of customer engagement. The second lesson is comparatively simple but no less important: use clear, straight-forward marketing messages - a particularly important piece to mobile marketing campaigns because of the inherent limitations of the screen size.
The success of the mobile campaign was validated Kodak’s choice of mobile for its Kodak Express initiative,” says Lai. “But even more significantly, the results validate the strength of mobile advertising’s value proposition and its potential, if well executed, to help brands achieve an unprecedented level of bang for the advertising buck.
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