Australian business missing best mobile marketing opportunities

Australians may be leading the world in the take-up of smart phones and are ahead of the game in utilisation of mobile technologies - but business is sadly lacking in getting in sync with the trend. Only one in five Australian businesses even have a mobile website, the CMO Summit on the Gold Coast was told yesterday.

Google's head of marketing for Australia and New Zealand, Lucinda Barlow, told CMO Summit delegates that Australia perceived itself to be behind international trends on mobile phone take-up and usage - but research by Google and others revealed the opposite was the case.

In fact, Australia had both a faster take-up of smart phone use and a broader use of applications for the devices - especially in e-commerce and business mobility usage. Australia was also one of the leading developers of mobile applications for business use.

Ms Barlow said with growth in the take-up of Android operating system phones growing at about 400 percent a year - and in 2011 Android overtook Apple in numbers of devices in the marketplace - the opportunities for business to market to mobile customers were also exponential.

Ms Barlow said Google has a ‘mobile first' policy that determines its products will be available on mobile platforms from release, but she was surprised at how many businesses that were leaders in other areas were tardy in meeting the new needs of the mobile market.

Exceptions, she said, were companies such as Domino's Pizza, whose CEO Don Meij recounted how he found himself "in the technology business" just through a desire to sell more pizzas - and mobile applications were now giving the company an edge in service and efficiency.

Ms Barlow said the Domino's approach of making pizzas cheaper through smart phones was a lesson to others in marketing the benefits of smart phone use. She said the savings for Domino's came from not having staff on the phone taking orders and these savings could be applied to smart phone users.

Ms Barlow also highlighted Google research which showed a growing trend for shoppers to use their smart phones to research items - and check prices - while in the store. She saw this trend as an opportunity to provide more information to clients through the store's own ‘apps'. The trend to smart phone ‘price shopping' on the premises meant retailers had to be prepared to negotiate, but could adapt the situation and build rapport with clients who clearly have a preference for shopping in that location.

Ms Barlow's advice to business was to make a start now in mobile marketing, create a mobile website even though it is extra work, and be prepared to be rewarded and appreciated by customers for communicating the way they prefer to communicate.

The cream of Australia's chief marketing officers are attending the CMO Australia New Zealand Summit, organised by Marcus Evans, at Sheraton Mirage Resort & Spa on the Gold Coast until Wednesday.

A feature session today is Qantas executive marketing manager Lewis Pullen, who will present on ‘Achieving Innovative Brand Communication: the Qantas Journey'.

Tomorrow's sessions include Paul Malina, former national sports marketing manager of  Red Bull Australia, Bevin Aston of American Express Global Network Services, Phil Ore of Nokia Siemens Network, Jason Shrugg the global strategy development director of Lonely Planet and facilitator Iggy Pintado of  UXC Connect.

www.cmoanzsummit.com

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