Are we playing the mobile shopper marketing game all wrong? (Part 1 of 2)

I recently read this Moms Love Smartphones article.

And once again, I was all sparked up with ideas. Most were opportunistic, once I got over the frustration I’ve had all along with mobile shopper marketing. Some of the facts in the article further convinced me that many shopper marketers are activating mobile all wrong. This week’s post is about what’s wrong with this scenario, in my humble shopper marketing opinion. Next week I will talk opportunities, and there are many! Feel free to join in via the comments section.

FACTS: Moms with Smartphones:

• Are 18% more likely than women overall to own a smartphone – 53% own one
• 68% use smartphone while shopping
• 62% use shopping apps to compare prices
• 46% take action as a result of a smartphone ad, using coupons, local deals and scanning bar codes for lower prices.

The research data is solid. But guess what? The activation centers on the use of coupons. The actions we’re asking Moms to take on their smartphones are further depleting profits for the manufacturers and brands we all know and love. Marketers are continually flocking to the use of mobile to dole out the deals. I say we need to re-think this.

When did we decide it was a good idea to use digital and mobile technology to expand the opportunity to make less money? Why do we use mobile technology to offer more shoppers more products via the “trade promotion” model of (what I bluntly call) “margin-sucking” offers and deals? We already know they don’t do much to enhance brand value. And if our discount offers generate  great shopper response, we’re in “over redemption” trouble on the marketing budget as well.

If I’m a CMO, I vote NO on taking that money out of my brand budget. If I’m the SVP of Shopper Marketing I vote no to pouring good money after bad. And I don’t want to explain to the CFO why I support a higher percentage of low margin sales. Even the Sales VP avoids that meeting.

As an industry, we may be activating this way because we think it’s more measureable, but why are we still measuring the cases sold on deal instead of the health of our effective relationships with shopper?

The stats for shopper mobile coupon usage will continue to escalate, because we let them. Because we fail to use the insights derived from studies for inspiration and ideation to plan and then actually do things that might be dramatically more meaningful and effective to build our brands with shoppers over time.

The more we default to mobile as a channel to extend the reach and frequency of price promotion behaviors, the more damage we do to the strategic opportunity shopper marketing holds for both brands and retailers.

Join me next Thursday for the discussion about the opportunity side of mobile marketing, where we examine more facts and insights derived from the study and take a look at what marketers might do differently in the future.

Anne Howe is a twenty-year veteran of shopper marketing, and now runs a consulting practice with a focus on commercial innovation in shopper marketing. She is active on Twitter as @ShopperAnnie and on her personal ShopperAnnie Blog at www.annehoweassociates.com