What Frustrates Coke About Mobile

It seems obvious. People are using mobile more than ever, brands should be ready for that. And yet by some estimates more than half of brands don’t have a mobile-optimized site.

The honest reason?  “It’s hard as shit,” said Kim Siler, mobile brand strategy, global connections at Coca-Cola. It’s hard for Coke because it is a global company that markets to consumers in many countries, in different languages and across a large spectrum of devices. Every mobile marketing campaign needs to have various versions to fit different consumer preferences.

Siler spoke at Netbiscuits World 2012 about the challenges that brands face in mobile. One of her biggest issues is agency relations. She said agencies are so busy competing with one another that they aren’t doing enough collaboration. The mobile agency isn’t on the same page as the social agency and so on.

Another issue that Siler has with mobile is the budget. For the Olympics this year, mobile got only about a quarter of what the overall digital budget was and Siler is frustrated by that.

More in Marketing

Marketers are keen to use generative AI in ad campaigns, but hidden costs lurk

Marketers across the industry want to use AI to cut down on time spent in creative production. It’s not so simple in practice.

2025 was rough for Target. It could also be the year when its turnaround began

Much of the front half of the year for Target was defined by the company’s decision in January to pull back on DEI initiatives.

How brands shifted marketing and media strategies through year of tariffs

Marketers share how they navigated the maze of tariffs and regulatory changes this year.