Secure your place at the Digiday Media Buying Summit in Nashville, March 2-4
Many will (again) predict 2012 to be the year of mobile, but it turns out some of its biggest opportunities will be in complementing other activities, particularly TV viewing and shopping.
Retailers are already seeing value in mobile both from an m-commerce and in-store perspective, as highlighted by strong mobile-related consumer activity over the Thanksgiving weekend. According to predictions from Digitas, that area will see even stronger growth in 2012, though, as both online and brick-and-mortar retailers do their best to enhance consumers’ shopping experiences through tablets and smartphones.
“Retailers are combining the features of e-commerce with the immediate gratification of buying it in-store. More and more shoppers will use their smartphones to support all aspects of their shopping journey,” Chia Chen, the agency’s mobile marketing practice director, forecasted.
SapitentNitro agreed, saying companies should “aim to provide a single, cohesive experience in-store, at home or on the go,” to match consumer behavior and expectation. Its Insights 2012 report, however, suggested the in-store mobile experience still has “great opportunity for improvement.”
In addition, the relationship between mobile and TV continues to strengthen, and marketers are seeing increasing opportunities there, particularly around tablet devices. Digitas estimates 80 percent of smartphone owners use their devices in front of the TV, for example, opening up a range of possibilities for personalized or contextual content and advertising.
“We believe 2012 will be the year that it becomes practical for brands to fully participate in the multi-screen world,” Chen said.
Razorfish appears equally bullish on the relationship between mobile and TV. Speaking with Digiday this month, the firm’s mobile practice lead, Paul Gelb, said it’s seeing “huge opportunities and appetite from advertisers to market to consumers in the context of watching television.”
More in Media
Media Briefing: Turning scraped content into paid assets — Amazon and Microsoft build AI marketplaces
Amazon plans an AI content marketplace to join Microsoft’s efforts and pay publishers — but it relies on AI com stop scraping for free.
Overheard at the Digiday AI Marketing Strategies event
Marketers, brands, and tech companies chat in-person at Digiday’s AI Marketing Strategies event about internal friction, how best to use AI tools, and more.
Digiday+ Research: Dow Jones, Business Insider and other publishers on AI-driven search
This report explores how publishers are navigating search as AI reshapes how people access information and how publishers monetize content.