Leveraging digital insights throughout the entire journey to purchase

64% of smartphone owners are now using their mobile devices to shop online.*
43% of smartphone owners have used their mobile device while in a store for a shopping purpose.**

Mobile and social commerce have completely redefined the world of shopping and your consumer’s shopping experience. Talk about adding a layer of complexity to understanding shopper behavior and preferences, your consumers are using mobile and social technology to coupon hunt and find the best prices, share product reviews, use geo-locating to find nearby retailers, and that’s just the beginning. Add flash sales and it’s a whole new retail world…


This phenomenon has created a new breed of “smarter” shoppers – empowered with more information than ever before. But, it has also created a HUGE opportunity for you to truly understand your consumer – with more data accessible than ever before.

Join us at the Shopper Insights in Action Conference, July 18-20 in Chicago to hear real stories and case studies from today’s top mobile and ecommerce experts showcasing how to leverage digital insights throughout the entire journey to purchase. Learn how to build brand awareness, drive engagement and prove ROI through digital strategies.

Visit the website to download the full conference brochure.

Key focus areas include:
• From Check-in to Check-Out: How American Express Connects Buyers & Sellers in the Digital Space
• How Mobile Shopper Insights Empower You to Make Decisions Based on Facts
• Mobilizing the Path to Purchase for Consumers and Merchants
• Web 2.0 Something: The Future of Online Shopping
• M-Powerment: How to Leverage Mobile Video to Create a Winning M-Commerce Strategy
• How to Drive Sales Through Ongoing Consumer Conversations
Don’t Miss our Full Day Symposia focused on Mobile and Social Commerce
• Leveraging Digital & Mobile Insights throughout the Entire Journey to Purchase
- Catherine Roe, Head of CPG, Google and Lisa Landsman, Team Manager, Commerce CPG Sales, Google
• The Hidden Dangers of Using Aggregate Data to Develop Mobile Marketing Strategies to Reach Consumers
- Rafael Alcaraz, Ph.D., Vice President, Global Advanced Analytics, Digital Media an Strategic Foresight, The Hershey Company
• Reinventing Retail for the Next-Generation Customer
- Chip Jessopp, Vice President, Groupon

We hope to see you at the #1 action oriented industry forum of the year.
Best,
The Shopper Insights in Action Event Team

*Source: Gartner, 2012 ** Source: comScore Inc., Shop.org and The Partnering Group, 2012

Mention VIP code to save an additional 15% off the standard and onsite rate: SHOPPER12BLOG.
www.ShopperInsightsEvent.com
Email: register@iirusa.com
Phone: 888.670.8200

News Roundup: Mobile Advertising

It's been almost 3 months since the Mobile Marketing Conference wrapped up, and while it doesn't feel like much time to me, that's an age in the swiftly moving digital marketing world. So, what's been happening?

Well, as you're surely aware if you're reading this site: Facebook went public. The result was...less than ideal...and even pulling down related businesses like Zynga and Twitter. Plus, just before the IPO, "GM announced that it was pulling its $10 million advertising budget from Facebook" citing that "the ad formats currently available are unattractive and ineffective."

In an effort to prove their worth (and climb back on top,) Facebook has been beefing up advertising options.

Perhaps most importantly: they are now expanding mobile ads. This post in the Wall Street Journal explains:

Previously, mobile ads on the social network could only be purchased through a premium ad package that included mobile and other forms of advertising on Facebook. But small and medium-sized marketers, or even large brands, who wanted to focus squarely on the mobile market, couldn't do so with Facebook.

Mobile advertising may prove to be the biggest digital media trend in 2012. For example: Richard Ting wrote on The Atlantic "Why Mobile Will Dominate the Future of Media and Advertising" noting:

"Advertisers now have an extremely robust palette of mobile tools to choose from to connect their messages and experiences with their desired audiences thanks to advancements in mobile ad units, mobile search, mobile apps, mobile websites, and SMS."

This post on Business Insider confirms: "Experts seem to consistently agree–mobile is the future of advertising. Consumers are viewing advertisements and other marketing messages via smartphones and tablets, with Google leading the way users find information. When consumers pick up a phone and ask it a question instead of looking it up online, we know our world has changed."

This is a global phenomenon as well. "The data shows the Asia-Pacific region made largest mobile advertising spends with $1.9bn in 2011, followed by North America at $1.6bn."

Additionally, Google is integrating more for mobile. Now, "more than 1 million Google advertisers, from small businesses using the company's self-serve tool to big advertisers not currently buying through AdMob's separate storefront, will see mobile display options right alongside the products they usually spend on."

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo also recently spoke to the power of the medium, saying that "Twitter has raised more money from mobile advertising than web advertising in many instances this past quarter"

Have you gotten started with mobile advertising yet? Why or why not? If you're looking for a  primer on one of the first steps in mobile marketing, perhaps revisit our recap of Stephen Gate's session at The Mobile Marketing Conference (pictured above) on "Best Practices in Creating Mobile Websites."

Follow The Mobile Marketing conference on Twitter and Facebook for more mobile advertising news.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com

Understanding How Key Customer Life Events Drive Brand Innovation - Complimentary Web Seminar

In association with Questback, The Institute for International Research invites you to join us for a one hour complimentary Web Seminar. This webinar is part of the 2012 Insights Webinar Series: Your resource for insights on the cutting edge.

Understanding How Key Customer Life Events Drive Brand Innovation
Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time

Presenter: Jim Whaley of Questback

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/7ck8vvrz74p8
Please mention your priority code: MWJ0021-Blog

Consumers are faced with brand decisions everyday - from the browser they use when surfing the Internet, to their toothpaste choice and where they get gas. When did these brand choices begin? How early in the buying cycle did the consumer experience influence their purchase decision? This is a question we may lose sight of. But today, brands must understand key milestones and triggers in a customer's life (a baby shower, opening a checking account, or moving out on your own) to build a better brand promise. They must understand where and how customers get information and their experiences and how they use that information to make decisions about your brand.

As a result, leaders struggle with decisions about funding and prioritizing projects and new campaigns. It is critical now more than ever, that brands take a deeper look at their insights programs and marketing channels and how they manage them. Join Questback Vice President, Jim Whaley, as he presents "Understanding How Key Consumer Life Events Drive Brand Innovation."

During this 1 hour complimentary web seminar, Jim will cover the challenges facing marketers today: 

•    Understanding key customer-event touchpoints;
•    Aligning marketing communications and your agency partners with new media realities;
•    Incorporating insights into business process; and
•    How to best share information with key stakeholders in your organization for decision support.

Jim will share what some of the biggest brands are doing to engage with customers and track customer experiences to gather insights for product, channel and brand innovation. And he'll wrap it up with some recommendations on what you can begin doing today to better understand the influences on your customers and their buying behaviors.

Title: Understanding How Key Customer Life Events Drive Brand Innovation
Speaker: Jim Whaley, Questback
Date: Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 PM EDT

Register Now: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/7ar5uyjdr30s
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the web seminar.