Case #4: Trojan Fire & Ice Mobile Marketing Campaign

Mobile marketing is a growing trend that is being fueled by the adoption of smartphones. According to a study by Pew, one-third of adults in the US currently own a smartphone. The table below provides further information regarding smartphone ownership and usage:

 

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Although the majority of US adults do not own smartphones, that one-third that does is valuable enough to make up for it. This is because people are very engaged in their mobile devices, unlike other media where they are used to ignoring marketing messages. Since people are generally concentrating on whatever it is they are trying to do on their smartphones, they probably notice advertisements more than those on other media. According to the source linked below, 82% of people notice mobile advertisements. Around 42% of people actually click on the ads and 49% make a purchase because of the ad. Clearly mobile marketers are doing something right if they are able to capture the attention of 82% of smartphone users. Check out the link to this information below:

Click here to check out the above information 

Mobile marketing comes in a variety of forms. For example there is the idea of sending SMS (text message) advertisements. These ads often contain links which bring the user to the company's website and encourage them to make a purchase. I have received one or two of these ads before, however I did not own a smartphone at the time so I was unable to open the link provided. The ads I received via SMS were from Verizon, which is my mobile carrier. Therefore I did not really feel that the ads were invasive since I already know that Verizon has my cellphone number.

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Personally I think that if I were to receive a lot of SMS ads on my phone, I would get very annoyed. This is because I use SMS strictly for communicating with my friends and family. I do not think I would be very happy if I suddenly started receiving several SMS ads daily. I think the way to make this less invasive for consumers is to only send these ads if they signed up for them, kind of like a mailing list for promotional offers. I think that if there was a certain company I was very loyal to, I would not mind getting SMS ads from them once in a while. However if the company sent ads too frequently I would definitely be annoyed.

Another form of mobile marketing is location-based marketing. This is the kind of thing where your cell phone tracks your location and you receive ads based on your specific location. For example if you entered the mall, you might receive an ad on your phone notifying you of a special sale or discount offer at one of the stores. I think this is a very cool technique because it is relevant to where the person is. If I was just wandering around the mall and received an ad on my phone saying that there was a big sale at one of the stores, I would be very likely to check it out. I think some people might find this a little creepy, but then again, there's not much about smartphones that isn't creepy.

A third form of mobile marketing is mobile applications. Applications are becoming such a huge industry and many companies are hiring developers to build their own apps. I think this is also a great technique for mobile marketing because the consumer has to download the app to get any of the marketing messages, meaning that it is not really invasive like some of the other techniques. However the number one issue here is getting people to download the app. I think the company needs to find a way to associate a benefit with downloading the app. For example if a company developed an app that would give consumers exclusive coupons and special offers, I think the company's loyal shoppers would definitely download it. Another option for marketers is to advertise on an already existing app. That is one of the things that Trojan Fire & Ice did with its mobile marketing campaign last year. Below is Mobile Marketer's description of what Trojan did with Pandora:

Trojan’s integration with the Pandora iPhone application, which was a perfect fit with the its target, featured time-sensitive “Plan Your Date” and “On Your Date” personalized tools incorporating "mood music" and location-based "How Steamy Do You & Your Partner Like It?" functionality.

I think it was very smart of Trojan to develop tools that Pandora consumers could use rather than annoying ads. I also think it was a very smart decision to market using Pandora since so many people use it. Pretty much everyone I know that has a smartphone has the Pandora app. Pandora is also a great way to reach Trojan's target market, which Mobile Marketer defines as "consumers ages 18-34 who are experienced condom users in a 'relationship mindset.'"

 

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Another technique that Trojan Fire & Ice used to reach its target market is rich-media in-browser units. These were displayed across mobile Websites such as Esquire, MTV, Jersey Shore, Cosmo, BET, G4, NBA, LimeLife and E!. These units could be clicked on and expanded to provide more information to the consumer. Trojan chose to use those particular mobile Websites because they are frequented by its target audience. These rich-media in-browser units were also spread through various mobile apps, so that users would see a small ad and have the option to expand it. Trojan also used traditional Web banners on a variety of sites. 

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Trojan also partnered with MTV's Jersey Shore to best reach its target audience. Below is Mobile Marketer's description of the collaboration between Trojan Fire & Ice and Jersey Shore:

Trojan developed custom editorial content with Jersey Shore cast members, including "Go On A Date Jersey Shore Style," and "Jersey Shore Dating Tips" from cast members. In addition, Trojan expanded the Jersey Shore integration to Foursquare, with real-time Jersey Shore cast member check-ins and date venue tips.

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This was a smart move because Jersey Shore is a hugely popular television show among Trojan's target audience. The company also partnered with Shazam, which is a mobile app where users can share and tag music that they like. Shazam has about 75 million monthly users, making it a very smart choice for marketing. Trojan made arrangements so that every time a user tagged a love song, a banner would display that read, "Stop Tagging and Get it On." If the user clicked on the banner, they would be brought to the Trojan Fire & Ice mobile site. This is a very smart idea because so many people use Shazam and probably play love related songs all the time, meaning that a ton of people were exposed to the Trojan banner and roughly 42% of them clicked on it.

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Trojan also used mobile search ads, which targeted users depending on their location. For example if a user were in a drug store using Google's search engine, there would probably be a Trojan Fire & Ice ad. The company also used videos posted to Facebook and Twitter to generate hype.

Overall, I think Trojan Fire & Ice's mobile marketing campaign was a huge success. The company really looked into a lot of different ways to reach its target audience through various mobile marketing techniques. Within the first week, the campaign had already proven that its rich-media in-browser units were 300% more effective than traditional mobile Web banners. The use of Pandora and Shazam were smart because they reached the appropriate target audience in an interactive, non-invasive manner. The partnership with MTV's Jersey Shore was also a very good idea because of the show's popularity among Trojan's target audience. Check out the video below for an overall summery of the campaign.

Thank you for reading my blog! Please check the sources I used below.


Mobile Marketer