Mobile Advertising Engagement Success

The iPhone and Android platforms have allowed for the rise in engaging mobile advertisements that are able to blend between an ad showcasing a product and an application that provides additional value to the user beyond just a basic impression.

Klondike has successfully created an iAds campaign that provides the user many different additional benefits as well as requires the user to interact with the application to continue moving forward through the ad.  It is worth taking a look at the different options and screens that a user goes through this advertisement if you are thinking about creating a mobile advertisement. By including additional features to the ad users gain unique exposure to the brand and develop new associations to the product.

The ad that will be reviewed in detail had four core areas of the application:

1. Informational section with product details
2. Arcade section that included applications that could be downloaded to the iPhone.
3. Video section with different video ads viewed through Youtube.
4. Map tool to locate the closest retailer selling the product you wanted.

The following pics will outline the application / advertisement as a user would see and interact with the application. They do a good job of engaging the user immediately by having the screen ice over with instructions for the user to wipe the off the ice using the touchscreen the screen becomes visible and leaves the user ready to explore the rest of the advertisement.

The Klondike mobile advertisement has several options for the user to keep their interest and promote the brand.  Their is a slideshow that flips through all of the flavors of Klondike Ice Cream sandwiches that are available, I didn't know there were so many flavors aside from the Klondike original until playing around with this app / ad.  The video section had a few little short clip videos that were funny / viral video attempts that played through youtube when clicking on them.  The map section is very cool, the Klondike app, takes your gps location from the phone and then displays the closest retailers in your area that carry the Klondike ice cream sandwich that you are looking for.

Where this advertisement takes the next step from being just a one time engaging advertisement that provides additional attachment to a brand this ad provides the user the option to download additional games.  These games are downloaded onto the iPhone like standard iPhone apps through the iTunes store and become resident on the phone.  The games that Klondike had were simple little games that revolved around the product such as stacking ice cream sandwiches in a cooler.  The user now has the ability to interact with the brand many times in the future.

Many large fortune 1000 size businesses have begun creating full featured applications that provide some value to the users of the app versus just using mobile advertising as part of their mobile marketing activities. This is also now a very viable option for many smaller sized businesses with the development of WYSIWYG App creator tools on the market. By developing and launching a unique application that directly services a businesses existing customer base they can now interact with that customer through the smart phone and push them content and deals / incentives. Another great aspect of creating an application versus an ad is that the business can not benefit through social media activities of the user of there app if they build those components into their solution. If you are a small business considering using a mobile marketing solution to reach your customers and new customers a mobile app might be the better long term solution versus a high end mobile ad campaign that only engages with the audience for a short period of time or as long as the marketing ad budget allows.