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Pat Hellberg
Principal
The Preset Group
October 2009 Question:
What are the three most successful mobile device/digital signage implementations in the United States, and what specifically did they do right?
Let me begin with a terrific quote from my colleague David Weinfield who summarizes the significance, and potential impact, of the integration between mobile and DS.
“The mobile phone is becoming the universal compass to our lives, while also existing as the link between our physical and virtual worlds.”
The link that David refers to makes all of the difference. If there is no link between the mobile device/DS implementation and the overall campaign, the implementation becomes a stand-alone. And mobile/DS implementations are far more effective when they close the loop and carry forward the campaign’s core message rather than simply exist as an add-on.
Given that premise, three successful mobile/DS implementations are the integration of Locamoda’s text-to-screen Wiffiti application with VH1’s program, “The Great Debate”, Inwindow Outdoor’s use of mobile interactivity to bring digital streetscapes to life to promote Sprint, and Coldwell Banker’s campaign that mixed SMS interactivity and digital OOH.
The VH1 program did a nice job of integrating “The Great Debate” show into out-of-home venues such as bars and restaurants, thus extending the campaign and brand beyond the home through interactivity. In the Sprint campaign, Inwindow succeeded in bringing phone call controlled mobile interactivity to passersby on the street with an extraordinary level of creativity, again, extending the brand well beyond the home. And the Coldwell Banker program was extremely effective in the way it activated Coldwell’s database of homes and presented them through digital screens to a large out-of-home audience.
Again, the beauty of all of these mobile/DS implementations: they effectively extended the clients’ respective fundamental brand stories. They were not gimmicks for gimmicks’ sake.