The MMA Announces Results From First-Ever Cross Marketing Effectiveness Research (SMoX) Conducted for Mobile, Based on In-Market Campaigns from Coca-Cola, Walmart, MasterCard and AT&T

NEW YORK, March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) released the findings from its Smart Mobile Cross Marketing Effectiveness (SMoX) study. Conducted in combination with Marketing Evolution and InsightExpress, the study assessed the economic value of mobile compared to traditional marketing channels by closely examining real, in-market campaigns from Coca-Cola, Walmart, MasterCard and AT&T. According to the study, the optimal spend for mobile (based on total campaign spend) is in the double digits—far more than most marketers are currently allocating.

Results from the SMoX research confirm that marketers would significantly increase their overall campaign ROI, without increasing budget, by simply adjusting mobile spend upwards. The study also showed that mobile is a strong driver of campaign performance across the entire purchase funnel. From upper funnel metrics like awareness and image, to purchase intent and actual behavior (foot traffic or sales), the empirical evidence proves that mobile has a fervent contribution to campaign results, justifying a double-digit allocation of the entire media budget (not just digital) to mobile.

As the first comprehensive study of its kind, SMoX is expected to trigger a turning point in the mobile industry in the same way similar research drove Internet advertising in the early 2000's. Brands that participated in those studies increased their online ad spend by 30x on average, based on the insights. Additionally, the impact to the growth of the industry, measured as a direct result of the research, was 2.2x.

"The market has acknowledged there is a deep chasm between what brands are currently spending on mobile and consumer behavior, but now there is real, indisputable proof on the value of mobile to a brand's business goals," said Greg Stuart, CEO, MMA. "I believe mobile presents the greatest transformation of marketing in our generation. With empirical data, SMoX now demonstrates the competitive opportunity for those marketers who figure out how to leverage the power of mobile effectively and optimize their spending with the most impactful allocations in their marketing mix, finally keeping pace with consumers."

The campaigns that were assessed for the report cover a cross spectrum of industries, tactics and campaign objectives. Key findings include:

The Coca-Cola Company: Gold Peak Tea Campaign

• In Spring 2014, Gold Peak Tea brand was looking to build brand awareness and drive increased sales using a mix of TV, print, online and mobile to drive messaging. They also wanted to better understand how mobile performed within the marketing mix.
• After evaluating how effective the campaign was and how each of the various media performed, the study found that mobile drove 25 percent of top-of-mind awareness, 9 percent of "home brewed taste" image conversions, and 6 percent of sales with 5 percent of budget.

"At Coca-Cola, we consider research like this is an important facet of understanding how mobile fits into our broader marketing mix," said Tom Daly, group director, Global Connections, The Coca-Cola Company. "Our marketing teams will further evaluate the results and take them into careful consideration when developing future campaigns."

Walmart: Back-to-School Campaign

• For its annual Back-to-School campaign in the summer of 2014, Walmart was focused on driving grocery intent to shop among mothers of school-aged children. Using a mix of TV, FSI, online and mobile, the company wanted to uncover how to best use mobile, including the proper allocation and types of mobile advertising that were most efficient in driving their marketing goals.
• The study found that mobile impacted more consumers per dollar spent than both broadcast and cable TV. Mobile drove 14 percent of change in overall shopping intent, despite accounting for only 7 percent of spend.

"It's clear that mobile is becoming an increasingly critical part of the marketing mix," said Wanda Young, VP of Media and Digital Marketing, Walmart. "It's not only driving brand and campaign awareness, but also in-store foot traffic. We're proud to be on the forefront of mobile marketing and are dedicated to working internally and with our peers in the industry to further explore the various ways in which mobile can help drive our business objectives forward."

MasterCard: Travel Card Campaign

• In Q4 2014, MasterCard launched its Travel campaign to increase association of the card within the travel sector and to drive awareness of its Concierge app. Using a mix of TV, magazines/newspapers, digital and online (including social), the company hoped to promote their "Take One Day" pledge, inspiring people to take more vacations.
• The SMoX study investigated the impact of mobile in the above KPIs, quantifying the value of mobile display and video as they relate to the "nester" and "empty nester" target groups. In this case, mobile worked almost twice as hard compared to the campaign average, in terms of the number of people it converted on image per dollar spent.

"SMoX represents a real breakthrough in the mobile marketing industry," said Adam Broitman, VP of Global Digital Marketing, MasterCard. "It's the first thorough and comprehensive industry study that proves the true value of mobile. I'm looking forward to applying the findings to our ongoing mobile analysis at MasterCard and working with the MMA team to continue to develop similar research that brings unprecedented value to marketers."

AT&T: moto x Campaign

• In late 2013, AT&T launched a marketing campaign for its customizable brand of moto x smartphones. The company's key objective was to maximize awareness of the new moto x device and to better understand the role of mobile within the campaign, which used TV, print, online and mobile.
• The SMoX study examined the impact AT&T's campaign had on its KPI of building brand awareness for the new device among the over 18-year-old demographic, for a six-week period from September to October. The data showed that mobile delivered twice the awareness per dollar spent, compared to TV and digital.

In conclusion, the study found that reallocating to mobile (8-16 percent of the total marketing mix, on average) would drive incremental impact for each of the campaigns, making existing budgets work harder. For example, for AT&T, this would mean 12 percent higher awareness for moto x. For Walmart, this would mean a potential 15 percent increase in purchase intent for Back-to-School groceries.

In addition to determining mobile's overall impact on each campaign, the study revealed the most effective ways for brands to implement various mobile tactics (including audio, video, native, location and more) in order to leverage mobile to its full potential.

• Mobile audio, video and native all performed significantly better than display and were well worth their price premium, presenting an opportunity for increased campaign performance.
• Different ad formats had different types of impact. The display ad banner was a good awareness builder and reminder, keeping a brand salient. Audio, video and native had greater influence on brand perceptions and sales.
• Location targeting (retargeting and proximity) significantly improved the performance of display advertising, driving important KPIs, including actual foot traffic.

"At its core, SMoX proves the concept of same budget, better results and guides marketers on how mobile makes their marketing work harder. With very limited effort, brands can increase the performance of a campaign by 30 percent on average (and potentially much more) by simply reallocating funds," added Stuart.

The full SMoX report, including deeper insights and additional guidance on how marketers can use this information for their own businesses, will be available for download by attendees of the MMA's upcoming NY Forum (March 17-18) and SMoX Roadshows (Chicago, April 9 and San Francisco, April 29).

The MMA would like to thank the companies that support SMoX: Vodafone, TWC, Pandora, InMobi, xAd, Tremor Video, Facebook, Turkcell, Millennial Media, Verve, Urban Airship, Yahoo!, WEVE, MXM, Meredith, Videology, Twitter, Hello World, Avea and AT&T Adworks.

SMoX Study Methodology

The research applies Marketing Evolution's unique cross-media attribution modeling approach, which has been independently reviewed by the ARF through two separate official reviews and leverages new approaches to provide a granular read for mobile. In brief, the methodology for SMoX starts with a complete detail on every dollar planned in the media mix. The detailed media plan is connected to digital ad servers and all the leading syndicated databases for reach, frequency, and composition to calculate ad delivery down to the individual consumer level. A representative cross section of consumers are sampled, so that a robust individual consumer data set can be analyzed.

In terms of mobile, the SMoX research studies included extensive technical integrations with media properties so that mobile ads could be delivered to consumers in the panel at the levels of frequency and exposure dictated by the research design. This rather complex technical integration allowed for in-market field experiments, and observational research we desired, thus enabling the collection of rich, individual-level data for all media including mobile. For each consumer the dependent variables include sales (measured through data appends to sales databases or sales panels) as well as branding metrics (measured through survey), foot traffic, or other behavioral measurement such as downloads. To evaluate the impact of media as part of the SMoX methodology, Marketing Evolution runs logistic regression models that isolate the contribution of exposure to various media activities to sales (or any other KPI). The models also control for other factors, including behavioral characteristics and demographics of the individuals in the sample.

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)

The MMA is the world's leading global non-profit trade mobile marketing association comprised of more than 800 member companies, from nearly fifty countries around the world. Our members hail from every faction of the mobile marketing ecosystem including brand marketers, agencies, mobile technology platforms, media companies, operators and others. The MMA's mission is to accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile, driving business growth with closer and stronger consumer engagement. Anchoring the MMA's mission are four core pillars; to cultivate inspiration by driving the innovation for the chief marketing officer; to build the mobile marketing capabilities for the marketing organizations through fostering know-how and confidence; to champion the effectiveness and impact of mobile through research, providing tangible ROI measurement; and advocacy. Additionally, MMA industry-wide committees work collaboratively to develop and advocate global best practices and lead standards development. 

Mobile marketing is broadly defined as including advertising, apps, messaging, mCommerce and CRM on all mobile devices including smart phones and tablets. Members include, American Express, AdChina, Colgate - Palmolive, Dunkin' Brands, Facebook, Google, Group M, Hewlett Packard, Hilton Worldwide, Kellogg Co., L'Oreal, MasterCard, McDonalds, Microsoft, Mondelez International, Inc., Pandora Media, Procter & Gamble, R/GA, The Coca-Cola Company, The Weather Company, Unilever, Visa, Vodafone, Walmart, xAd, Zenith Optimedia and many more. The MMA's global headquarters are located in New York with regional operations in Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA), Latin American (LATAM) and Asia Pacific (APAC). For more information about the MMA please visit www.mmaglobal.com.

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SOURCE Mobile Marketing Association

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