Editor's note: In what we plan to make an annual end-of-year tradition, RetailWire has compiled a list of the most significant retail industry "Turning Points" of 2008. (See our news release...) What follows is the seventh in a series of discussions based on the list.
While digital media at retail hasn't arrived in full, the hype around it certainly did in 2008. Rarely a week went by without the arrival of some innovative campaign to reach consumers through web video, mobile phones, video games or social networking sites.
For retailer and brands, the emergence of social networking sites, as well as the acceptance of web video, carries the potential to tailor messages in entertaining fashion to individuals at a level traditional media can't come close to matching. That opportunity was clearly heightened as older and even much older people starting increasingly visiting and communicating through YouTube, Facebook and MySpace or other websites aimed at their own generation and interests.
At the same time, the proliferation of cell phone use and other mobile devices, as well as the growing acceptance of text messaging, promises to enable brands to reach on-the-go consumers with targeted messages at or near the point of sale. Particularly driving the appeal of mobile devices (and the marketing opportunity around them) was an explosion of cool and even useful mobile applications, represented by the stunning success of Apple's iPhone.
While still in the early stages, it isn't hard to find those who see a future where digital tools will transform retail.
For instance, Eric Holmen, president of SmartReply (a sponsor of RetailWire), believes the time for mobile coupons has come.
"Mobile couponing is gaining acceptance among retailers as they recognize the mobile coupon's ability to promote sell-through, contribute to an opt-in database, introduce new products or trials, and track consumer behavior - all at a significantly lower cost-per-touch than traditional print coupons," Mr. Holmen wrote in Mobile Marketer.
John Gaffney, senior analyst at Retail TouchPoints, pointed to three innovative holiday campaigns on the iPhone from Target, Amazon, and The Gap as proof that mobile phones have become a legitimate media channel for retail consumers.
For instance, the Target ad makes use of the iPhone's "accelerometer" app. Users offer a few bits of information about the person they have in mind and, when shaken, the image on the iPhone screen of a snow globe presents gift suggestions.
Amazon's app includes Amazon Remembers, which uses the iPhone's camera to help create visual lists of products you want. Take a photo, and the iPhone app uploads the image to Amazon.com; and then tries to match products in the same category.
The Gap's mobile app features music videos with Christmas carols being sung by popular artists. The videos can be sent to friends via email. Another app allows users to mix and match clothing on male or female models, and then tap to buy the items.
"It's a very similar market to ten years ago when retailers started flocking to online advertising," Chris Negron, sales executive for online music service Pandora, told Retail TouchPoints. "Now everyone wants to be mobile. I would say 50 percent of our online clients are looking to develop a mobile application and a good number of those are retailers."
Discussion Questions: To what degree do you think the arrival of digital media will transform the way retailers and brands communicate with customers? What digital technologies hold the most potential in reaching consumers?