Unilever deal to drive mobile presence in key markets
By Retail Technology | Wednesday September 25 2013
India, Indonesia, China and US to be a focus of new mobile marketing initiatives, while building on existing investments in other international markets
Unilever has signed a new deal with mobile marketing company, Brandtone, which will enable its brands to use the power of mobile and ‘big data’ to build long term one-to-one relationships with consumers, particularly in emerging markets, where mobile is a key tool to reach them – and to do so at scale.
As part of the deal, which was announced at the Mobile Marketing Association’s SM2 event in New York last night, the global consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturer will support Brandtone’s expansion into four new markets: India, China, Indonesia, and the US. Unilever will also build on the existing relationship with brand marketing technology specialist in South Africa, Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia and Turkey.
Developing in emerging markets
Keith Weed, Unilever chief marketing officer, explained: “Over half our turnover comes from emerging markets. Mobile provides a direct means of engagement with almost every consumer in those countries, and it is therefore absolutely critical for our brands’ growth.
“People are willing to share information about themselves in order to get more relevant advertising and offers. So the opportunity is there – if we do it correctly. We need to approach people with respect – maintaining trust and ensuring two-way dialogue,” he added. “The work we do with Brandtone enables us to do exactly that. By building relationships with our consumers and adding something of value to them we can increase both purchase and brand loyalty.”
Unilever has already run a number of successful campaigns with Brandtone, including a promotion for OMO washing power in South Africa, which generated response rates of 30%, far above the industry average.
Direct-to-mobile business model
Brandtone’s business model is based on providing incentives, such as free mobile airtime, to reward consumers for interacting with brands and sharing information via their mobile phones. The company said campaigns to date have seen over 90% of consumers opt-in to further engagement, creating databases of profiled consumers that brands can build on-going relationships with.
The campaigns devised by Brandtone are accessible to all consumers – using USSD (an interactive form of data messaging), short messaging service (SMS) text and interactive voice response (IVR) technology – and are free-to-enter due to the company’s partnerships with the telco providers in each market, providing an efficient channel for engagement in markets where mobile is the most reliable and widespread communication channel.
Founding investor in Brandtone in 2010, Unilever Ventures has also played an active role in its development and global expansion to help brands to re-invent the way they do marketing via mobile.
