The Mobile Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us

Written by
Carrie Seifer, Strategy

I recently had the pleasure of speaking at the IAB Mobile Marketplace conference in New York, which was a day full of discussion and debate about the mobile marketing landscape.

The main point I tried to get across in my talk was that we are now in a truly mobile centric world, and if anyone is interested in seeing highlights of this, you can check out the video below:

As you can see in the clip, at one point I liken the current consumer state of mind to Mobile Zombies. While I was obviously joking here, what I was trying to convey is that consumers have entered an almost hypnotic state with their phones, where they are acting like movie characters in a zombie-infested world.

From our vantage point, we’re seeing that the top brands have recognized this obsession and are acting accordingly.

More specifically, they all seem to understand the following techniques for reaching these consumers through their mobile campaigns:

  1. Real-life context. Mobile provides brands a unique opportunity to reach real-world audiences, and drive better ROI. For example, knowing a consumer reads parenting blogs is helpful, but when you can pair that with information that shows them at a playground 3 times a week, that unlocks a whole new level of context.
  2. Beautiful ads. Brands have the ability to make consumers desire their product through engaging media on phones. Rich media capabilities have customers craving products in ways once only enjoyed by TV and Print, and our brand partners are shooting for the stars.
  3. Social sharing. Mobile naturally lends itself to a social experience, and when done correctly, brands are using social to gain earned media that accompanies their paid media. This is more than just adding a Facebook or Twitter buttons to ads —to be done correctly, brands are finding ways to collaborate with their customer through their mobile devices.

As the mobile zombie apocalypse continues to spread, we at Millennial encourage our partners to find ways for their own brand to survive and thrive (without the use of weapons of course).