LOS ANGELES ? A Digitas executive discussed mobile?s role in today?s purchase and relationship funnel, including the art and science of constructing actionable customer journeys and how to get results at scale during a presentation at the Mobile Marketing Association?s Mobile Marketing Forum.

Chia Chen, senior vice president of marketing at Digitas, Boston, said that 80-plus percent of clients are doing something in mobile. That is not surprising, since based on the current rate of change and adoption, the mobile Web will be bigger than desktop Internet usage by 2012, according to Morgan Stanley.

?Brands matter more when they actively connect to people?s lives in the moment,? Mr. Chen said. 

Mobile to be the first screen
Mobile is an incredibly dynamic marketplace.

Talking to clients, Digitas finds that brands are eager to get into mobile.

Digitas provides the framework for how to think about mobile.

?What really matters is that mobile is personal,? Mr. Chen said. ?Mobile is every addressable channel.

?Always on means always reachable,? he said.

It is important that a brand?s mobile initiatives be highly relevant to the person and to the moment. This means powerful creative ideas that span channels and deliver instant value.

CRM in mobile
Digitas? heritage is around CRM and results-oriented marketing.

The agency has a huge amount of expertise in dealing with data and it segments customers based on their profiles and purchase history.

?But that gets trumped with the data of what they are doing in that specific moment,? Mr. Chen said. 

?Creative must span channels and integrate among all the various channels that are activated with mobile,? he said. ?You have to deliver instant value and you have to have a concept that really surrounds them.?

Tools to define the customer journey
A large part is really contingent on the art of planning in a way that is very specific.

It is about really getting into how people?s daily lives unfold and when they may actually need you to be active with them.

The first step is defining the connections profile. What do they like? How do they consume media and what are they looking for in terms of entertainment?

Do they research online before purchasing and what are their passions from a media perspective?

Based on this information, Mr. Chen says marketers can then decide what the best channels would be to reach them with. 

?A lot of what we do in marketing is interruptive messaging,? Mr. Chen said. ?We have to figure out the right moments and what they are interested in.?

The next step in defining the customer journey is organizing engagement. Think about how to raise awareness and associations about the brand.

Research and consideration is also key to defining the customer journey. It consists of developing opinions and a short list.

Think of ways to use mobile to influence the target at the moment of the purchase decision. 

Loyalty and advocacy is the last part. Encourage repeat purchases and word of mouth. 

Case study - Enfamil
Enfamil is a baby formula. This category is really interesting in terms of the customer journey.

Moms are pregnant and then the decision is made on what formula to use during infancy.

Enfamil needs to be there with the customer from pregnancy until the first few days after birth.

The brand needs to be part of the target?s journey into motherhood.

Pregnancy today is a connected social happening. Expectant moms are on their mobile devices right through delivery.

They are texting, emailing and searching for information and they get their info through the mobile device. Enfamil was absent there.

Digitas suggested a mobile Web and a paid search campaign and integrated mobile into the overall digital strategy.

?The mobile Web site has been very effective for them and has been embraced by moms,? Mr. Chen said. 

Case study ? Tide
Procter & Gamble?s Tide partnered with Digitas for The Tide Stain Brain initiative (see story).

Digitas came up with Stain Brain, an application for iPhone and iPod touch that consumers can use to find and share ways to remove stains at home and on the go.

The free application lets consumers search for step-by-step cleaning instructions from the experts at Tide and other iPhone users to get answers before stains have a chance to set in.

For those iPhone users who have a secret recipe for removing tough stains, Tide Stain Brain lets them instantly share their own tips and tricks within the application.

The application was  promoted via digital channels and with mobile ads.

?Mobile was ideal becase even though you do your laundry in one place, you get stains everywhere,? Mr. Chen said.