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Top 10 mobile advertising campaigns of Q3

Target, Calvin Klein and Maybelline are among the top marketers leveraging a variety of advertising channels, social media networks and applications across mobile to better reach millennial consumers and break the mold of the traditional banner ad in the third quarter. 

As consumers become increasingly reliant on their mobile devices for a variety of entertainment, news and commerce needs, brands are ramping up to catch users? fleeting attention with creative advertisements leveraging several platforms. The stagnant banner ad is beginning to fade, while ads on Snapchat, dating apps and scan-to-shop platforms are leading to favorable audience outreach.

The arrival of the fourth quarter will bring many holiday marketing promotions into play on mobile, meaning that brands must look to prior campaigns for notions on how best to reach new customers and boost sales. Consumers can certainly expect to see more relevant ads served to them on their smartphones, thanks to beacon technology, interstitial units and increased advertising options across social media apps.

Here are the top 10 mobile advertising campaigns of the third quarter of 2015, in alphabetical order.

Calvin Klein seduces Tinder users in brand?s latest jeans campaign
Calvin Klein leveraged its premier campaign on dating application Tinder in a bid to showcase its ?sexy? brand image to fashion-conscious users. The apparel brand advertised its fall 2015 line by displaying real-life love stories via images of text conversations superimposed over model shots.

The ads appeared in a native in-app experience while users swiped left or right on potential casual encounters. While marketers must be wary of rolling out disruptive experiences, the Calvin Klein ads were specifically tailored to Tinder users in a way that seemed relevant.

The advertisements had a nonintrusive call-to-action for consumers that asked them to visit calvinklein.com or #mycalvins on Instagram or Twitter to read more raw texts and real stories.

Coca-Cola pops open beacons? potential for more precise retargeting
Coca-Cola took to beacon technology to re-target moviegoers in Norway with an advertisement and coupon for a free movie ticket, providing an incentive for users to interact with the unit. The campaign first collected data from the film attendees before serving them with an ad one week later containing a free ticket for the same theater.

Sixty percent of users clicked on the advertisement, with 20 percent opting to redeem the promotion. While Coca-Cola did not distribute free samples or bottles of its popular beverages, the brand likely experienced appreciation from film fans that could revisit their local theater, courtesy of Coca-Cola.

The campaign proved that proximity-based targeting has potential to result in positive brand awareness, particularly if incentives or giveaways are involved.

Febreze freshens up with Facebook's carousel ads for mobile
Procter & Gamble relied on interactive advertisements to fuel trials for a recent product collaboration, Febreze with Tide Original Scent, by tapping Facebook?s carousel ads. The units, which have shown 30 to 50 percent lower cost-per-conversion, allow brands to display several panels that consumers can swipe through on their smartphones, thereby offering more space for content than a banner ad.

Facebook users were inspired to interact with Febreze by sliding through the carousel units featuring numerous images, such as a clothing line with odd items hanging out to dry. Individuals were prompted to get the full effect by scrolling through the humorous products.

The final image in the post provided users an offer to click on if they wanted to receive a discount for Febreze from Coupons.com. Individuals then felt as though their time spent engaging with the brand was worth the effort.

Hidden Valley leaps into beacon marketing for in-store meal inspiration
Clorox rolled out a mobile-first campaign to promote its Hidden Valley Ranch and Soy Vay brands that gave grocery shoppers quick dinnertime tips and hacks. The consumer packaged goods marketer leveraged in-app messaging and geo-targeted push notifications to display relevant material on consumers? smartphones within the CheckPoints app.

App users received ads encouraging them to swipe to view a simple dinner solution while shopping in a supermarket. After they saw the mealtime suggestion, the ads drove shoppers to their stores? location of Soy Vay and Hidden Valley products.

Consumers who did not have push notifications enabled on their devices instead saw a home page product placement on the app homepage.

GE, Mountain Dew embrace Snapchat's new lenses for organic social engagements
PepsiCo?s Mountain Dew and GE both tapped Snapchat?s new filters featuring facial recognition software to interact with mobile users in a more creative manner. GE sought to use the social tools to disperse science education content, such as a faux selfie of inventor Thomas Edison.

Meanwhile, Mountain Dew rolled out a Snapchat video of a person holding one of its bottles, with his eyes transforming into hearts, proving his love for the soda.

GE and Mountain Dew were able to effectively raise awareness for the #STEAM initiative and fizzy beverages, respectively.

Jeep?s mobile banner ad squares off against Honda?s native unit
Jeep went beyond the traditional banner ad by using a unit that expanded to a larger screen, where consumers could interact with 20 different videos and images of its Renegade vehicle. The full-page advertisement popped up for Huffington Post readers and enabled viewers to toggle between the video and images to receive all-angle views of the car.

Conversely, Honda leveraged an ad that appeared in-line in a newsfeed stream to market its summer clearance event. The native unit used a GIF that slowly morphed from a text-like message asking individuals if they needed a new Accord into an event announcement.

The last image showcased an image of a Honda Accord with offer details. The car manufacturer was able to grab users? short attention spans by displaying a new type of ad unit that required a bit of personal interaction and was not as easy to dismiss.

Maybelline polishes Fashion Week Snapchats with targeted video ads
Maybelline introduced short video clips interspersed with snapshots from New York Fashion Week runway shows on the event?s public Snapchat Story, suggesting that the photo-sharing app can be an effective marketing venue when leveraged to reach targeted audiences with relevant content.

Maybelline?s ads promoted its Push Up Mascara by featuring top model Gigi Hadid, who also appeared in many designers? shows during the fall event. The short clips appeared as sporadic advertisements as users viewed the New York Fashion Week Story to see behind-the-scenes action.

The brief nature of the videos culminated in an unobtrusive experience for consumers, while the sheer relevance of the ads likely resonated with Maybelline?s target demographic of young fashionistas.

Skippy cracks open auto-play video?s potential on Pandora
Hormel?s Skippy peanut butter brand found the right marketing ingredient in auto-play video ads on music streaming platform Pandora this summer. The company?s auto-play clip appeared when Pandora customers switched their listening station and showed talking peanuts in a Skippy factory, with only the ?fun? personified nuts being made into peanut butter.

The ad had a countdown clock at the bottom of the screen, informing users of how many seconds were left in the video. At any point, viewers could tap through to a campaign landing page where they were able to explore Skippy?s initiatives for making snacking more enjoyable.

Users were also encouraged to make virtual drawings using peanut butter, resulting in an interactive and memorable experience.

Snickers campaign exhibits importance of nonintrusive mobile ads
Mars International recently marketed its popular Snickers candy bar on the mobile app version of EA Games? football video game Madden by using a rewards system. Snickers chose to sponsor several marketing tactics within the Madden game, such as a live event within the mobile app.

Players could then win rewards points by completing a contest boasting the candy brand?s name. Snickers sought to undertake the partnership in its efforts to develop an overall cross-platform image, a strategy that consequently boosted in-store sales.

This campaign suggests that more CPG marketers should turn to challenge-based apps to reward players and loyal customers with redeemable points and prizes.

Scannable print ads make resurgence as mobile users eschew QR codes
Target was one of the retailers that teamed up with music discovery app Shazam to implement scannable print advertisements in Vogue magazine?s September issue. Readers were asked to download the app and scan the print ads, featuring almost one hundred Target products, to get transported to a digital shopping experience.

Consumers could then explore the featured items in-depth, a move that likely contributed to an uptick in sales for Target.

An increasing amount of publications and print materials are getting the mobile treatment as scan-to-shop advertisements gain traction with readers.

Final Take
Alex Samuely, staff writer on Mobile Marketer, New York