Buick is using mobile to connect to people?s lives in the moment and provide a deeper level of engagement and content to consumers who interact with the brand.

Digitas leads the strategy as well as execution of Buick's mobile content in partnership with Publicis Groupe's Phonevalley.

Mobile Marketer?s Dan Butcher interviewed Barb Goose, executive director of Boston and Detroit at Digitas.

What is the importance of mobile in Buick?s overall multichannel marketing mix?
The use of mobile is important for Buick because mobile is where people are interacting with content.

Thirty-eight percent of all vehicle searches came from mobile devices, according to Advanced Mobile Solutions. 

Mobile allows consumers to interact with Buick in a unique and engaging way.

For many, mobile is their only digital connection point. 

As more people make mobile their first channel for getting information and content, it is important for Buick to be right there in the moment with relevant engagement.

Mobile enables all of the other media by becoming the beginning of engagement and dialog.

Mobile is the path to owning a brand. It spans email, Web, social, CRM, print/OOH and TV and radio. It is transforming traditional media.

Print, TV, direct mail and magazines are being energized and finding new relevance by incorporating mobile into their strategies.

What is Buick?s strategy behind its Google Goggles image recognition campaign?
The Buick brand is working hard at changing consumer perceptions?we wanted to position Buick as a progressive brand by connecting our offline campaigns to an immersive mobile experience.

By using Google Goggles, consumers are able to choose when they want to go and experience a deeper level of engagement and content.

Brands matter more when they connect to people?s lives in the moment.

At a time when brands must act the way they want to be perceived and talked about, it is truer than ever before.

With which mobile ad networks and publishers does Buick partner for ad campaigns across the mobile Web and applications for smartphones and tablets?
We've had success working with Greystripe, Brightroll, Pandora Mobile, Entertainment Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MSNBC: Today in Two, Bloomberg, Esquire and NPR.

How does Digitas help Buick execute its mobile tactics and fit its mobile initiatives into its broader strategy? 
Digitas leads the strategy as well as execution of Buick's mobile content in partnership with Publicis Groupe's Phonevalley.

The use of mobile fits into our larger strategy of creating and distributing valuable and engaging content to consumers no matter where they are.

For the Goggle Goggles campaign, we worked closely with Starcom MediaVest and Leo Burnett.

In your opinion, what is the outlook for mobile in 2011? What are the opportunities and challenges?
Mobile is the future of advertising, and brands that actively embrace mobile technology, like Buick, are leading the way.

Digitas is helping shape the future of mobile marketing. 

In fact, all of our clients are turning to us to provide mobile campaigns and/or strategy.

This growing mobile domination has already had a profound effect on brands and marketing.  

Our mobile phones serve as the portal to our daily activity, and there are several opportunities that we look forward to taking advantage of at scale.

One is social networking via mobile.

Social networking is already one of the most popular uses of the mobile Web, and we see a big opportunity as players like Facebook and Google create better user experiences and user value propositions that brands can be a part of.

Another opportunity is leveraging ?co-consumption? behavior where consumers are watching TV and are connected at the same time.

Some research indicates as many as 40 percent of the TV viewing audience is also actively connected to the Internet. So, the scale is there.

Additionally, Free Wi-Fi is growing across the country and as we see this trend continue, people will be on their devices in increasing amounts in public places?clearly an opportunity to deliver richer experiences, location based promotions, applications and social networks.

Of course, shopping is a game-changer as well.

Morgan Stanley predicts that in the next four years, more consumers will shop via mobile than on laptops.

Here?s another great fact Digitas heard at the Rutberg Wireless Influencers 2010: Mobile auto shoppers are 300 percent more likely to buy in the next 60 days than non-mobile, according to Advanced Mobile Solutions.

Mobility is redefining not only how we make purchases, but how we make decisions to purchase, when we make the purchase, and the decision-making path to purchase. That opens the doors for marketers.

Lastly, video and rich media in mobile will also be an area of opportunity as technology and consumers become exposed to it.

Mobile-to-mobile popularity is also on the rise?where people can see and communicate with each other via the cameras on their phones?making it easier for consumers to share their experiences (including shopping) in real time.

Marketers should embrace this as an opportunity to deliver relevant brand messages that are easily shared.

As the use of mobile continues to grow, we as marketers will be challenged to keep our content valuable, relevant and eye-catching?as the attention span of users will be reduced and the expectations of content grows.

Final take
Google Goggles experiment featuring Buick, Delta Air Lines, Diageo, Disney and T-Mobile.

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