Yamaha saw its mobile traffic jump 300 percent in a year after launching two HTML5-based mobile sites for its watercraft vehicles.

The recreational vehicle manufacturer wanted to create a unique mobile experience that would engage consumers, drive interest and sales for its Waverunners and boats while also enhancing brand perception. The company settled on creating two HTML5-based mobile sites to showcase products in an innovative way that would mirror the brand?s own high-quality engineering and reach the broadest audience possible.

?Giving users a really unique experience on the mobile Web ? that contributed to the growth of the site and people staying on the site a lot longer over time,? said Naushad Huda, CEO of Xtopoly, Santa Ana, CA. ?It has to do with how deep the site is and how easy it is to explore and go through the site.

?Whether consumers are out and about or not, we want to make sure that the experience is a rich-enough experience that they get the information they want through the rich media and social interactions on the site,? he said.

Streamlined interface
Yamaha worked with mobile interactive agency Xtopoly to create the mobile sites.

The mobile Web sites were part of a holistic marketing effort intended to create a seamless, consistent experience for consumers no matter what platform they use to access the brand.

The goals for the site include educating consumers about the products whenever and wherever they want while showing off Yamaha?s cutting-edge technology in watercraft.

The sites, www.yahamaboats.com and www.waverunners.com, feature touch technology, animation and a lot of rich media.

The streamlined interface is optimized to perform like an app while device and feature detection technology is used to dynamically deliver an experience that is optimized for each device.

The sites are a departure from the standard vertical design seen in mobile sites that have stacked navigation menus. Instead, the sites use animation and dynamic movement in navigation menus that feature pop-up boxes to maximize screen space.

Menu items includes a section showcasing the different models, links to YouTube, Facebook or to tweet as well as the latest news and events from Yamaha.

Cutting-edge marketing
Yamaha has been testing the mobile waters for several years. It started with SMS campaigns three-and-a-half years ago and created its first mobile optimized site in 2010.

With the majority of mobile users coming from an iOS or Android device, Yamaha decided to provide these smartphone users with a richer experience that would take advantage of some of the features inherent to smartphones and which consumers have become accustomed to, such as the ability to swipe to move things around. 

Because the new mobile sites are HTML5 based and can be relatively easily updated, Yamaha will save costs in future content and revisions.

?The consumer?s experience with Yamaha should always be cutting edge and a mobile site really speaks to that story, that Yamaha is a cutting-edge brand with its products and its marketing efforts show that,? Mr. Huda said.