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Coca-Cola exec: Mobile does not work as an island

NEW YORK ? A Coca-Cola executive at the Mobile Shopping Fall conference said that SMS is a key trigger for its promotions and CRM strategy, especially because it can reach everyone ? from feature phones to smartphones.

During the ?Getting Your Mobile Campaign Off The Ground: Building Internal Approach? panel, executives discussed the role mobile plays in their strategies. The panel was moderated by Marci Troutman, CEO of Siteminis, Atlanta.

?For us to not be using SMS would be silly,? said Tara Scarlett, senior manager of CRM, precision and mobile marketing at The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta.

?The opportunity from our perspective is that everyone can download an app or mobile site, but the reality is we?re not there yet,? she said.

Mobile philosophy

According to Ms. Scarlett, Coca-Cola has taken on a philosophy of marketing first and mobile second.

?Do you really need a mobile app?? Ms. Scarlett said. ?Does it go with your business strategy?

?You have to make sure you know who your audience is and having the right tactic out there to apply that to your audience,? she said.

?We want to make sure that we are able to be where our consumers are and that they want to engage when they want to engage with us."

The landscape is constantly changing.

?What is created today might not be relevant tomorrow,? Ms. Scarlett said. ?Mobile does not work as an island, social does not work as an island.

?We have to work together to be cohesive,? she said.

According to Eric Brandt, director of ecommerce operations at Express, New York, it is important to continually evolve and grow a company?s strategy as a whole.

?My job is to get the brand and have people shop and experience the brand no matter where they are,? Mr. Brandt said. ?Attribution is something that we?re working on.

?We recently did a pop-up fashion show in Times Square where we leveraged mobile and social,? he said. ?We have a fairly strong social presence and it?s important to see how you really start leveraging mobile in-store.?

Additionally, Mr. Brandt said that SMS is also a key component in the company?s overall strategy.

?Consumers can opt-in to get offers and we include coupon codes as well,? Mr. Brandt said. ?We?ve trained our stores to be able to respond to that. "

Mobile leverage

Brandon McGee, director of global mobile commerce at Dell, Round Rock, TX, said that leveraging mobile into the company?s initiatives is critical.

Dell has been gradually building up its mobile commerce presence.

Last year, a Dell executive at the Mobile Marketing Forum said that its laptops are the top sellers on its mobile commerce-enabled site.

Additionally, Dell found that consumers are visiting its site by typing http://www.dell.com in their mobile browser.

In addition to having a mobile-optimized presence, Dell also recently rolled out an Android application that lets consumers shop for products no matter where they are.

?Last week we launched the Dell mobile app for iPhone,? Mr. McGee said.

Mr. McGee also said that measuring ROI is important.

?There is an ROI for mobile and it?s not difficult to come to that,? Mr. McGee said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York