BOSTON – Being able to touch more than seven billion mobile devices around the world isn’t difficult when you are telecom company Syniverse. It’s making sure you’re touching the right person that is a big focus these days, according to CMO Mary Clark.
“The challenge I think right now that we’re getting a lot of feedback from the market on is user identity,” Clark says in an interview with Beet.TV. “If I’m sending a message to me, or if I’m interacting with Mary, is it really Mary’s number?”
This means determining whether information in a CRM system, loyalty application or other internal database isn’t outdated. Syniverse is working on solutions to help figure out “Is Mary still with one operator that she used to be with or has she switched over to somebody else?” says Clark.
As ADWEEK reports, earlier this year Syniverse invested $45 million in mobile marketing firm Vibes. The deal gave Vibes access to Syniverse’s nearly 200 sales and account resources in 150 countries in exchange for access to Vibes’ Catapault platform.
Working together, the companies were an integral part of Chipotle’s attempted return to widespread popularity following an E. coli crisis that prompted the closure of some 43 outlets.
“We worked with them to create a campaign where they put out an offer for a free burrito to 5.3 million people and had a 67% redemption rate, just by sending something to you on your device,” Clark explains.
Whether the goal is building brand loyalty or helping to pave the path to purchase, the mobile channel is still fledgling in nature.
“Mobile marketing I think is still in a very nascent stage,” says Clark. “It has a great deal to do with what’s the baseline identity and information you’ve got about the consumer you’re trying to reach.”
After creating a campaign and setting its duration come the issues of long-term strategy and how it fits into the digital marketing budget.
“That’s really one of the biggest challenges right now is where do I fit mobile and mobile marketing related interaction, not mobile advertising,” says Clark. “How do I fit it into my overall approach and my strategy to build the business and grow the customer base.”
We interviewed her last month at the Progress Partners Connect conference. Our coverage of the conference is sponsored by Simpli.fi. More videos from the series can be found on this page.
