Go Where the Fish Are

As the saying goes, if you want to catch fish, then go where the fish are.

Marketers are heeding this obvious advice in choosing where they are increasingly directing their online ad spend dollars.  New research findings reveal what - at least for now - is becoming the prevailing wisdom of this ongoing shift.

Mobile Devices

The steady consumer progression to mobile devices is alive and well.  Marketers are now realizing that their campaigns must be adapted to mobile devices.  A recent report by STRAT, gleaned from a survey of Ad Agencies, suggests that some marketers are even racing to beat the clock.

Though Android gained the most ground with agencies in the second quarter (16 points), iPhone maintained its lead by adding another 10 points.  Further, Apple’s intro of the iPad 2 has now resulted in 46% of agencies designating it as a necessary mobile platform for their clients, placing it firmly in third place.

Google and RIM Aiming to close the Gap

What becomes interesting is the comparison of this data to Nielsen Company’s report of 2Q11 market share data for Smartphone operating systems.  Surprise!   Apple’s mobile OS (iPhone and iPad) is not the market leader.  It runs a fairly distant second to Android, 12 share points behind.  

Three observations:

1. Establishing positioning leadership is a proven marketing strategy.  Apple first did this for a short time in 1980 against PCs before losing out to Microsoft and Intel.  This is not a mistake Jobs is prepared to make a second time.  There is far more at stake than device shipments alone.  
2. Google heard the mobile wakeup call after the iPhone’s initial success, and began to scramble quickly.  It’s first step was to garner platform share as the means for attracting applications developers and advertisers.  With Google’s continued acquisition of small companies in the mobile marketing space, it is aiming to put an enticing value proposition in front of the agencies.  Its strategy is different from its once-collegial competitor.
3. RIM may have missed the wakeup call, but it eventually smelled the coffee.  The announcement of RIM’s new product line on August 3 indicates that (1) short term, they know they must pull applications to make their devices attractive to consumers, and (2) the RIM OS must attract agency dollars if RIM is to stay in the game.  RIM at least has the advantage of being in a better position to close the gap than HP or Nokia.

Social Media Sites Become the Destination

We’ve seen this play out before in the broadcasting industry.  The networks controlled the industry by controlling the content and distribution end.  Radio and TV manufacturers, strong early on when consumers bought their devices to gain access, soon became a commoditized second tier to the network.  Likewise, mobile devices are not the end game.  That lies where content intersects with consumer interest.

Marketers have used the internet like broadcast media for years, placing banner ads and interrupting users with pop-ups and placement ads.  As Google states, though, now only 1 in 1,000 users click on ads, spending a mere 11 seconds on them.  

As the NYT reports, social media is changing the entire marketing view of advertising and promotion.

Advertisers are backing off the direct pitch, and increasingly opting to take users to social media destinations like Facebook and Twitter.  What’s intriguing is how they are doing it.  The ads themselves are integrated with Facebook and Twitter content, often giving them a website-like appearance.  Users stay within a familiar context, retain site and content control, and do not have to put up with anything naggingly intrusive.

Implications

The game is now shifting beyond devices and their platforms.  It’s about the movement to social commerce - anytime, anywhere.

Consider that Facebook and Twitter continue to build huge user bases, and are beginning to garner big advertiser followings.  Also consider that social commerce requires a Facebook and a Twitter.

A new marketing channel is evolving.  

The old channel consisted of TV and radio manufacturers, newspapers, broadcast media and Madison Avenue.  Content was static and served up massively to millions at a time who all saw or heard exactly the same thing.

The new channel players are the mobile device manufacturers, the OS programmers, mobile carriers, Madison Avenue, San Francisco’s media firms, and social media sites.  Content is created by tens of millions for hundreds (or millions) of others to see.  Nothing is static.  Content does not roll of an assembly line.  Users create their own context, and their own content channels.

The heady market valuations among social media firms suggest that they may well hold the big cards.

Because that’s where the fish are.