This is so stupid. Ok, maybe just slow and self-congratulatory. It’s kind of like being proud of yourself for making a lovely ketchup-doused meatloaf out of filet mignon.
It’s a case study on mobile branding, and I just can’t see how it’s anything to get excited about. Some Golden Compass mobile ads (which I strongly suspect were just small-screen versions of the trailer) were shown to a bunch of people ages 18-54, and what do you know, the users were aware of the ads. I, personally, am floored. Ok, sarcasm re: branding measurement aside, the case study found that users’ intent to see the movie was nudged up after seeing the ad. I wonder, though, if that intent diminished once the ad was no longer top-of-mind.
Of course, you know what I’m going to say: Mobile ads are useless until users can take immediate action. Let the children watch the trailer, yes! Let them be aware of your bleeding ad, yes! Then locate them geographically, pull up a mobile ticketing system for the nearest theater, and let the user choose the date, time, and number of tickets. Mobile branding doesn’t make as much sense as mobile conversion, and I guarantee you the parents of that horrid, stinking bomb of a movie would rather have ticket sales than awareness.
I mean, that film bombed, right? I don’t know. I don’t watch movies anymore. I watch teh internets. But teh internets has just informed me that The Golden Compass was “the worst bomb of the year” for 2007, mobile branding efforts be damned.
Anyhow, to the people at Greystripe and Dynamic Logic, sorry to have ripped your case study. But next time, convince your client to take it to the next level. We’re just testing, after all.
