Digitas, Google Partner For Mobile Marketing Research

  • by May 16, 2011

GooglePhone

Publicis Groupe agency Digitas has teamed with Google to deliver mobile marketing insights and usage research, the companies said. The collaboration will "combine original Google and Digitas search and marketing data to forecast trends, inform investment strategies, and drive the creation of mobile optimized Web sites," they stated.

The arrangment marks Google's latest effort to push research designed to convince advertisers to up mobile spending. Just last month, the search giant released results of a study commissioned from market research firm Ipsos OTX that showed smartphone users responding to mobile ads.

In announcing the Digitas collaboration, Jason Spero, director of Google Mobile Ads, stated that consumers are ahead of advertisers in using mobile devices "to find, shop and buy." Working with Digitas, he said, should "help marketers embrace mobile and provide their customers with a positive experience on this critical platform."

Few specifics on the collaboration were available, but Digitas global CEO Laura Lang was quoted as saying that the collaboration's "collective mission is to take a bold step toward realizing the potential of mobile marketing in creative and surprising ways." 

One Digitas client is Walgreens, whose shoppers count on mobile for "information, access and service when they need it," according to Rich Lesperance, director of online marketing. "This is especially true for last-minute shopping around important holidays like Mother's Day."

Here are the first results released from the new Google/Digitas collaboration, centered around Mother's Day observed on May 9:

  • 33% of Google search queries on the term "flowers" came from mobile devices
  • Mobile search queries for "flowers" on Mother's Day and the preceding week increased over 100% compared with the same periods last year

  • In the week prior to Mother's Day, desktop searches for "flowers" increased from Monday to Friday and then declined on the weekend, while mobile queries steadily increased all week and maxed out on the weekend. While this was deemed consistent with general mobile vs. desktop trends, mobile searches for "flowers" on the weekend were much higher than usual "as last minute shoppers scrambled to find a bouquet for mom"

  • Google searches for "mother's day gifts" were relatively consistent across mobile and desktop.  Why? "Perhaps flowers were the last-minute purchase of choice for many Mother's Day shoppers."

Next story loading loading..