The Sherwin-Williams Co. is using mobile advertising to drive downloads of its branded ColorSnap application for Apple?s iPhone and Research In Motion?s BlackBerry smartphones.

For the creation of the ColorSnap application, Sherwin-Williams tapped Columbus, OH-based Resource Interactive, which has been the brand?s digital agency of record since 2006. ColorSnap for iPhone launched in May 2009, and based on the positive response and success of the application, Sherwin-Williams wanted to go further.

?We began planning version two to add enhanced features and functionality to the iPhone app and extend it to the BlackBerry platform in order to increase the reach of the app,? said Pam Gillikin, director of interactive sales and marketing at Sherwin-Williams, Cleveland.

?We wanted to include more of our customers and leverage our sales force of approximately 1,600 reps who carry and use BlackBerrys as part of their daily work lives,? she said.

?It all started from the desire to help customers with the daunting task of choosing the right paint color for their project.?

Sherwin-Williams is an American Fortune 500 company in the general building materials industry.

The company primarily engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial and retail customers. It is mostly known through its Sherwin-Williams Paints line.

ColorSnap expands
Sherwin-Williams and Resource Interactive launched the second version of ColorSnap for iPhone in February of this year, and the BlackBerry application debuted in July.

?The ColorSnap iPhone app has been a huge success, with hundreds of thousands downloads in over 60 countries, awards and media features,? Ms. Gillikin said. ?We got such positive feedback from those using the app, yet there were many customers and Sherwin-Williams employees that did not have iPhones.

?With the success of the app and its abilities to help the Sherwin-Williams customers in their selection of color, we wanted to reach a broader audience,? she said. ?We set our sights on the Blackberry platform as RIM still has the highest number of smartphone users [in North America]. 

Ms. Gillikin said that Sherwin-Williams has two opportunities to reach a whole new set of customers through releasing the application for BlackBerry.

First, the brand is reaching those customers who own and use a BlackBerry device.

Second, Sherwin-Williams employees are now empowered with new tools to help educate and inspire their customers as well in the field.

?To fully engage as many customers as possible, it was very important to make sure we created an experience that was optimized for the primary smartphone BlackBerry devices,? Ms. Gillikin said.

?The Resource Interactive team was able to flex their development muscles and took advantage of the opportunity to partner with RIM to make ensure we were creating a user-friendly app experience leveraging common behaviors unique to BlackBerry users,? she said.

?We sought to create a ColorSnap BlackBerry app to support a variety of trackball and touchscreen BlackBerry smartphone devices with differing screen sizes and capabilities, yet deliver on an experience that is as impactful as the iPhone application experience.?

The ColorSnap application lets users:

-  Capture a color that inspires them and get the closest match to one of 1,500 Sherwin-Williams paint colors

-  Create a custom palette or go to the Ask Sherwin-Williams sections for colors that complement their color of choice

-  Search for specific colors or browse the full Sherwin-Williams color palette

-  Fine-tune colors using lightness and saturation features

-  Save colors to their ?My Saved Colors? library to compare palettes or share with friends and family via Facebook and email

-  Learn detailed color information, including color names, RGB values and LRV numbers

-  Find a nearby Sherwin-Williams store

Marketing tactics
ColorSnap was featured in the main section of the BlackBerry App World in early August, within weeks after launch.

To get the word out about ColorSnap for both iPhone and BlackBerry, Sherwin-Williams ran promotions on its Web site, and there were announcements on both of Sherwin-Williams? Facebook pages.

In addition, the brand has run mobile ad campaigns to drive downloads for the iPhone and BlackBerry versions.

Sherwin-Williams partnered with AdMob, now a subsidiary of Google, for the mobile ad campaigns. The ad units are a banner with a text link.

?We did a campaign for iPhone version one last year with them and had great results, which we hope to repeat,? Ms. Gillikin said. ?We achieved tens of thousands of downloads within the first 60 days.?

ColorSnap for iPhone is currently approaching half a million downloads, and the BlackBerry version has surged past 30,000 downloads.

The average session time for users of the application averages more than five minutes.

Ms. Gillikin said that Sherwin-Williams learned several lessons from the experience.

The time-to-market for a BlackBerry application is two-to-three times that of the iPhone because of the complexities involved.

BlackBerry applications are still in their infancy relative to iPhone applications, and there are a lot of challenges to overcome.

There is not a lot of documentation for creative standards, especially with the older devices.

There are so many BlackBerry devices with differing screen sizes for which the application must be optimized.

In addition, BlackBerry devices are available via multiple carriers and there are different possible features, functions and capabilities from one device to another.

That said, Sherwin-Williams is pleased with the final product.

?We are thrilled to be able to offer a high-end app experience across nine devices with 18 total variations,? Ms. Gillikin said. ?We are reviewing user feedback and exploring possibilities for future feature updates and expanding current supported devices.?

Final Take
Dan Butcher, associate editor, Mobile Marketer

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