Coca-Cola boosts mobile social app with second-screen integration
Coca-Cola is boosting its mobile social community with a new second-screen strategy that integrates the brand?s online marketing with television content for deeper customer insights.
With the second-screen syncing, users of the SmileWorld application in Spain can now tap on a Coca-Cola logo embedded within content such as a TV show or ad to tag it and get extra features or coupons. A recent update to the photo-sharing app also adds the ability for users to follow their favorite hashtags, geo-locate their photos and videos to specific places and scan bar codes on Coca-Cola products.
?Television no longer commands an individual?s entire attention,? said Esha Shah, Manager, mobile strategy and innovation at Fetch. ?So it only makes sense for big brands like Coca-Cola, that invest so much in television, to create a second-screen experience that addresses this rise of multiscreen.
?As multiscreen marketing continues to evolve ? we hope to see more brands investing in experiences that bridge across more than one screen,? she said. ?Traditional brands can especially benefit by created extended experiences that relate to their TV advertising.
?For examples, brands can display mobile ads on consumer devices that relate to their TV commercials ? planning them so they appear at precisely the right time. Brands can test advertising on connected TV?s and then retarget those same consumers across their other devices.?
Ms. Shah is not affiliated with Coca-Cola and spoke based on her experience.
Coca-Cola was not able to provide comments by the deadline.
Extra content
By integrating the SmileWorld app with TV programming, Coca-Cola hopes to create the opportunity for the SmileWorld community to become even more involved with the brand.
For the update, Coca-Cola partnered with automatic content recognition solutions provider Civolution and mobile marketing firm Gigigo to synchronize the app with the TV screen to create second-screen experiences on all mobile devices.
A Coca-Cola second screen logo is embedded within various content and invites viewers to tag and get extra features or coupons.
The synchronized second-screen experiences in the SmileWorld app enable uses to further interact with the brand in real-time. At the same time, the strategy enables Coca-Cola to improve its customer relationship management and strategy through usage data.
The SmileWorld strategy is the latest example of what brands are doing to capitalize on how consumers are embracing their mobile devices to engage with TV content.
?Brands can also develop contests or social sharing opportunities that require further engagement on the mobile device,? Ms. Shah said. ?This is also be a great learning opportunity to take a pulse on how many people engage with experiences and the type of experiences that attract consumers while they are watching TV.
?It definitely makes sense for a brand like Coca-Cola to dabble in multiscreen as they are a brand with a loyal consumer base and they are recognizable across the world,? she said. ?Coca-Cola goes after the huge brand campaigns and integrate multiple layers on marketing within its efforts.?
Mobile content
SmileWorld was launched in 2012. It aggregates popular social networks such as Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter to create a community around the brand.
Users can upload photos and videos and share them across social networks. They can also participate in games and promotions.
Building compelling mobile content experiences has been a big for Coca-Cola this year.
For example, the broad roll out this year of the Share A Coke campaign was accompanied by a strong mobile push (see story).
Coca-Cola also equipped its World of Coca-Cola attraction with beacons this summer to enable visitors to unlock location-based content (see story).
Coca-Cola may also be looking at building branded video streaming channels in India as an alternative to television ads (see story).
One of the challenges Coca-Cola faces with positioning SmileWorld as a second-screen app is getting consumers to adopt the app.
?Coca-Cola is not a mobile first company which means getting users to adopt a branded app can be a challenge,? Ms. Shah said. ?Retention within the app can also be a challenge as content needs to be relevant and interesting enough for users to continue to engage.
?It will be crucial for Coca-Cola to build a marketing plan that drive downloads ? because if users do not know about this app and are not interested in downloading it ? Coca-Cola?s strategy will fall flat,? she said.
Final Take
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Marketer, New York
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Marketer, New York
