According to eMarketer estimates, there will be a projected 242 million mobile users in the United States by year-end, helping to spur the mobile applications race between consumer products brands.

The CPG industry spent nearly $2 billion on advertising in the U.S. in the first half of 2009, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Even with that spend, consumer products marketers?including food, beverage, liquor, quick-service restaurants, household products, personal care, pet and apparel brands?are increasingly turning to mobile applications to get an edge in the competitive market.

?Some consumer products marketers might not need apps?just because a lot of brands have mobile apps, doesn't mean all brands need them,? said Tobi Elkin, writer/editor at eMarketer, New York. ?There's a lot of ?me too? in the marketplace.

?Whether you're a consumer packaged goods brand, a quick-service restaurant chain, a soft drink or household brand, the brand team needs to determine whether the app will offer something that improves the consumer's life in some way, that offers a unique benefit,? she said. ?Then a consumer can associate your brand with something useful, an enabling utility.

?Often an app will offer pure entertainment and tie in with a brand's quarterly in-store promotion or loyalty program, and sometimes apps achieve both?utility and entertainment?but brands need to be clear about their mission.?

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Brand extension or true utility? 
For many marketers, applications are becoming a constituent part of an existing mobile marketing and media strategy.

?I think a lot of marketers think they need a mobile app just to remain relevant...digitally speaking,? Ms. Elkin said.

An overwhelming 64.8 percent of marketers and publishers reported planning to invest in mobile apps this year, according to a December 2009 survey conducted by DM2Pro and Quattro Wireless.

Mobile phones and devices play an important role in consumers? lives and are spurring the growth of mobile applications.

But mobile marketing strategists caution CPG marketers in particular to be very clear about the value and benefit to consumers of a mobile application.

CPG brands want closer relationships with their customers and the opportunity to invite them into personal exchanges and immersive experiences.

Ms. Elkin said that the right kinds of mobile applications tethered to social media can move consumer products marketers closer to their goals.

Marketers have to provide something useful or solve a problem that a customer has.

In addition, marketers need to probe how an application will tie into their overall digital and mobile marketing and media strategy.

Loyalty/rewards apps
Marketers are using mobile applications to drive online opt-ins for loyalty programs, newsletters and rewards programs.

Brands are tying them to Facebook Connect for limited-time sampling offers and promotions, which also help them to get shout-outs, recommendations and mentioned in online chat, so these types of actions help keep brands top-of-mind.

When brands are mentioned on Facebook or Twitter, their applications might have more of a chance of being downloaded.

Some marketers are creating applications to drive people into stores via store locator functions.

Kraft, for example, has the iFood Assistant, which helps consumers with meal-planning, provides menu suggestions and helps them compose ingredient lists and shopping lists.

Benjamin Moore's Ben Color Capture application has a creative and functional use: Users can snap a picture with their phone of a color they like and then the application comes up with a few color matches, the closest Benjamin Moore colors on the market. Then they can access the store locator to find the store nearest to them.

?One major point is that marketers don't always need to develop their own apps,? Ms. Elkin said. ?They can partner with existing apps that already have installed bases and with publishers.

?Nestle's Power Bar is an example of that?it partnered with Ski & Snow Report, a popular provider of winter sports content,? she said. ?In that case, there was a sampling program, in-app advertising and promotion, and nutritional content provided.

?There are tons of opportunities out there.?

Best practices for devising a mobile app strategy
Marketers need to be very clear about their objectives and not just figure on doing a one-off campaign.

?If they're going to develop a mobile app or try a partnership, they need to determine how it fits into an overall mobile marketing strategy,? Ms. Elkin said. ?Futhermore, how does it fit or where does it sit in the digital marketing strategy?

?How it the app tie into social media platforms as they evolve? How can it tie into the customer database?? she said. ?And maybe most important, an app needs to be promoted!

?These are questions that need to be asked from the start, and marketers forget that.?

Ms. Elkin said that brands should keep an eye on the Apple iPad, which she expects to make a big impact on applications.

?Without a doubt, the arrival of the iPad is bound to change the game for mobile app development,? Ms. Elkin said. ?The canvas is bigger for starters, which has implications for what a marketer can do with an app.

?Content and information-intensive apps may flourish on a bigger canvas,? she said.