Starbucks is 2010 Mobile Marketer of the Year

Starbucks Coffee Co. has been named 2010 Mobile Marketer of the Year, the highest accolade in mobile advertising, marketing and media.

Based on the nominations received from readers and submissions from this publication's editorial team, Mobile Marketer is convinced that Starbucks serves as a role model for marketers for its outstanding use of mobile as a marketing medium.

“Starbucks has proved that soigné marketing across all mobile channels is possible, tying customer branding, acquisition and retention initiatives into a strategic effort worth admiring from near and far,” said Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief of Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily, New York.

“The coffee giant is most commonly associated with a coupon to drive traffic in-store, but an analysis of its efforts will show that Starbucks taps mobile for the medium's strengths: location, timeliness and immediacy, convenience and measurability,” he said.

“Starbucks’ brilliant mobile marketing, from conception to execution and measurement in a multichannel context, makes it a no-brainer for 2010 Mobile Marketer of the Year.”

Starbucks is driving sales of its Via Ready Brew via location-based mobile marketing
The Mobile Marketer of the Year is the most prestigious honor for smart, strategic and creative mobile marketing. Team Obama won the honor in 2008 and Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. in 2009.

Starbucks shaped the mobile marketing industry this year, serving as an exemplar to other brands and encouraging agencies and service providers.

“Starbucks has clearly shown that it is a pioneer in the mobile space and a brand that has realized the importance of mobile," said Paul Gelb, director and mobile practice lead at Razorfish, New York. "It always distinguishes itself with the level of insight it has into its consumers and the way it is able to create an experience that attracts and maintains a loyal consumer base.

Starbucks ad in the Pandora iPad app
"Given the nature of its business and the length of time people spend in its locations, and how people use Starbucks for numerous types of computing, whether it be using a laptop or, often, a mobile phone, the brand has made its offering a beacon for that, leveraging a wide variety of mobile experiences," he said.

Here is a breakdown of Starbucks' work in the mobile space, and why it is mobile top dog.

Building lists of loyalists
Starbucks is highly focused on building a qualified database of respondents to mobile campaigns.

The opt-in list is gold, since the churn rate with mobile phone numbers is minimal compared with email or postal addresses.

In October, Starbucks was among the first brands on board for a six-month trial powered by Placecast that relies on consumers opting-in to receive relevant messages based on age, gender, interests and – for the first time – their location.

When opted-in, consumers that are found to be within a geofenced area owned by Starbucks receive a text message offering them money off Starbucks Via Ready Brew at a nearby branch.

One mobile coupon from Starbucks offers consumers money off of their Via purchase.

The brand believes that, by offering discounts for customers who are close to supermarkets and its coffee shops where Starbucks Via Ready Brew is sold, it will encourage brand loyalty and drive foot traffic.

This promotion allows Starbucks to save the list of loyalists and remarket to them in the future.

Well-performing efforts
Starbucks consistently achieves a high rate of response to campaigns, thus proving deft use of calls to action and targeted marketing.

For example, Starbucks-owned Seattle’s Best Coffee’s mobile advertising campaign to promote its new canned iced coffee drove 139,000 users to the brand’s mobile site.

The vast variety of mobile ad units succeeded in driving consumers to an interactive landing experience compatible with thousands of mobile devices.

The advertising creative was outstanding, as the ad imagery conveyed the brand attributes and engendered high click-throughs.

The campaign included executions such as standard banners, animated multi-panel banners, text links, in-application expandable banners and full-page interactive interstitials.