We must “banish” non-mobile responsive sites and QR codes, says Capcom's Craig Brown and Reckitt Benckiser's Seb Mossop
Websites that are not optimised for mobile devices should be “banished” into Room 101, while QR codes have "failed" to reach their full potential and therefore should also be binned,according to Capcom UK product manager Craig Brown and Reckitt Benckiser's regional media manager Seb Mossop respectively.
Speaking at the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Mobile Engage event in London this morning Mossop said QR codes had "missed their chance" to make any headway in the market. "It's a shame - they were clever and sophisticated and contained 100 times more than a traditonal bar code so they were a great start. But what we have seen since has not been as successful as the industrial implementation of it. It has not reached anywhere near its potential," he said.
Mossop believes part of the reason for QR codes failing to hit the mainstream was a result of "poor" marketing campaigns that were badly applied. "QR codes were put on ads for example that didn't deliver any added value to the consumer, and once a consumer has a bad experience it is a struggle to get them to return to that experience."
He said newcomers to this space should "learn from QR codes mistakes", adding "Consumers want additional information and added value and brands in the past, and some still today, just want to push their own brand messages – there is a clear disconnect there."
Meanwhile Brown likened the mobile consumer journey on a non-optimised site to “buying a first class train ticket and then sitting in economy”.
Today’s consumers expect a seamless, consistent mobile experience and marketers that do not already have mobile-optimised site must rectify this, according to Brown.
“This might seem old school for those of you that have been at Mobile Engage for several years but it is so important that whatever device a consumer is on their experience is seamless. It frustrates me as a consumer and surprises me as a marketer that this mobile consistency isn’t always there,” he said.
He advised brands to invest in the necessary infrastructure for mobile sites, which in turn would benefit mobile advertising. He also said by running its own mobile sites it has benefited from having more transparency on its data rather than having to rely solely on industry studies.
Their comments came during the IAB's Room 101 session in which speakers were asked which mobile issue they would banish into Room 101.
Elsewhere at the event IAB chairman Richard Eyre said it was still frustrating that around half of websites we use still don’t have a mobile optimised site.
He joked that this year would be the last in which he would not “name and shame” some of the advertisers that have still not invested in mobile-ready sites.
Opportunities for mobile are boundless and have contributed to the “end of advertising as we know it”, added. How he warned that brands must ensure they don’t abuse consumer permissions and ensure they maintain consumer trust when developing more integrate mobile experiences and communications.
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