I’m still digesting Tracy Benson’s amazing insight yesterday on retail and mobile. (More on that later.) But here’s what I know we want to share right away.
Benson, senior director of interactive marketing at Best Buy, began her presentation at the Retail Innovation & Marketing Conference by asking people to swap cell phones with the person sitting next to them. There was a lot (and, I mean, a LOT) of hesitation, but most people followed directions. Then we were asked to trade phones with another person close by. More hesitation ensued, but most people obliged.
At my table, I ended up holding the BlackBerry of a guy I’d never met and he (gasp!) was cradling my iPhone. It made me cringe. This short exercise was a powerful reminder to me – and, likely, many other attendees – of the personal value we place on our mobile devices.
What does mobile mean to Best Buy? A tremendous business opportunity. Best Buy debuted a video during Benson’s presentation about the value of mobile – not only on Best Buy’s employees, but also on the company. Take four minutes to watch this and you’ll realize, this is a company that gets it.
9 Comments
loved this one too, and wanted my readers to know about it http://cisjustaletter.com/2010/03/06/best-buys-mobile-computing-video-rocks/
more good things coming from the convention. Well Done!
The commerical from the core provides good detail and positive information. Best Buy’s views are appropriate for the time. We found it interesting they chose to keep My Space in the ad.
In our personal view, taking a telephone to bed did cross the line but we are aware, people really do this.
Paul
Great video. Well done. The only challenge is that not everyone has the mobile device capable of displaying exactly what most of the desktops can provide. Also the bandwidth to download all these information is not something you will stand in front of the product and wait for the data to download. 8 out of 10 online shoppers still want to research their product’s pricing, features, and availability at the comfort of their home even before they arrive at the store or making a decision to make a purchase online. One of the disadvantages on mobile device is that you cannot see the product images well enough to make a purchasing judgment. On the other hand, while sitting in front of the desktop computer shoppers can view products in many resources such as image gallery, 360 degrees rotation and video presentations. The key is the more shoppers know about the product the more confident they have toward a purchase.
I’ve tried the best buy iphone app and it was fair (4 on a scale of 10). Parts of it were good and other parts seemed “thrown in” or afterthoughts.
Jane Goodill
Best Buy has done a tremendous job with their localization campaign utilizing the Reward Zone. I wonder do they place such strong emphasis on the mobile phone nationwide?
I love this commercial video interaction is totally about life in the 21st Century. Good job!
In response to Jessicas comment, yes what you say is true about bandwidth and download times. Mobile devices need websites built for them to make the experience a pleasure and many web developers are doing just that, but the best sites always look great on a PC.
Flash has a lot to do with that, but who really needs that on a phone. I tend to make pure xhtml for mobile devices and keep images to a minimum.
After all, what is the point of making people spend their money for every kb they download when they can have the info they need in their hand far quicker and cheaper.
I think Best Buy saw a great opportunity in the mobile industry that growing rapidly.
would be good to see the result of this type of marketing
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[...] trends to watch for 2010. Trust us when we say, everyone is on the mobile bandwagon. Best Buy even shared a video of why they love mobile and what it means to the company (it’s worth a [...]
[...] trends to watch for 2010. Trust us when we say, everyone is on the mobile bandwagon. Best Buy even shared a video of why they love mobile and what it means to the company (it’s worth a [...]