Branding and Mobile: Revolutionizing Strategies

State Of The Art

In today’s world, brands are omnipresent. What started as trademarks on pottery to identify their handcrafter, brands are now irreplaceable, intangible assets that are worth billions of dollars. Interbrand estimated the monetary value of Apple and Google each in its 2014 annual report as more than $100 billion (Interbrand, 2014). Brands today have gone far beyond simple trademarks and reside in the minds of consumers rather than on product labels. With the new digital mobile revolution taking place and shifting media consumption habits of consumers, building strong brands has become a challenging task for many companies.

Mobile triggered two fundamental changes. First, it created new markets and companies that couldn’t be imagined even 10 years before. Swiping pictures of potential dates left and right (Tinder) or sending photos to friends that automatically disappear after 10 seconds (Snapchat) might have been unimaginable in the end of 1990s but are parts of our daily routine today. Second, mobile introduced new battlefields to existing firms. With mobile Internet surpassing that of desktop computers, companies are pressed to take the mobile-first strategy and m-branding seriously. If the mid-1980s were about the economic value of brands as business assets (Keller, 2013), and the 1990s and 2000s were about the social value of brands and trust building (Clifton & Simmons, 2003), now it goes even deeper to perceptions and seamless consumer experience across different media platforms (Welsbeck & Berney, 2014). In championing this trend, the individualization of the consumer experience plays an increasingly important role. The Adobe Marketer’s Guide to Personalization (2013, pp. 2-3) summarizes the essence of this rising trend: