ORLANDO, FL - The majority of brands seem to think that a mobile strategy consists of an app and a mobile Web site, according to a keynote at the International CTIA Wireless 2011's Mobile Marketing & Promotion pre-conference program.

During the ?Delivering Enhanced Mobile  Brand Performance? session, an executive talked about the explosion of smartphone devices and how mobile commerce, location-based services and social networking are bound to accelerate. Brands are gradually incorporating mobile into their marketing mix, however it is time to move past applications and the mobile Web and see what works best for the end user.

?One of the biggest problems and opportunities that the mobile world presents for brands is the whole concept with instant sharing and instant consumption,? said Alex Hall, chief marketing officer and president of Tigerspike, New York.

?Literally, nothing is sacred for long,? he said. ?There are a lot of mobile strategies that are being driven by a personal agenda.

?There are a lot of companies driving their mobile strategy because the CEO got an iPad.?

Roadmap
According to Mr. Hall, brands are not thinking of a roadmap or how consumers are going to adopt the device as a whole and how it is going to change their behavior.

Many brands choose to create a mobile site or application because they think that is going to be the best solution for them.

Mr. Hall advises that brands think of their consumers rather than of themselves.

Mobile creates an opportunity for companies to reach their desired consumers and reach potential users.

?You lose if you persist with the status quo,? Mr. Hall said. ?I?m talking about from a brand standpoint, and understanding the infrastructure that brands currently have."

According to Mr. Hall, there is no internal understanding and expertise when it comes to brands and their take on mobile.  

?The world is not just apps versus the mobile Web,? he said. ?There is an abundance of mobile technologies.?

Mobile appetite
Mr. Hall works with several brands and publishers and finds that there is always an appetite for new technology ? especially with publishers because they drive the direction.

The structure is tended to inhibit the actual adoption and execution of that, per the executive.

?We see a lot of interesting trends right now,? Mr. Hall said. ?The first for me is that a number of companies have tried and failed.

?It?s important to understand your brand,? he said. ?This sounds very basic, but the reality is that people who know their audience can work out what devices their users are using.

?Fundamentally if we know what devices consumers are using, the brand knows what to content to provide. At the end of the day, marketing is marketing.?

Mr. Hall said it is not about mobile marketing.

If brands are not trying to address consumer concerns as part of their mobile marketing plan then they do not have the end user in mind.

?There?s not point working with you if you?re not going to integrate us from the start of the process,? Mr. Hall said. ?You have to determine what your end user and potential buyers are doing on their phones.

?The tablet and smartphone market has exceeded the number of desktop and notebooks,? he said.

?Find what your brand identity is and how that will drive your strategy.?

Content is king
In addition to find out what consumers are doing on their devices, brands should focus on what kind of content they are building.

Mr. Hall said that a company that is doing things correctly is Foursquare.

The location-based services company recently partnered with American Express.

According to Mr. Hall, that move was the most effective way that Foursquare could have differentiated themselves from competitors such as Facebook.

?It?s about how do we take that mobile commerce side to the next level,? Mr. Hall said. ?American Express has a lot of money behind them ? they have gone down a number of mobile marketing paths.

?A partnership with a company that?s sharing the right synergies and can execute is key,? he said.

Final Take
Alex Hall is chief marketing officers and president at Tigerspike