Editorial Articles

Gedeon Stol, Head of Technology and Innovation at Euro RSCG explains how mobile makes the power of marketing accessible to the little guys

The 1890s is an exciting place to be. Powered by large steam engines, the industrial revolution is in full swing. Manufacturing, agriculture and transport are all booming to the drumbeat sound of pistons and the smooth turn of axles. It’s a great time to be a successful business owner.

But one German engineer, Rudolf Diesel, isn’t satisfied. He has noticed how shockingly inefficient steam engines are. Perhaps, he thinks, they could be improved, refined and made more efficient and accessible to smaller businesses.

In 1893 he patents and demonstrates the world’s first diesel engine. Suddenly, it isn’t necessary to have a massive steam engine to run the machines in your factory or the paddle of your steamboat. The more efficient Diesel engine can supply more power cheaply, with a smaller footprint, and without coal.

What has Germany in the 1890s and diesel engines got to do with marketing technology? Today we would call Diesel’s engine a disruptive technology. But it was more than that at the time. By making the resource of power more accessible, it levelled the playing field. It made massive growth possible for smaller businesses in all different types of industries - manufacturing, transport and shipping to name but a few.

Mobile marketing technologies are becoming the diesel engines of the 21st century. From a marketer’s perspective, the mobile internet is rapidly levelling the playing field. It is making the power of marketing accessible to the little guys, the consumers and small businesses that can’t normally compete with the large, steam powered, marketing machines of the big corporations.

Geolocation services like Google Places and Foursquare enable consumers to immediately review restaurants, bars, coffee shops, hairdressers and garages. Whether it’s a global fast food chain or the greasy spoon, they get treated the same way; a score out of five and a few paragraphs on service. A review from a recent customer carries with it the most credibility out of all recommendations. It’s like standing outside the restaurant and asking people their honest opinion on whether they had a good meal.

The advent of the mobile wallet will have a similar democratising effect. Small businesses are currently charged a fee by banks to hire a credit/debit card machine and process transactions. But the ability to handle micropayments using your mobile phone is easy and fast for the consumer and more cost effective for the business owner. It’s already in use in countries like Japan and Hong Kong. Eventually the ability to pay with your mobile phone will make payment by card seem as archaic as payment by cheque today.

Groupon, the phenomenally successful voucher marketing scheme, has also gone mobile. Now a small business doesn’t need expensive traditional marketing to raise awareness and distribute its special offers and discounts. Combined with geolocation, the Groupon experience becomes an effective targeted marketing tool.

There are other examples, but essentially these new online marketing and geolocation services have one thing in common. They’re more powerful, more efficient and more accessible than traditional marketing. It's diesel powered marketing. New tools and technologies are shifting the balance of power away from the large corporates, back to the consumer and the little guys.

The 21st century is an exciting place to be and you can leave your steam powered marketing behind in the 20th century.

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