Why marketers need to embrace ‘Mobile Moments of Truth’

Text: Vasuta Agarwal, managing director, Asia Pacific, InMobi 

Southeast Asia is brimming with untapped opportunities driven by rapid urbanisation and digitisation. This has significantly impacted the consumer journey, changing forever how consumers interact and engage with brands. ​As more apps emerge and existing apps expand their offerings, consumers are increasingly leveraging mobile to shape their daily experiences. 

The new-age connected consumer has left marketers hamstrung, always one step behind. Consumers today move so fast that brands are perpetually finding themselves playing catch up. In such a world, marketers are hard-pressed to find new ways to deliver quality consumer-brand relationships. 

Mobile Moments of Truth Explained

While traditional marketing frameworks may have followed a linear model, rapid digitisation has led to massive disruption in the consumer journey. The shorter attention spans of consumers, when paired with hyper-connectivity, results in a collision of moments.

“The growing consumer base expects immediate, seamless access to content, products, and services,” notes Eka Sugiarto, Unilever’s head of media for Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

Users today might consider first, then research, advocate next and then make a purchase - or these might happen simultaneously. This leads to the possibility of countless permutations of new consumer choices, leading to ambiguous, multiple customer journeys. 

“Without knowing the consumer struggles, it becomes difficult for brands to tailor and deliver an appropriate level of content at the right time, and they lose many precious potential moments of serendipity,” says Silas Lewis-Meilus, director and head of media for APAC at GSK.​ 

In order to stay relevant in these changing times, marketers need to make room for ‘Mobile Moments of Truth’​, according to InMobi’s 2020 Mobile Marketing Handbook. These moments are defined by the following characteristics: ​

Non-Linear: The stages between awareness and purchase are varied, while often no longer being linear. Customers might start an activity on one medium, continue on another channel and make a purchase via an entirely different medium​.

Simultaneous: While shopping journeys could previously be separated into unique phases, today, these stages often overlap, leading to a collision of moments and a distortion of customer journeys. 

Multi-Tasking: As connectivity continues to increase at breakneck speed, the length of purchase cycles have drastically reduced. This is largely due to the ease of consumption enabled by connectivity, be it increased access, increased options or improved payment interfaces.​

Personalised: With increased connectivity comes great opportunity, as brands have multiple avenues to leave a lasting positive impression on consumers. Personalisation is a key lever that customers expect when interacting with brands. ​

How Marketers can leverage Mobile Moments of Truth

Southeast Asia is a small but mighty region teeming with untapped opportunities. Mobile has significantly impacted the consumer journey, changing how consumers interact and engage with brands. ​

In order to make the most of these circumstances, it is critical for marketers to drive real-time actions with real-time insights. As we enter the golden age of data, marketers must leverage this resource responsibly by understanding consumer expectations in real-time, so they can engage and delight consumers with experiences they have come to expect.​ And as David Porter, VP of global media - Asia Pacific and Africa at Unilever shares, “Marketers need to create an agreeable digital experience that redefines the data value exchange between consumers and brands.”

The innumerable touch-points and breadcrumbs that brands receive on mobile provide marketers with the opportunity to drive near real-time understanding and optimisation.  Marketers must couple this data with a dynamic creative strategy and offer tailor-made immersive experiences that are most relevant to consumers. 

By embracing Mobile Moments of Truth, brands can ensure they are finally in lockstep with consumers, providing them with delightful experiences at the speed of today’s customers.

For more insights about the SEA mobile market, download InMobi’s 2020 Mobile Marketing Handbook.