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The user

BabyCenter wanted to take the popular experience of BabyCenter.com and create a mobile experience. The initial expansion of Babycenter to the mobile was geared for the U.S. Hispanic market a unique segment of 40+ million people comprising the largest most dynamic and fastest - growing ethnic group in the U.S. They required product and marketing strategies that resonated with their unique tastes and identities. Studies reveal Hispanic Americans are keen to embrace technology having already adopted wireless communications products and services with a higher adoption rate than the general U.S. population; however they require refining product development and marketing around three key success factors: culture language and price. Technology-makers and marketers must reach out to the Hispanic market with messages that resonate with their focus on family and friends and entertainment as a social activity tapping into their culture and language. This demographic was used to test the site’s first mobile strategy before launching the mobile site for the general U.S. market and the rest of the world.

To meet the above objectives Velti and Ansible designed and implemented an innovative multi-level mobile marketing campaign solution which included a series of activities to attract the technology-savvy U.S. Hispanic population and appeal to their family-related culture. The mobile experience had to have the same high quality and ease of accessing information as the website but with an eye towards those “on the go.” Where are they seeing it? What do they want to know while away from home? How will it look on the phone? This mobile experience had to span different phones and the way people use their phones - iPhone/3G mobile with Internet (voice SMS email) and mobile no Internet (mix of SMS and voice).

The experience

Using a state-of-the-art user friendly graphic interface, the BabyCenter campaign integrates different advertising formats (online and mobile website, mobile alerts, sponsored content, promotional text messages, sweepstakes), a mobile club creating a community of pregnant women and new mothers, and leverages web and mobile applications to maximize traffic and effectiveness. In order to meet the various needs of U.S. Latina moms, the campaign included:

> Multiple means to register: website, SMS, voice
> Multiple languages: BabyCenter English and Spanish
> Multiple ways to access information: website, SMS, voice. Text for all alerts and mobile web for deeper learning (you can even see the baby’s development)
> Multiple levels of engagement: sign up for alerts or browse the web on your phone for pregnancy tips or an ovulation calculator

The BabyCenter solution includes the following four activities: (1) A mobile wap site in Spanish, which extends the web experience to those ‘on the go.’ The BabyCenter Wap Site was designed to address the mostly likely questions and issues when users are not at home: Name finder, Baby development guide, Is it safe?, Is it normal?, Shopping guide, Newborn Guide, and a Sleep Guide. (2) Sponsored Alerts and Tips – for pregnant women or mothers with babies up to 3 months old, providing timely reminders for things such as immunizations. (3) A Mobile Club – creating a community of pregnant women and new mothers. Club members are notified of special offers and promotions from major brands, including Johnson and Johnson, General Motors Corp., JC Penney, Nestle, State Farm, Unilever, and others, all major advertisers in the Hispanic market. (4) A Web-based Sweepstake Contest – promoting the new wap site and the BabyCenter alerts and tips service.

The campaign successfully created a mobile community where Mothers-to-be and new mothers were able to network socially and share personal experiences, while receiving tips on new and current products that meet their interests: 93% of users that registered for the mobile club remain registered. BabyCenter also provided users with a desired means of learning about new products: 43% of BabyCenter subscribers registered for mobile alerts, 94% of users that registered for alerts remain registered, and the Alerts average growth per month was 263%. The campaign also helped identify the type of mobile content mom’s desire: Mobile coupons and other discounts: 56%, Personalized information: 46%, Games: 29%, and Sweepstakes and contests: 26%.