ICMA Day 2: Mobile and Classifieds
Sharon Knitter, Senior Director of Consumer Products for Cars.com, walked the ICMA audience through the mobile experience that Cars.com recently underwent in April 2007.
The Cars.com mobile application now allows potential car buyers to search new and used listings, click to call a dealer, locate a dealer via a mapping interface, etc…. Knitter explained to the group that what was most important to her was that mobile could be done using a speed to market methodology, with low financial investment and agility to make changes based on consumer usage.
Although, we’re happy to see Cars.com using mobile, I must admit that the mobile interface is not aesthetically pleasing and seems a little dated, yet still I can’t argue with their approach because the application is very tactile and utilitarian.
Shuki Lehavi, CEO and Co-Founder of Gumiyo hit the nail on the head and stated that if a publishing group wants to broach the topic of new media, executive sponsorship is mandatory and necessary! He also explained that publishers need to look at mobile advertisement as an advertising solution need, due to a consumers “life style change”. “It’s not about mobile users;” Lehavi said “… it is about users on mobile.”
Lehavi also urged publishers interested in mobile to tie mobile into their other media streams, giving them a way to measure the value of their traditional media. He suggested using codes in print ads that direct the user to text a code to a specific number, to get access to the information they are looking for.
