Strategy Creation and Application

Mobile Tactics for Spindrift: An Update

Spindrift has an excellent opportunity to reimagine their mobile marketing platform due to their existing online presence and loyal customer base. Four tactics in particular are promising and include an improved mobile site, targeted e-mail campaign, mobile application, and community- based social media efforts. Successful implementation of these tactics will help improve user engagement, brand loyalty, and a frictionless experience for customers.

It is not enough to just have a mobile site; Spindrift must capitalize on the opportunity to engage with the user journey and reprioritize content for mobile users and embrace responsive design. At present, the Spindrift mobile site is good, but not great. The few differences between the web and mobile sites are a side menu on mobile, as opposed to a banner menu. Additionally, the mobile site provides a highly accessible link to Spindrifts drink selection. However, Spindrift could do more to connect their mobile users to other engagement points like providing easy access to social media buttons or adding a more visible link to their cocktails section of their website. If a mobile user is accessing the site because they are shopping for Spindrift, they may also want to see what other ingredients they may need to buy from the store. Spindrift should also dive deeper into the possibilities of responsive design. Daniel Rowles in Mobile Marketing defines responsive design as “developing one site that will display appropriately for each device it is viewed on.” This is opposed to building unique sites for different devices, and cuts down on upgrade costs. Additionally, responsive sites provide a great user experience and for that reason are preferred by Google and other search engines according to Ventura. Another benefit with responsive design is flexibility (Mobile 1st). Because responsive websites are not device-specific, Spindrift is less bound by device and has more opportunity to design a website that can be accessed by multiple devices.

Beyond their website, Spindrift has the opportunity to bulk up their email engagement. Despite asking for customer’s emails, Spindrift does not appear to use their contacts for engagement purposes. By creating messages that reach customers with valuable information and emotional appeals, Spindrift can touch their consumer in another place to say front of mind and relevant. Some emotional appeals that could work well for Spindrift include: hope/optimism, curiosity, and self-improvement (SocialMediaToday). Additionally, Spindrift could consider using email as a way of distributing coupons or announcing new flavor releases. Mail Chimp reports an average click through rate for e-coupon emails of 2.23%. For Restaurants, the closest industry to food and beverage, this number was much lower at 1.34%. While a higher click through rate is not necessarily a sign of success, it is one metric available to evaluate possible content. By distributing emotionally appealing and value-providing content in the form of a coupon, Spindrift can leverage its existing customer records as an additional communication channel with customers.

Applications have grown in relevance and serve as great potential connection points with customers. For Spindrift to be successful with a mobile application, you must have interest and buy-in from existing customers and provide value far beyond what is available on the mobile site. Seltzer water is a relatively low involvement purchase for many consumers, which does not make the product an ideal candidate for an app. However, there is opportunity through

gamification to put forward an engaging and valuable app to customers. Similar to Starbucks, Spindrift could look to deploy an app-based rewards system that tracks and rewards top Spindrift consumers (Clevertap). By scanning a QR code on the can, users could gain points and access to swag or discounts as they gain points for purchasing the beverages. Additionally, Spindrift could provide users statistics about their drinking careers, such as the number of real fruits a customer has consumed in their lifetime of Spindrift drinking. Or, what farms and charities their purchases have supported. Depending on the complexity of the app, Spindrift may want to deploy a native app that can handle more complexity and is easily accessible through the app stores (Clearbridge Mobile). Interest could be gauged by launching a lower-cost web-based app, but the lack of features may impair the success to a fatal degree if the app cannot deliver enough value.

Lastly, social media serves as a great opportunity for Spindrift to connect with two niche communities that consume the seltzer: people who drink it as an alcohol alternative and people who drink it as cocktail mixer. These groups may appear to be in conflict with one another, but can be served very relevant content that meets their needs. By utilizing Socialmention.com, our team identified two subreddits that independently can engage the two communities. The first is r/Gin, a subreddit where users discuss different Gins and cocktail recipes, occasionally mentioning Spindrift as a mixer. The other is r/stopdrinking, where users can encourage each other on their sober journeys and share products that help them navigate sobriety. Both subreddits offer opportunities for social listening and customer feedback, essential pieces in a successful social media presence. Creating sharable and engaging content will keep customers invested in the brand and extend reach through a digital version of word of mouth advertising. Beverage company Innocent does this through cute packaging and witty and relatable copy (Moondust Agency).

By utilizing a combination of these mobile tactics, Spindrift can expand their brand reach beyond the point of purchase to engage and re-engage customers. Though a large upfront cost, deploying a multi-channel mobile strategy like this one protects Spindrift from future mobile disruptions and provides content flexibility.

References

[Infographic] A Guide to Mobile App Development: Web vs. Native vs. Hybrid. (2018). Retrieved 8 February 2021, from https://clearbridgemobile.com/mobile-app-development- native-vs-web-vs-hybrid/

Dibenedetto, M. (2020). The Best Marketing Campaigns From the Food & Beverage Sector — Moondust Social Media & Content Agency. Retrieved 8 February 2021, from https://www.moondustagency.com/knowledge-center/best-food-beverage-social-campaigns

Email Marketing Benchmarks | Mailchimp. (2019). Retrieved 8 February 2021, from https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/

Insights About Responsive Web Design in Mobile Marketing By Mobile1st. (2016). Retrieved 8 February 2021, from https://mobile1st.com/responsive-web-design/

Jain, A. (2020). 7 of the Best Examples of App Gamification | CleverTap. Retrieved 8 February 2021, from https://clevertap.com/blog/best-examples-of-app-gamification/

Responsive vs. Adaptive Website Design - Ventura Web Design. Retrieved 8 February 2021, from https://www.venturawebdesign.com/responsive-vs-mobile-website-design/

Rowles, D. (2017). Mobile Marketing (2nd ed.). London: Kogan Page Limited.

Spindrift - Social Mention search. (2021). Retrieved 8 February 2021, from http://socialmention.com/search?q=Spindrift&t=all&btnG=Search&start=15

Walker-Ford, M. (2021). 11 Email Design Trends to Improve Your Email Marketing Strategy in 2021 [Infographic]. Retrieved 8 February 2021, from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/11-email-design-trends-to-improve-your-email- marketing-strategy-in-2021-in/593521/