Adam Levene, SVP Strategy at Monitise Create, urges brands to put people first when planning mobile marketing campaigns

It was very early into my career, at the ad-funded mobile network Blyk, that I learned my most valuable lesson. Guided by such technology pioneers as Pekka Ala-Pietilä, the former President of Nokia, and Marko Ahitisaari, until recently Nokia’s EVP of Design, I learned that in an industry like technology, which crassly refers to people as ‘users’, to never forget to put the human at the heart of the experience. So much so, that at Blyk the word ‘users’ was banned from our vocabulary, instead replaced with ‘members’, acknowledging the value customers have in making a business a success. A subtle difference in vernacular, but one that still has a profound effect.

Several years and numerous mobile propositions on, some businesses are still failing to succeed in mobile. Like the lesson I learned at Blyk, failure is often due to a lack of respect for the human impact of technology, ignoring the needs of the consumer and instead pursuing a short-term business agenda.

The human-first mantra
Our successes at Monitise Create have come by applying, almost religiously, the mantra of ‘human-first’ to our clients’ work. We look obsessively at the needs of the customer, and rather than use the channel to sell or advertise, we use it to solve problems and add value. Simply put, we leverage the power of mobile to make life easier for consumers.

Central to human-first is the design experience which, given the tactile and incredibly personal nature of mobile, goes way beyond the colour of pixels. Design experience is what makes creatively-led organisations like Nike or Apple, and digital startups like Netflix and Spotify, so successful. They understand that digital design is not simply about what it looks like or how it functions, but instead, the human impact it has in helping the customer to make their life that little less complex.

Putting it into practice
Banks, often cited for their poor customer service, are witnessing this shift first hand. Some of our major high-street banking clients are seeing an average 27 visits per month to their mobile app, compared to single digit visits per month to a website or branch. The simplicity of the mobile banking experience, with its easy login and stripped-back features such as balance and transfer requests, provides the seamless money management experience that consumers demand in the connected age. Mobile is fundamentally changing the relationship a bank has with its customers.

Likewise, for leading hotel business Premier Inn, the seamless experience of its iPhone and iPad app makes mobile undoubtedly the easiest channel through which to book a night’s stay. So much so that over 30 per cent of rooms are booked this way.

The key to success is ease of use; remaining considerate of adding only features that make transacting as frictionless as possible. By understanding the customer’s time of day, location, preferences and how they use services, the interface becomes incredibly intuitive. Businesses that are able to deliver such a seamless experience can not only expect to see a more loyal customer base, but higher sales, and greater levels of repeat purchases.

Most FTSE and Fortune 500 businesses have dipped their toes in the water of mobile, learning along the way from either mistakes or successes. My hope is that as we enter the second age of mobile, organisations can champion their inner consumer and use our most personal technology to add value and make life easier. In the connected age, those who forget the consumer may be the ones that are soon forgotten.

Adam Levene is SVP strategy at Monitise Create