How Does Mobilize Work?
By Jason Norris, Head of Media

Brands around the world are seeking new ways to create more engagement with audiences — and Augmented Reality (AR) is the next frontier. Those who view AR-enhanced creative content are more likely to prefer longer form content over regular, static content, sometimes for up to 3–5 minutes.

For mobile phone carriers, this is an opportunity that is there for the taking. The conversation around AR is set to move away from utilizing fun Snapchat filters to how can this enhanced content be activated with more contextually relevant content and interaction. Mobilize has been working together with carriers to make this a possibility for brands by providing users a way to enjoy rich, AR content from their native cameras while enabling brands to serve it at the right time and right place.

Many phone carriers might consider how they can incorporate Mobilize’s technology as a valuable, more sellable functionality. But many may be wondering how this partnership would work exactly? How does Mobilize provide the legwork to get their software on mobile carrier platforms?

How Does Integration Work?
When mobile carriers consider Mobilize, the first question is how integrated they want to be. The most integrated method would involve installing Mobilize as a white label product. Under this agreement, carriers would have Mobilize’s full camera stack with the same look and feel as if it was part of the features of the smartphone’s native camera..

The second way would be through an SDK integration. Under this option, carriers would work with Mobilize to pick and choose which features they’d like to incorporate..

Both of these options are available for both Android and iOS application packages with the full range of functionality and features available.

Where Does Content Come From?
Once a carrier decides to work with Mobilize, where does the content come from? How does Mobilize know what content to deploy at the time the user is most receptive to it?

Mobilize’s platform utilizes a content management system where it houses all the content assets and categorizes them in different ways. This ranges from places like beaches, stadiums, parks, and restaurants. Within those categories there are subcategories, which Mobilize will utilize to serve the user related-content based on how the system’s algorithm determines what should be pulled from the backend and displayed.

How Does Brand Activation work?
So how does brand activation work with Mobilize? How can carriers work with brands to deliver AR experiences in a contextually relevant way? The answer depends on how brands decide what is relevant.

For example, if someone decides to go eat at a Chipotle restaurant, Chipotle could indicate that every user who goes into a Mexican restaurant within a designated geographic location could be served specific ad content. Or Chipotle could map out all its own locations so the ads could be served there instead. It all depends on how granular or broad they want to be.

The level of specificity sometimes is determined by demographics. Chipotle may be interested in serving AR content to someone who orders their food on a regular basis, is between the ages of 21–35, and enjoys Corona beer. In that case they could ensure that those categories are in place so content could be served in locations that carry Corona that are near a Chipotle, for example.

There are numerous ways that brands could go about targeting potential customers based on those categories. As long as those categories are listed within the content management system, many strategies are possible. The great thing is that carriers don’t have to worry about working this out for brands. The built-in technology they have through Mobilize enables those determinations.

Finally, there is the issue of how to handle all the data. Chipotle has thousands of locations and upfront work needs to get done to make sure all the addresses are right. Mobilize does all the heavy lifting when it comes to this type of work.

Conclusion
With Mobilize serving and housing all the content, creating all the reporting, and ensuring everything is set up properly on the backend, carriers can white label Mobilize technology and make it a selling point to attract more customers and brand partnerships. With more customers expecting immersive content in their day-to-day experiences, more carriers can count on Mobilize to make that happen within their networks.