Opportunities and limits of mobile marketing communication: the case of branded apps for high involvement products

In the ecosystem of digital environments, the new communication policies of Inbound Marketing allow companies to reach their customers in a more effective way (Halligan and Sheh, 2010). A common feature of those policies is the pull-type consumption model of messages. Among the wide range of communication channels available for disseminating these messages, the mobile plays an important role since cell phones have by now become ‘an extension of the consumer’. In particular, branded mobile applications enable companies to implement pull-type communication, by offering customized content that also helps to create brand engagement. Bellman et al. (2011) define branded apps as “software downloadable to a mobile device which prominently displays a brand identity, often via the name of the app and the appearance of a brand logo or icon, throughout the user experience”. The aim of this paper is to investigate the propensity of firms to use branded apps in their communication policies. The studies conducted thus far on branded apps are still in their infancy and further research is needed to gain in-depth understanding of how applications can be implemented and used in marketing strategies (Mobile Marketing Association, 2009). Given the aim of the study, a qualitative method will be adopted; it will consist of two steps: an analysis of the state of the art of branded apps in a sample of Italian industrial firms and an analysis of some meaningful case studies, through in-depth interviews. In particular, the focus will be on highinvolvement products, such as furniture.