Ahead of our 2018 Effective Mobile Marketing Awards, well be previewing the nominees in each category, giving you a glimpse at the high quality of entries weve seen this year. In this preview, we look at the contenders in the Most Effective B2B App  Campaign category.

Cisco – Cisco Live 2018
Cisco Live 2018 saw 27,000 attend the technology firm’s annual conference, and as befits such an innovative company, the attendee experience was substantially enhanced by technology deployed prior to and during the event. Badges included wearable beacons, and real-time data was used to guide attendees to a richer and more fulfilling experience that also improved lead generation for Cisco’s partners.

A mobile app created for attendees was able to generate recommendations based on attendee interests and provide precise locations throughout the conference, with augmented reality then used to guide attendees to their next activity. The conference’s Smart Agenda used AI to track real-time behaviour while the beacon technology enabled attendees to find their friends and book one-to-one sessions with experts easily.

Over the course of the conference, Cisco’s machine learning technology processed over 1.7bn data points, with 90 per cent of app users taking advantage of the mapping functionality to find their way around the event. Amongst full conference attendees, the algorithms offered recommendations that were connected to 67 per cent of the behaviours manifested at the event, and 82 per cent of attendees said they were more likely to purchase Cisco products and solutions as a result of the conference.

Chrome River Technologies – Chrome River Expense
Chrome River, provider of expense reporting and invoice management, is the partner of choice for over 800 midsize-to-large enterprises around the world. Many of these organizations select the company specifically for its market-leading mobile capabilities, developed to ensure that the expense reporting system would offer a seamless user experience for all employees on any device, regardless of their location or language.

Expense reporting is no fun for those submitting the claims, those approving them, or the C-Suite. Chrome River EXPENSE aims to eliminate these problems, via a SaaS web app, available in more than 30 languages, that is completely configurable and robust enough to exceed the needs of the largest, global, mobile workforces.

The app was designed to work equally well on all devices and connections and be easy-to-use, secure and up-to-date. For approvers, its automated spend control, allocation coding and approval routing speed up reimbursements and eliminate cross-referencing of submissions with corporate travel policies. The solution even allows expense pre-approvals. When integrated with a companys CRM system, the app also measures sales team travel and entertainment spend against sales outcome and revenue generated, so they can increase investment where it will drive the highest ROI.

To support use with any type of connection, Chrome River also uses single page application technology reducing the need for large volumes of data to be transmitted in order to perform tasks. As a result, it will work just as effectively on a low-bandwidth 3G network or in a rural location with a weak mobile signal as it does on an office’s network or a 4G/LTE mobile network.

It also features automated reconciliation with US Bank statements and image processing technology including image enhancement, rotation, OCR text extraction and rules logic for data analysis and accurate assignment. Smart OCR reads the information on the receipt (time of day – is this breakfast, lunch or dinner?, amount and currency, merchant name and vendor type) and then maps the receipt to the correct expense line. The system can also recognize a related line item – such as a credit card transaction – and combine the two.

As a company, Chrome River has a customer satisfaction rate of 97 per cent, and an annual customer revenue retention rate of more than 98 per cent. One Expense client estimated that their company had saved over $1m  in travel expenditures in a year as a result of implementing the Chrome River Expense pre-approval process.

Domino’s Pizza Group and Future Platforms – Domino’s Pizza Drivers’ App and Dashboard
The aim of this app is to make Domino’s drivers safer, more efficient, and more productive; bring about business-wide operational improvements; and complete the pizza-tracking cycle.

The app needs to work in multiple different scenarios with a varied user set, so Future Platforms began by establishing personas: Drivers, Store Managers, Area Managers, Head Office/Operations, Customers, and Franchisees. Determining what each would need from the solution, and how they would coexist, the agency created a series of wire flows and user journeys before devising a prototype for the driver’s app and the in-store dashboard.

Future spent prolonged periods of time at stores to observe and test their solutions in real-time, and held held a number of workshops with staff, franchisees and managers across the country, incorporating their challenges and considerations into the solution.
The driver version of the app shows order information, delivery address, and special notes, and the driver can call the store/customer or use integrated Waze navigation for delivery directions.

The app and backend exchange information about the device location and order status, which is fed through to the in-store manager dashboard. Unique colours differentiate drivers currently on delivery from those returning to the store or those imminently available for a new order, with to-the-minute ETAs provided based on traffic and location.

The app records detailed information about the driver’s actions and order activity, and this is fed into Tableau reporting software for analytics. Store owners, area managers and franchisees are then able to generate digital reports on store activity, which can highlight unusual delivery patterns or logistical areas for improvement.

After a proof of concept and trial run in three stores, and a productisation phase in 22 stores, by the end of 2017, the Drivers’ App and Dashboard was operational in 243 UK stores, and by March 2018, GPS was fully operational in 541 stores, putting Future on schedule to reach its goal of being live in all 1000+ stores by the end of the year, where it will be used be 27,000 delivery drivers.

Deliveries are now better organised, with orders timed to be ready just as the next driver returns. When coupled with hands-free GPS that calculates the most efficient route, more orders are being delivered per hour, with additional savings on fuel costs. Tracking helps managers better mitigate against revenue loss from drivers taking their own breaks or being unproductive, and rewarding others for high performance.

The centralised system provides a clear overview of orders, staff availability, delivery status, and more. Drivers are saving fuel by taking more efficient routes, and though a minimal saving in isolation, adds up quickly for an organisation of this size. By monitoring habits like excessive speed and the harshness of braking, and working to discourage them, Domino’s is able to reduce insurance premiums by providing telematic data. Safe driving further impacts fuel costs, makes the brand more responsible, and keeps road users safer.

IBM and Kaon Interactive – IBM Interactive Product Catalogue
Operating in a commoditized market, IBM was seeking a way to differentiate itself from the competition, while simultaneously simplifying the messaging around its complex product set. The company has a large, global salesforce and channel partner network that adds an additional layer of complexity with the challenge of distributing this information, consistently and simultaneously, to all stakeholders.

Additionally, IBM has a vast portfolio of large, heavy products that were are and logistically difficult to ship around the world for trade shows and demonstrations. It was impossible for salespeople to show and demonstrate these products in sales meetings to communicate the business value of their products.

IBM partnered with Kaon Interactive to create an interactive 3D product catalogue, built on the Kaon marketing platform. The IBM Interactive Product Catalog is an immersive experience that provides IBMs sales engineers and reps, marketing team, and channel partners with a tool that is better at demonstrating their products capabilities than the actual physical equipment.
It contains photo-realistic, 3D product models of a large swath of IBMs portfolio built into virtual product tours that enable users to drill down to line diagrams, show switches, and pull out and spin components.

In many cases, the application is more current than the physical product racks. No matter where is IBM team is located around the globe, they know they have the latest version available, keeping both internal teams and a diverse network of channel partners in synch.
The app contains more than 80 interactive 3D product tours, is updated regularly with new products and content, and is used by more than 700 salespeople per week. It has helped IBM to engage prospects earlier; onboard sales and channel teams more quickly; and grow net-new business.

Sky, Domestic & General, Rufus Leonard and Pocket App – Sky Protect Engineers’ App
Sky Protect insurance, provided by its partner and warranty specialist Domestic & General, has traditionally been marketed and sold using traditional channels: outbound sales, email and web. In a post-GDPR world, these channels are becoming challenged, as consumers opt out of marketing communications. However, in research commissioned by Domestic & General, it was found that the Sky Protect product is as popular with this difficult to reach audience. The challenge then was how to communicate the benefits of this product to the Sky audience with a light touch and in a privacy-friendly manner.

When Sky engineers visit a property for a new installation or a repair they have a key opportunity to upsell other offers and services, including Sky Protect insurance cover. Previously, this has been achieved through leaflets carried by the engineers and given to customers to read while the installation takes place.

To improve on this, Sky and Domestic & General worked with Rufus Leonard and Pocket App to create a native app for Sky engineers which could engage customers directly. The app was developed to build awareness of the Sky Protect insurance offering, with the goal of leveraging the engineer presence to create a more efficient sales channel. The primary metric for determining the success of this app-based approach would be the conversion rate of plans sold to videos viewed.

On launch, the app guides the consumer through the Sky Protect offer via a short introductory video. The customer then receives a summary of the offer with three clear options – no interest, sign up, or request a phone or email follow-up for further information. Finally, the app confirms via pop-up that the customer has not been pressurised into signing or has any complaints about the app experience. At the time of entry, there had not been a single complaint.

Phase one covered 200 of Sky’s 3,000 engineers in the UK. Phase Two will provide additional consumer benefit, with the app experience splintering based on the type of equipment the customer has installed (HD Box vs Q Box). The relevant deal can then be served up to them seamlessly, without the need for further questions.

The results of the deployment were supplied to the judges in confidence and are extremely impressive.

Join us to find out the winners of our 2018 Effective Mobile Marketing Awards at our prestigious Awards Ceremony on 15 November. Tickets are available now, so book your place and celebrate the industrys best and brightest with us.