The progress driven by technology in the past decade is truly astonishing; but it’s easy to forget that history was full of smart ideas too. In this piece, Rob Blake, General Manager EMEA, Pocketmath (pictured below), draws comparisons between tackling drones using historical tricks and using 18th-century marketing methods to think outside the box – looking back, to drive mobile marketing forward.

Tech can breathe new life into intelligent concepts and tactics that were only half-realised in the past. It’s a point well illustrated recently by security forces in The Netherlands.

Few things exemplify the march of technology more than drones, yet they have brought problems as well as innovation. Several times this year small aircraft have been met with a frosty reception as they crashed into prohibited, or even dangerous, areas – the lawn of the White House being a prime example. Governments across the world are frantically developing sophisticated solutions to deter the aerial pests, from software that sends text alerts when a drone is nearby, to the so-called British ‘death ray’ that emits a pulse to wipe drones clean from the sky.

Yet Dutch Police have applied Occam’s Razor and gone back to basics, finding a solution in nature. Rather than spending millions on cutting edge technology, they have instead trained birds of prey to take down rogue drones. The eagle has truly landed. It’s a curveball move (and the Met’s straight-faced response is even better), but Dutch falconers aren’t the only ones looking to the past to find clever ways of handling very modern problems.

A similar story is emerging in mobile marketing. Many were quick to pronounce the death of traditional marketing, even as the internet was in its infancy, but the reality is far more nuanced. Twenty years later, with the arrival of geo-targeting and always-online connections, the internet is reinvigorating traditional marketing as companies realise the potential for tried-and-trusted tactics that can be leveraged through mobile tech.

Rob Blake, General Manager EMEA, Pocketmath

For example, shops can hold flash sales lasting a matter of days, or hours; but rather than advertising offers on leaflets and chalkboards on the pavement outside, they target consumers in the local area at that very moment by sending dissolvable digital coupons. Mobile has enabled hyper-local advertising and given retailers a new and effective way of reaching shoppers on nearby streets. These digital coupons are cheaper, greener, and, arguably, more effective than their paper counterparts; but the tactic is almost identical.

Given that in the UK, 76% of adults own smartphones and, collectively, we check our phones over eight billion times per day, brands are seizing this opportunity to communicate directly with an engaged, captivated audience. Mobile communications not only offer cost efficiencies and a better route to market, but solve the challenge of scale in a heartbeat, able to reach a mass audience at the touch of a button – achieving a far wider reach than it’s paper predecessor could ever have. It’s also less intrusive than being accosted on the street with a leaflet.

Another great example is brand loyalty programmes. This kind of reward-based marketing has been around since the industrial revolution, having been in common use since the late part of the 18th century. As a proven way of engaging consumers, they are another method that has seen a sharp uptake by mobile marketers, with everyone from coffee shops to video game retailers offering digital versions of the standard loyalty card, but at the same time allow interaction, letting retailers prompt users with updates and offers to keep them engaged and loyal. In this way, mobile is not only allowing brands to use traditional marketing methods, but actively enhancing them.

This is key to the success of mobile as a marketing platform, especially in the field of analytics. The development of real-time technologies offers marketers access to instant and accurate results through elements like coupon redemption or digital loyalty card use. Access to this information provides the freedom to experiment with methods – whether they stick to old school approaches from the golden age of advertising, or opt for something a little more radical, mobile offers access to the metrics that can measure success and inform future choices.

We are a society reliant on mobile, with 73% of shoppers opting to consult their mobile device in-store rather than asking for help; so it’s no surprise that 70% of retailers have said they are placing mobile marketing at the core of their business. Much like the Dutch Police, many of those marketers are realised that more sophisticated doesn’t necessarily mean more effective. Mobile has resurrected age-old marketing methods, not only bringing them back from the dead, but also making them an intrinsic part of the digital future.