marketing relevance fail?
Godiva Chocolates announced today that they created an iphone app to give customers easier access to buying their chocolate. After reading the press release for the Godiva Mobile for iPhone application, as well as a few articles that just copy and past the release (kudos for originality guys), I figured I would have to take a look at this app before jumping to any conclusions.
The iPhone app store sells this with the statement:
“Godiva Mobile for iPhone lets you order Godiva products anytime, anywhere; the perfect way to send a thoughtful gift when you are on the run.”
The press release’s sound bite came from Kimberly Land, Godiva’s vice president of the direct-to-consumer division:
“The mobile product is effective for the company during the downturn. It allows us to stay closer to our customers and make it even easier for them to access Godiva whenever the need arises.”
Alright… This application is laughable for a few different reasons. When I am craving chocolate, my first thought is not to order it online… The reason for this is because when I crave I am usually standing in line at the grocery store and it is an impulse purchase.
I wouldn’t purchase chocolate from my iPhone and wait until they mail it to me to satisfy my craving. I wouldn’t order chocolate as a gift when I am “on the run” unless they were giving me a pretty sweet (pun intended) deal. This is not the case with this mobile storefront.
The app itself is not done very well. As you can see the Home Page Screen doesn’t even have any branding for the chocolate brand.
It feels that this is a great example of a marketer who put out an iPhone app just because that is the “in” thing to do…. This app doesn’t seem relvant to what cosumers are looking for in an iPhone app or even relvant to their busy livestyles of being on the go…. What do you think?