Fiat’s mobile site

As I glanced through my regular Monday morning news feeds from various e-magazines about mobile advertising and marketing, one particular piece caught my attention. In between all the stories about the 3G i-phone launch and the varying views on what it can and cannot do (saddo’s) I read a very interesting piece in MobileMarketingWeekly about Fiat's new mobile portal (http://mobile.fiat.co.uk). This is not the first time Fiat has gone mobile so I was eager to see the output.

The portal is the work of AKQA Mobile (one of our industry friends). On a basic level, the site is swift to use, provides clear instructions and very detailed illustrations. The store-locator tool and the ability to arrange a test-drive are quite slick and easy to use. Overall, the site is certainly above average for a car manufacturer. The automotive industry has been embracing mobile internet and mobile advertising (Jaguar, Peugeot etc), but rather than being a campaign micro-site for a new model launch, the Fiat effort actually covers their entire range. As such, it is perhaps one of the first real permanent and comprehensive UK automotive brand sites.

One thing I noticed, however, was that the site does not yet appear on a google mobile search for ‘Fiat’, either in the natural search results or the paid for ads. A missed opportunity for increasing traffic, perhaps?

That aside, this site is a definite step forward, so congratulations to AKQA and Fiat.

Also posted on www.welovemobile.co.uk