The retailer is running mobile video ads within the Hulu Plus iPhone application. H&M has steadily used mobile advertising in the past for brand building and to incentivize consumers to come into bricks-and-mortar stores.

“We do see consumers clicking through mobile video ads to shop. Video brings products to life in ways that emotionally connect with consumers as well as inform and educate them to help drive their purchase decisions,” said Nikao Yang, senior vice president of new business development and marketing at AdColony, Los Angeles.

“Historically, TV advertising has been doing a great job of this for the last 75-plus years, but in today’s consumer environment, coupling a TV experience with the ability to immediately interact and transact is the holy grail for retailers,” he said.

“Mobile video delivers this TV experience with the ability to drive an immediate call-to-action, which is what retailers seek.”

Mr. Yang is not associated with H&M. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

H&M did not respond to press inquiries.

Buy on mobile
H&M is running 15-second spots that show users a variety of looks from the retailer’s new Conscious clothing line. The mobile version is cut down from the one minute-long video that H&M is featuring on its YouTube page.

By cutting the video down to the bare minimum, H&M’s campaign is targeted towards mobile users with shorter attention spans.

Prices for items flash across the screen, and consumers can click a button in the upper right-hand corner to be directed to the collection’s page on H&M’s mobile site.

Users can click on individual product pages to view a closer photo of the product, learn more about the price of the item and share content via Facebook and Twitter.

Although the site is not commerce-enabled, consumers can use their device’s built-in GPS to find a nearby store.

Additionally, users can learn more about how the products fit by flipping through graphics and pictures.

The H&M ads are part of a bigger multichannel push for H&M to promote its new ethical Conscious clothing line that is made with more sustainable materials – such as organic cotton and recyclable polyester – than other pieces of the retailer’s clothing.

Past initiatives
H&M has continued to rely on mobile in the past few years as a staple of its marketing.

Most recently, the brand ran an in-app campaign to reward consumers with points for using apps. The ads also highlighted H&M’s recent Super Bowl campaign with David Beckham (see story).

Additionally, last year H&M ran location-based mobile ads that used Instagram to take consumers on scavenger hunts in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco and ultimately drive in-store traffic (see story).

“Mobile video is going to be a huge catalyst for shopping – mobile commerce is certainly poised to grow,” Mr. Yang said.

“Mobile video ads from bricks-and-mortar retailers looking to capture and transact with mobile consumers will serve to drive, grow and reinforce this behavior,” he said.

“Mobile is the on ramp to reaching the consumer, the highway to educating the consumer and the off ramp to bringing the consumer to the point-of-sale.”

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York