Norton to go outdoor with mobile push

Norton, the antivirus software company, is preparing an outdoor push as it bids to become known as an “everyday consumer brand”.

Norton Mobile

The internet security brand is looking to target consumers who are using their mobiles and tablets in public places, such as café’s and city centres, as it continues its journey towards tailoring its communications about how to protect all devices, rather than just desktops.

Michael Williamson, Norton’s vice president of consumer marketing, says: “If we are going to become an everyday brand we need to be on traditional channels too. We tend to see a spike in sales in the autumn, so our marketing activity will reflect that.”

Norton overhauled its marketing to become more “everyday” last year and has launched a series of digital activity to communicate it is “the authority” on internet and mobile security.

Activity has included the creation of a feature-length film, directed by the creator of the CSI franchise Anthony E. Zuiker, dubbed Cybergeddon, which aims to bring to life the growing threat of cyber crime. It will be screen on Yahoo!’s media platform later this year.

Norton has also partnered with Facebook to detect malicious URLs on the site and it is the preferred mobile security partner of the Carphone Warehouse, which offers its software with every purchase of an Android handset.

As of April this year, the Norton “Secured Seal” now appears more than half a billion times a day in 170 countries in enabled browsers to verify whether websites are safe to visit.

Williamson says marketing activity to date has helped Norton reach its target NPS (Net Promoter Score), the best across all internet security brands and on a par with other technology brands such as Google and Microsoft.

He adds: “The core challenge now is how we get into the consumer dialogue and become more considered with mobility. We feel there’s a strong market for mobile security as people are very concerned about having their mobile or tablet stolen or lost and there’s a big privacy component.”

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