DISCUSSION
Retail TouchPoints: 6 New Strategies for Mobile Commerce Aim to Drive Sales, Loyalty and Intelligence
Written by Guest contributor
By Amanda
Ferrante
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
While mobile commerce has become an area of interest, Mobile Marketer has reported on how several different retailers and brands are leveraging the mobile phone for promotions, mobile payment, for customer loyalty and data acquisition. Six of the most interesting new applications include:
- IKEA Seattle launched a mobile loyalty program in early June to build a database of people interested in receiving discounts. Mobile Marketer reported that 23,000 consumers have already signed up. BCode is powering the texted discounts through which there has been more than 15,000 offer redemptions to date.
- Burger King has entered the mobile commerce arena with an iPhone application powered by Gomobo. Designed by PointAbout, The Burger King NOW location-aware app is designed to let customers place and pay for order with their iPhone. The concept is currently being tested in the Queens, New York area.
- David's Bridal's recent mobile marketing campaign, designed to target high school prom-goers, presented a call-to-action to text the keyword "PROM" to a short code to receive content on their cell phones. Recipients were asked to connect via their phones to a mobile website to vote for their favorite among five prom dress styles. The results of the voting offered the retailer some early-season merchandising insight about what styles and categories were likely to be popular once buying began.
- Benjamin Moore & Co. is calling out to iPhone users with its new Ben Color Capture application, designed to take photos directly from the phone and enable users to identify which color inspires them. The application then detects the color and gives its name and generates matches that harmonize well with the original color. Another big player in the paint space, Sherwin-Williams Co., is using the mobile channel for branding and customer acquisition. Digital agency Resource Interactive created the ColorSnap iPhone application also designed to enable users to isolate a color within any photo taken on their iPhone and get matching Sherwin-Williams paint colors along with a coordinating palette to complement their choice.
- Dunkin' Donuts is leveraging the social sphere, rolling out interactive web tools and an iPhone application, designed to enable social group ordering, as part of the Dunkin' Run campaign. The company promotes its products with a mobile specialized website and the iPhone app.
- Hyatt Hotels & Resorts tapped Microsoft for a mobile advertising campaign on the Verizon Wireless network. With the capability to reach Verizon's 86 million subscribers, the mobile advertising display campaign is designed to drive people to register for the Hyatt Gold Passport frequent guest rewards program, while offering a fully-functional mobile specialized website.
Discussion Questions: What's being learned about what works and what doesn't work in campaigns aimed at mobile devices? Do any of the campaigns mentioned in the article stand out for you either good or bad?