mobile marketing : Understanding mobile coupons

Understanding mobile coupons

December 17, 2009


For advertisers, the mobile phone is an ideal medium for communicating promotions to targeted consumers.

Advertisers are increasingly launching campaigns that include mobile coupons, driving retail traffic and increasing sales. Mobile phones are always with the consumer at checkout.

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For that reason, mobile coupon redemption rates today exceed print coupon redemption -- on average 5 percent to 6 percent versus paper's 2 percent.

Effective approaches to mobile coupons
Mobile couponing takes many forms, each with strengths and limitations.
Cielo

Landing page coupons on Motorola phone

In most cases, a mobile coupon itself is not an actual coupon, but rather a promotional communication displayed on the consumer's mobile device. Mobile coupon types range from:

• A simple text message alert offering discounts and promotions
• A uniquely coded offer that requires validation at point of sale
• An alert containing a link to an advertiser's promotional offer
• A mobile coupon tied to a retailer's loyalty program

Text-message alerts
The simplest form of a mobile "coupon" is a basic text-message alert that merely communicates an offer.
For example, "Receive 10 percent off all flat-screen TVs. This weekend only."
Cielo

Text message on Motorola

Such promotions, of course, are available to all consumers. However, consumers who opt-in for alerts improve the success of the promotion, since an alert is targeted and provides added incentive for consumers.

Another advantage of text-alert campaigns: They reach a mass-market audience across virtually all phones, and are relatively easy to execute.

In addition, consumers can opt in for periodic alerts through the advertisers' traditional media.

Mobile promotions validated at point of sale
Advertisers often want to offer unique promotions to select customers through a conventional coupon.

In this case, only consumers who opt-in to receive mobile promotions get the offer. Consumers simply display the offer on their phones at the point of sale, validating their discount or promotion.

Mobile messages can also contain a unique code that can be entered at the register. These codes allow advertisers to measure and track the promotion and guard against consumers reusing the coupon offer.

Beyond the limits of text-based coupons
The problem with text-based mobile coupons: They contain just that -- only text.

Moreover, wireless carriers limit the size of each text message to 160 characters -- actually less given characters required for disclaimers.

Furthermore, a text message cannot accommodate UCC and EAN bar codes, nor contain a unique or impactful image.

MMS-based mobile coupons
In contrast, mobile alerts can be delivered to consumers via an MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), which can contain multimedia objects such as images, audio, video and rich text.

While more graphical than plain text, an MMS transmission is much more expensive to deliver than text messages. (Imagine a 50-cent coupon that costs 20 cents for the advertiser to send and 10 cents for the consumer to receive.)

An MMS can include images of UPC bar codes, but those images cannot be accurately scanned by most point-of-sale scanning devices, preventing tracking and measurement.

Mobile phone scanning snags
If today's POS scanning devices fail to read the code on a mobile phone screen, the cashier must manually enter both the UPC and the discount offer code directly into the register.

However, manual entry of codes is less than ideal. Grocers, in particular, take exception to anything that slows check out.

Mobile links to coupons
An economical alternative exists to MMS couponing with significant benefits to the advertiser.

A mobile text message can be sent with a link that, when selected, opens to a page with a coupon image (for example, "$25 off H&R Block's tax preparation for new clients").

The landing page's design can contain rich objects, colors and type styles, delivering a more eye-pleasing and effective mobile coupon than just plain text. The tracking code can be made easier to read than plain SMS text. And after a given expiration date, the coupon can literally disappear from the consumer's mobile phone.

Coupons within branded mobile applications
A mobile coupon can be packaged as a feature within a retailer's mobile Internet (WAP) site or downloadable handset-resident application.

The coupon appears as one of several menu choices. For example, WAP sites and applets might display a menu item such as "Alerts and Coupons" -- as shown in the Lowe's mobile site -- or "What's free today."

Consumers who click on "Alerts and Coupons" can opt in to receive periodic text messages for store specials, promotions and discount offers.

The text message contains a link that returns the consumer to the WAP site, where the coupon is displayed. This method encourages frequent use of the advertiser's mobile app.

Coupons delivered within a mobile application give advertisers the ability to track and capture the behavior of consumers.

They understand, for example, how often particular offers are viewed and how many are forwarded to friends.

In addition, some mobile vendors can track the behavior of unique consumers and provide their clients with valuable information for segmentation and targeting.

Advertisers must decide what coupon types to offer within their mobile applications.

For example, does a consumer simply display his or her mobile coupon to a store clerk or does a tracking code need to be captured for redemption?

If consumers only need to display their coupons at point of purchase, what is to prevent them from using a coupon several times to obtain multiple discounts or offers?

Mobile technology exists that allows advertisers to set the number of times each coupon can be opened -- say no more than two occurrences before it expires -- literally disappears.

Mobile coupons attached to loyalty cards
Most coupon marketing today still requires the collection of an actual paper coupon.

The reason: a paper coupon, printed with its unique codes, is essential for financial reconciliation of trade-dollar agreements. Therefore, the use of paper coupons will continue, especially in the grocery industry.

Nevertheless, mobile coupon campaigns can still be implemented successfully.

These campaigns integrate the mobile promotion with the grocer's loyalty card program. Consumers register to receive discounts and promotions offered in the packaged-goods marketer's mobile application. Consumers simply enter their loyalty card ID into the mobile application once.

This action effectively ties the mobile application to the retailer's loyalty program.

From this point forward, consumers receive automatic discounts at the register when they use their loyalty card.

Because the consumer has registered for the discount, the packaged-goods marketer can then send mobile alerts to the consumer's phone that announce new discount offers.

Retailers become proponents of these mobile applications, since they provide an additional incentive to use loyalty cards and drive store traffic.

A typical mobile application scenario for retailing:
Step 1 The packaged-goods company promotes its mobile application on in-store displays and other demonstration collateral. The promotion encourages consumers to use their phones to register their retailer loyalty card number in the mobile application in order to:

• Obtain automatic discounts at the register, and
• Receive text-message alerts of store discounts

(When a consumer enters his or her loyalty card number, the mobile application updates the retailer's loyalty program database, which in turn triggers store registers to discount products from packaged-goods companies offering price reductions.)

Step 2 The packaged-goods company sends a text message to consumers' phones, alerting them of a discount campaign, and explaining that the use of the store's loyalty card at check out will automatically apply the discount.

Step 3 Consumers, incented by the mobile alert, enter the store and select from the shelf the packaged good promoted on their phone. They proceed to checkout and, upon presenting their loyalty card, receive the price reductions.

'In most cases, the mobile coupon itself is not an actual coupon at all, but rather a discount offer displayed on the consumer's mobile device.'

How will consumers discover your mobile coupons?
How can retailers and brands promote mobile discounts and promotional offers along with their mobile applications?

For mass-market reach, they can acquire mobile common short codes (five-digit phone numbers) and keywords and use them in traditional media (print ads, out of home, radio and television).

Also, short codes can appear in catalogs and Web sites, posters, store circulars and direct mail.

In addition, in-store sales staff can be trained to collect customers' mobile phone numbers at checkout, indicating that the phone number will be used to send only occasional text messages on discounts, coupons, new products and events.

It is important to send an opt-in text message confirming the consumers' interest to participate.

This message might also include a link to a branded mobile application, offering free utility of strong interest to subscribers, in addition to the coupons.

What to offer?
Many offers can be presented within your mobile application, among them: price reduction; free merchandise; buy-one-get-one free; time release (coupons, distributed together, that have different expiration dates, encouraging repeat purchases); crossruff (the consumer gets a coupon for one product, often related, when purchasing another); sweepstakes entry redeemable only at specification stores or locations; and universal (a manufacturer distributes a coupon good on multiple products).

Although mobile couponing, in its various forms, will not make paper coupons extinct immediately, coupons on mobile phones will continue to flourish.

Mobile coupon benefits
• Increase store traffic and Net Outside Sales (NOS)
• Deepen brand loyalty and encourage return visits to your mobile presence -- through text alerts and in-application offers that change frequently
• Encourage use of store loyalty cards using mobile coupons as a new customer-acquisition and retention channel
• Promote products based on consumers' behavior within a firm's mobile application
Gain a database of opt-in mobile numbers

Dean Macri is founder CEO of Boston-based Cielo Mobile, a mobile technology and marketing services agency. Reach him at dmacri@cielomobile.com.

By Dean Macri

marketing mobile : Mobile Couponing, un «Mobile Marketing Enabler»

Marketing mobile :

Mobile Couponing, un «Mobile Marketing Enabler»

Les solutions de marketing mobile augmentent la création de valeur. Les sociétés misent de plus en plus sur le canal de communication mobile pour gagner et fidéliser des clients.

McDonalds

Exemple d’application de coupon de McDonalds.

Jusqu’à présent, développement hésitant. Au cours de ces dernières années, la percée du Mobile Marketing était attendue à plusieurs reprises. Malgré les prévisions positives, le marché a toutefois connu une évolution hésitante pour deux principales raisons: d’une part, seules deux fonctions du téléphone portable se sont imposées sur le marché de masse, à savoir le téléphone et les SMS; d’autre part, les annonceurs ont jusqu’ici presqu’exclusivement utilisé ce canal de communication pour envoyer des réponses et ont renoncé au dialogue avec les clients.

Cette évolution du marché est une conséquence logique du fait que les sociétés et les solutions ne sont pas orientées vers l’interaction de la plate-forme mobile en ligne et le recensement des données des clients. Pour atteindre une création de valeur satisfaisante avec le Mobile Marketing, le caractère «canaux multiples» revêt une importance capitale. Une plus-value appréciable peut seulement être atteinte lorsque le client peut être impliqué à plusieurs niveaux de la communication. Dans ce contexte, le Mobile Couponing s’avère une application novatrice pour atteindre les objectifs mentionnés.


Solution innovante de Telekurs Multi Solutions AG et de xsmart. Telekurs Multi Solutions AG, en collaboration avec xsmart, a développé une solution exceptionnelle pour gérer l’encaissement générique des coupons sur le marché de masse. Le client commande des coupons par SMS, se rend sur le point de vente, encaisse le coupon et valide le bon directement sur le terminal de cartes. Une plate-forme, qui complète chaque coupon envoyé par SMS avec un code individuel, constitue le principe de base de l’application. Pour pouvoir encaisser le bon, le client saisit ce code sur le terminal de cartes se trouvant sur le POP. Ce système permet de décompter directement le montant de la réduction et garantit que le coupon est correctement encaissé et validé. Pendant que le taux de conversion des actions en cours peut être calculé en temps réel, les données des clients sont rassemblées et traitées à l’arrière-plan.

Ainsi, les annonceurs peuvent toucher leurs clients à travers les médias publicitaires en ligne et hors ligne, qui se déplacent ensuite sur le point de vente pour encaisser un coupon. Le client décide s’il veut accepter l’offre ou non et s’il envisage d’encaisser le bon sur le point de vente. Ainsi, la qualité de la décision de réaction augmente, favorisant l’intégration profonde.

Coopération avec activeMOBILE. Telekurs Multi Solutions AG prévoit le lancement pour l’été 2008 et a décidé, dans le cadre de l’introduction marketing, de développer la commercialisation d’activeMOBILE. En automne, les premiers commerçants devraient déjà avoir adopté la nouvelle solution de couponing. On peut compter que cela donnera une impulsion à de nombreuses applications de Mobile Marketing, permettant au marché de poursuivre son développement.

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2 outils pour les commerçants de demain…

le commerce du futur

Le prospectus interactif

Le premier prospectus interactif a récemment été diffusé par l’enseigne Géant Casino sous la thématique ‘Plus belle coachée par mes marques’.

Grâce à la technologie de reconnaissance d’image, ce prospectus d’un nouveau genre permet aux consommateurs d’accéder à du contenu offert par les marques directement sur leurs téléphones mobiles : une première en grande distribution !

Le fonctionnement est simple, il suffit au consommateur de :
- prendre en photo le produit repérable grâce à un petit icône
- envoyer la photo par MMS au numéro indiqué (coût d’envoi d’un MMS)
- réceptionner sur son mobile un lien à cliquer pour obtenir conseils, astuces … de la marque du produit photographié

Aujourd’hui, le consommateur est sans cesse en mouvement, connecté à internet, et son attention est sans cesse sollicitée.
Le prospectus interactif est une solution pertinente pour :
- valoriser le prospectus aux yeux du consommateur
- entrer en contact avec le consommateur à sa demande, en fonction de ses besoins et au moment où il est disponible : il n’y a donc pas d’intrusion mais un lien relationnel complice qui peut s’instaurer entre lui et la marque
- communiquer via un canal privilégié : le téléphone mobile
Enfin, en conclusion, le prospectus interactif nécessite une étroite collaboration entre marques et enseignes afin d’être impactant …

Voici ci dessous le principe de fonctionnement de ce système :

promotion via mobile

Bien entendu pour le consommateur, la démarche est simplement expliquée dans son prospectus :



catalogue casino
Le street merchandising

Aujourd’hui, le consommateur est sans cesse en mouvement … Afin de capter son attention, le merchandising n’hésite pas à descendre dans la rue et à faire preuve d’originalité et se décline ainsi en ‘street merchandising’ ainsi qu’en ‘mobile merchandising’.

Voici un un exemple original de ‘détournement’ d’ascenseur aux Etats-Unis pour le compte d’une célèbre marque de cookies qui se trempent dans le lait … Cette promotion de Street Marketing permet à la marque de se rappeler aux bons souvenirs de ses consommateurs sur le lieu de vente.

cookies street marketing

En France, pour annoncer ses soldes Célio a vu grand en affichant un Gencod 2D géant : il suffisait au consommateur de flasher le code avec l’appareil photo de son téléphone mobile compatible flashcode pour que s’affiche sur son écran le message à présenter en caisse afin de pouvoir bénéficier de la remise supplémentaire.
Si son téléphone ne lui permettait pas de lire le flashcode, il pouvait envoyer « celio » par SMS pour recevoir un SMS à présenter en magasin et bénéficier de l’offre

In ou Out Store, les enjeux du merchandising demeurent les mêmes : inciter le consommateur à l’acte d’achat et générer du trafic et de l’animation sur le lieu de vente!

celio-marketing-mobile