One Small Step...but no giant leap

This week, Target unveiled a new way for customers to redeem their Target gift cards in-store: by scanning a bar code on their mobile phones.

To avoid the my-wallet-is-stuffed-with-50-bajillion-gift-cards syndrome, or the oh-no-I'm-at-the-store-but-left-my-gift-card-at-home problem, Target GiftCard recipients can enter the information from their GiftCard into a secure account on the Target.com mobile site. Then, when the recipient visits one of Target's 1740 store locations, she can retrieve her GiftCard information on her phone, which displays a digital bar code to be scanned at checkout.

Customers can access the Target.com mobile site at any time to check their GiftCard balance(s), and can reload their mobile GiftCards at any Target store register.

This seems like a good step for Target, a company that aims to "surprise and delight [its] guests with innovative and highly relevant mobile capabilities," in the words of Steve Eastman, President of Target.com.

But Target could do much more to make their GiftCard program convenient, accessible, and truly mobile for its customers.

For one thing, it seems that customers must still receive physical, plastic Target GiftCards before they can use those cards on their mobile devices. They must manually input the data from their plastic GiftCards into their mobile phones.

Sure, this is great, reducing wallet clutter and nearly ensuring that the customer will have his GiftCard information with him when he visits the store. But why require a physical, plastic GiftCard at all? Why can't customers exchange mobile GiftCards electronically, eliminating the need for the physical plastic by simply sending the GiftCard information to their friends via email or text message? Then the intended recipient could simply follow a link to retrieve his GiftCard on his mobile phone - saving plastic and saving the time required for a manual input.

At the very least, why can't the purchaser choose to instantly email the GiftCard information to the recipient as soon as the GiftCard is purchased?

Mobile technology can be a great way to create easy access and reduce physical waste. But Target hasn't quite made that leap yet.

Text Messages and Serving the Customer

A friend of mine told me recently about a smoothie shop in her town that is making good use of mobile technology to serve their customers.

Visitors to the smoothie shop can sign up to receive SMS updates from the store. The shop sends a daily text message to its subscribers, telling them about the special of the day and sometimes offering extra discounts, such as "Visit us today and show us this text message to receive 50% off any large smoothie!"

Social media and other digital communications tools like SMS, Twitter, Facebook, and email can be a great way to offer something extra to your customers and to build a better customer relationship. Here are a few reasons (and rules) for why this works:

1. It's welcome. Perhaps the number one reason why these forms of communication can be successful at building customer relationships is that they require the organization to ask the customers' permission. (Seth Godin wrote a great book back in 1999 that explains how and why Permission Marketing works.) Your customers must opt-in to this service. They - not you - get to choose whether they receive your communications every day (or week, or what-have-you). Customers who view such messages as spam will not receive the service. Those who do subscribe to the service will not view your messages as spam (and if they did, they could unsubscribe).


2. It's expected. Your customers know what messages they will receive from you, and how often, because you tell them before they even sign up. You post point-of-sale advertisements in your shop that tell them how they can "sign up for free [daily/weekly] messages containing [updates/news/coupons/special offers] via [text message/email/Twitter/Facebook]." Or you print this information on your packaging. Or your sales clerks ask them if they would like to sign up as they check out (and then direct them to a paper or digital sign up sheet, rather than putting them on the spot by asking for their contact information verbally).


3. It's easy. Your subscribers get your information pushed to their email inboxes, Facebook accounts, or mobile phones. They don't have to go searching for your news and coupons on your website, via Google, or in your store. And your messages are short, so they don't take long to read. If you have too much to say (i.e. more than 140 characters, whether or not you are using Twitter), you give the customer a headline and a link to a webpage that contains all of the information. If they are interested in the headline, they can follow the link. If not, they can delete your message.


4. It's helpful. You send these messages for the purpose of serving the customer. You give them information that they would like to hear. You give them information that they care about. If your organization serves smoothies, you distribute links to articles about healthy foods and healthy living. If you sell bicycles, you distribute links to news about cycling and cyclists. If you provide business services, you distribute links to information about industry developments and best practices. And, when appropriate, you distribute special offers for your products and services. Every message you send to your subscribers should serve your subscribers.

For building customer relationships, these communications methods can be a great tool. But remember, as with any marketing effort, your SMS and social media communications should serve the customer, not just serve you.

AT&T Takes a Step in the Right Direction

In case you hadn't noticed, AT&T has been receiving some flak recently for its less-than-market-leader 3G coverage. Verizon Wireless has been particularly scathing of its iPhone-carrying competitor with its "There's a Map for That" and "Island of Misfit Toys" commercials. AT&T, of course, has put up a defense with its "Postcard" and "Side-by-Side" commercials.

And now, AT&T has put forth a "make-good" effort, in the form of a free iPhone app.

Yesterday, AT&T introduced its new Mark the Spot app into the iPhone App Store. The app enables users to submit a notification to AT&T whenever and wherever they experience dropped calls, failed calls, no coverage, data failure, or poor voice quality. The app can pull the iPhone's GPS information to tell AT&T where the failure happened; alternately, users can manually select a location on the map to indicate where the coverage failure occurred. With the notification, users can also submit additional comments, as well as tell AT&T whether the problem occurs only once, seldom, often, or always.

FAQs within the app reveal what AT&T plans to do with the feedback it receives:

"AT&T will utilize this feedback to optimize and enhance the network. Problems will be clustered to highlight areas for investigation. However, multiple submissions at the same time for the same issue by the same user do not receive higher weighting."

Other commentators seem skeptical about whether AT&T will actually use the feedback submitted via the app to begin patching its coverage gaps. Assuming, though, that AT&T has the resources and infrastructure in place, the company would be unwise to not improve its 3G coverage based upon this information. Not only would such improvements benefit its customers, its reputation, and its sales, but AT&T's Mark the Spot app sets expectations that the carrier will take customers' feedback seriously and work to fix the problems.

Congratulations, AT&T, for taking a step to improve your customer service and effectively repair your reputation. Don't let us down now by doing nothing with the valuable feedback you receive through your new app.

Good mobile web? Someone needs to step up.

Two MediaPost publications reported last week on a Yankee Group study that assessed the overall quality of mobile websites. Yankee Group researchers evaluated 27 major mobile sites on criteria including design, usability, and ability to adapt to multiple devices and networks. The findings were disappointing: the average score was 52 out of 100 - a failing grade.

The highest scorers among the group, which included popular news, sports, and search sites, were as follows: Google search (81), Yahoo search (76), Google News (73), Yahoo News (73), MLB.com (71), Rivals.com (58), and ESPN.com (57). When translated into academic grades, the highest scorer (Google) only achieved a B-.

Given that smartphone usage continues to grow massively (Nielsen reports that smartphone adoption has increased 72% quarter-over-quarter this year, to 26 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2009), this mobile web failure is a sorry state. But it means that there exists lots of opportunity for companies to fill that space by developing mobile sites that are truly outstanding.

Imagine how much of the mobile web audience could be captured by a company that offers an A+ mobile site, at a time when the top competitor (Google) only scores a B-. Imagine the kind of fan base that company could build if its mobile site communicated essential information in a clean, simple, easy-to-read, easy-to-navigate format, optimized for any mobile device.

How can companies do this?

1) Simplify. Tell mobile users what they want to know; do not overwhelm them with information. In your writing, be succinct. In graphs and charts and design, use as few strokes as possible to accurately communicate the information. Use space wisely, without crowding. For inspiration, read up on books about clean design and simplifying your life; or browse through top design magazines and "best of the web" lists.

2) Detect. Determine whether the user is accessing your site from a desktop/laptop or from a mobile device. For users surfing on mobile phones, automatically route them to the version of your site that is optimized for mobile. You might do this by providing customers with a separate web address for your mobile site (my alma mater uses http://www.acu.edu for desktop, and http://m.acu.edu for mobile). Or, for an even better user experience, take Carl Howe's recommendation and invest in device detection on your mobile site; this will allow you to provide users with a site that is optimized for their specific mobile platform.

3) Target. Customize users' experience based upon their location. Use the GPS data from their phones to give them information relevant to their geographic area. Unless they state otherwise, treat their mobile web experience like local search. If they are looking at music, show them concerts near them. Looking at food? Show them restaurants near them. Weather? Show them local weather. Sports? Show them the local teams. And then provide easy access to information from other regions as well.

4) Research. Ask users what they want in a mobile web experience. Ask them to critique several mobile sites; ask them what they like and dislike. Ask them what their favorite mobile sites are, and why. Ask them which information on your site should be displayed on a mobile device, and which information is irrelevant. In order to provide a great customer experience, you must know what experience your customers want.

The mobile web space is wide open for companies that will optimize their sites for the mobile user experience.

Vending Machines of the Not-So-Distant Future

The next generation of vending machines may soon be coming to fast-food restaurants, food courts, and cafeterias near us.

America's old favorite Coca-Cola and newcomer MooBella are both doing beta testing this summer for their respective high-tech vending machines. Coke's Freestyle is a touch-screen dispenser of soda (what else?) that allows customers to select from 104 flavors of Coca-Cola waters, juices, sodas, and sports drinks. The machine uses PurePour Technology to mix the drinks from concentrate within the same space as a typical six- or eight-valve soda fountain. The Freestyle also uses Impinj’s RFID technology to collect data on flavors selected, which helps both supply chain management (by telling HQ when refills are needed), and market research (by telling HQ which flavors are popular - or not). RFIDNews has details on exactly how the RFID works in the Freestyle machines.

Soda-drinkers can't exactly create their own combinations with this machine (which was designed to collect data on which Coke varieties are most popular), but 104 flavors provides a lot of options. For the full list of flavors, see the Coca-Cola Freestyle Facebook Fan Page.



"Cooler" still, MooBella (an eight-year-old company from Massachusetts) has developed an automated vending machine for...ice cream! And these machines are not mere purveyors of pre-packaged sundries. On the contrary, each MooBella Ice Creamery custom-mixes 100% natural dairy ice cream with one of 12 ice cream flavors and one of three mix-ins to create made-to-order hand-dipped-style ice cream - in just 45 seconds! MooBella flash-freezes the ice cream (rather than slow-churning it), which enables the quick service. The machines also feature a touch-screen interface, a behind-the-scenes Linux operating system, and wireless technology that relays inventory and sales data to headquarters via satellite.



With these new vending machines, it seems that both Coca-Cola and MooBella are doing an excellent job of using new technology to provide great products, great service, and great info on customer preferences. Are they using new technology just as successfully in their marketing communications for these products? Let's see:

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give Coca-Cola a 4. They have a Facebook Fan Page with lots of great information on flavors and locations, plus they seem to respond quickly and aptly to fans' wall comments. However, their Fan Page has only 1,067 fans as of 11:36pm Central, 18 August 2009 - a rather small number for the "world's largest beverage company," don't you think? Coca-Cola Freestyle is also on Twitter (@ccfreestyle) as of 7 August 2009, but only has two tweets, 30 followers, and no profile pic as of 18 August. Any blogs or mobile apps for the Freestyle? I haven't found any yet. Video? A few on YouTube - from customers, not the company.

On the same 1 to 10 scale, MooBella gets a 2. They also have a Facebook Fan Page, with frequent and interesting wall posts (more interesting than those on the Freestyle Fan Page, actually). Sadly, the MooBella Fan Page has only 43 followers (ouch!). As for Twitter, there is a "moobella" account(@moobella), but it might or might not be the same company. It's hard to tell when @moobella hasn't tweeted anything yet. Blogs? Mobile apps? Not that I can see. Video? A YouTube search only uncovered two - both more than five minutes long; neither from customers.

Ah, well. Perhaps Coca-Cola Freestyle and MooBella will jump more fully into social media and mobile marketing after they release their respective products to the public. For now, I suppose we must wait for beta testing to end. (The Freestyle is undergoing beta testing in Southern California; Moobella in Boston.)

Free Movie Tickets? Where?!?

Sprint sure is doing some interesting things to promote the new Palm Pre. First there were the series of commercials for Sprint's Now Network ("the first wireless 4G network"); I first saw these spots in May at my local movie theater.

The Now Network commercials were paired with home page takeovers on sites like Yahoo, YouTube, and AOL.

Next came the "Flow" commercials for the Palm Pre itself; these commercials have been deemed "creepy" by my new favorite mobile marketing blogger, Steve Smith.

Then there is the Palm Pre website which reflects the setting of the "Flow" commercial, and which invites visitors to, among other things, "Experience the Pre ad campaign" (italics mine).

Additionally, when a person turns on the Palm Pre for the first time, they see another beautifully done video in the same earthy, "flowy" feel as the television ads.

And now Sprint has launched the "r8 it" campaign, which gives participating movie-goers in a chance to win a year's supply of free movie tickets when they rate the movies they see. Viewers can rate the movies and view poll results on the National CineMedia website NCM.com, or, better yet, via the mobile "r8 it" app.

Sprint is also partnering with ScreenVision to install interactive kiosks in 500 movie theaters across the nation. Sprint subscribers can use the kiosks to download mobile coupons for the concession stand.

So, is this intense marketing effort working?

Well, for one thing, Media Intelligencer reports that the award-winning integrated campaign was successful in sparking early interest in the Pre. According to comScore, search terms related to the Pre doubled to 216,000 during the week of the YouTube takeover campaign. That number dropped after the release of the iPhone 3G S, but rebounded in the two weeks after the Pre was released.

Another clue is the Apple iTunes 8.2.1 update, which prevents non-Apple smartphones from synchronizing with iTunes. The Palm Pre's much-anticipated ability to sync with iTunes lasted for little more than one month before Apple blocked it. Is Apple nervous about the new iPhone competitor? Or just annoyed?

It will be interesting to see how the Palm Pre fares in the smartphone market. If it succeeds as a viable iPhone rival, perhaps Sprint's extensive campaign(s) will have had something to do with it.

Mobile App Idea #1: Gas Station Locator

From time to time, I think of ideas for marketable new products or services. My dear readers, I would like to share some of these ideas with you. If you find one of my ideas to be absolutely brilliant, so brilliant that you want to actually develop it, please do so. Unless otherwise noted, I will demand no royalties for my ideas.

However, if I conceived an idea, I might have further insights on how to actually implement it. You may want to pick my brain. Or at least send me a thank-you note for inspiring your profitable new invention. Just a thought.

Allow me to share with you an idea that came to me today for a new mobile phone application: a Gas Station Locator.

Running out of gasoline can be a rather inconvenient experience. Not that this has ever happened to me, of course; this is just what I hear.

Someone (maybe a fuel company? maybe AAA?) should develop a mobile phone application that uses the phone's GPS to locate the nearest gas stations. The app could be geo-visual, like the Nearest Tube application for the London Underground (see the YouTube video below).



The Gas Station Locator app (perhaps it could be called "Fuel Up!") could generate bubbles containing relevant information for each gas station - items like the station name, distance, estimated driving time till arrival, gas prices, sales and specials, availability of restrooms, and customer ratings. Maybe the application could even communicate with the vehicle's computer, to report how much further one can drive before running out of gas. Perhaps the driver could set a minimum gas level (something like "3 gallons", or "1/4-tank"), below which the application would automatically open and start locating nearby gas stations.

But drivers staring at cell phones kill people, you say.

The app should be completely audio-driven and voice-activated, so that the driver does not even need to look at the phone. The driver could ask the application to audibly list the stations in order of distance, or gas price. The app could even give spoken, turn-by-turn driving directions to the selected gas station.

Do you think drivers would like an app like this one? Do you know how to build it? How to coordinate all of that information? You are welcome to develop it with my blessing - you might be nice and let yours truly download it for free, though.