The Holy Grail for Capturing Responses From (Off-Line) Marketing Campaigns is Likely in Your Hand

If you read my last blog post on digital signage, I believe the holy grail for capturing responses from off-line or "digital out of home" (DOOH) marketing campaigns and promotions is the cell/smart phone.  My belief was further confirmed when I was at the movie theater recently and I saw something, in one of the beverage vending machines, that caught my eye.  In the machine, I noticed a message on each Coke bottle that read "text code under cap to 2653."  This piqued my interest because I realized that this was a real life example of using the cell phone to respond to an off-line marketing offer.  It didn't pique my interest enough though to pay $5.00 for for the Coke!  So I waited until I got home and purchased the Coke from my local store.  The video below shows what happened next:

NOTE:  To learn more about the "short codes" I mentioned in the above video, check out this article in Mobile Marketer.

In short, the cell phone (or more broadly, mobile marketing) is the ideal platform to bridge the gap between off-line and on-line marketing.  I believe this is the ideal platform because:

• Virtually everyone has a cell phone
• A cell phone is portable
• Almost all newer cell phones have text messaging capabilities and text messaging is on the rise (and not just for the younger generation)
• The newest cell phones all have open platforms for new application development
• Cell phones facilitate networked, bi-directional communication (voice and data)

Other prominent companies (or popular TV shows) that have leveraged the mobile platform include:

• Dominos Pizza: Mobile coupons
• Starbucks: Store locator, "text your zip code to..."
• American Idol: Vote for your favorite contestant

This article from e-marketer further confirms my believe that mobile marketing is on the rise.  And to see the power of mobile marketing try texting "Ex3solutions" TO: "368266".

Comments

[Ray Hartjen]

Mark, good post about the power of handheld devices like mobile phones and Midi's. One of the most promising devices of these type of tools is "contactless" transactions. Utilizing a system like Sony's FeliCa, you can just pass your phone over a pad, and the transaction is complete (like a security access card). Take the JR train in Japan - it's been running there for years.

As for the true power of the mobile device, businesses need to be very mindful of the experience. Once a customer accesses a site, it must be "sexy" so as to warrant return visits, and "sticky" so as to fully engage the customer once she is there. If those things are missing, it quickly turns out to be an exercise in wasting customer experience resources.