NB: This is a guest post by Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell, a US-based specialist in mass-micro messaging to organisations in more than 220 countries and territories.
The final installment includes practical examples from the hospitality sector as well as advertising campaigns using SMS.
76.Mad Lush's free SMS-based service allows users to subscribe to daily drink specials and open bar listings in and around New York.
77. To reassure tourists of water quality during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, 28 major barrelled water manufacturers agreed to take part in a monitoring program, which vouched for the quality of their water. The packaging labels were produced and applied by the Beijing bureau of quality and technical supervision. The remaining sceptics could send a text messaging with the product barcode to the bureau. If the code on the product turned out to be a fraud, the consumer was able to instantly log a complaint with the bureau.
78. Discerning pub goers in the UK can now locate the nearest pub featured in the Good Pub Guide. The guide, launched in conjunction with publisher, Random House, is considered to be the authority on the best of British pubs. By texting the word GOODPUB, users of the service receive an SMS message notifying them of the address of their nearest recommended Good Pub in the UK.
79. Hungry Fan launched a service in New Zealand and Australia, whereby spectators at ball games that didn’t want to wait in queues for food or beverages could text in their order. The service provides a food ordering and delivery service at events enabling fans to enjoy the game and have orders delivered directly to the seating area.
80.Pizza Hut offers a meal ordering service via text message.
81.Campusfood.com, a network of on-campus restaurants, also lets customers place their meal orders via text message.
82.Vegas.com launched a "mobile concierge" service that enables people who are in Las Vegas to buy tickets to shows and tours that day or the next day. By texting a keyword to the short code "VEGAS," tourists can retrieve any information they need on a show or hotel.
83.Stagetext, a charity delivering captioned performances throughout the UK makes use of SMS to communicate with its deaf audiences. SMS messages alert deaf arts attendees of upcoming captioned performances, ticket availability and special offers. Stagetext also collects feedback about the performances via text message.
84. In January 2005, Avis car rental and AskMeNow teamed up to make the AskMeNow mobile lifestyle network available at Avis’s top US locations. Avis customers were able to get instant access to 411 services, flight times, restaurants and hotels, directions, weather, stock quotes, and sports, as well as other local information. Avis customers could call a toll free number or text any question from their mobile phone and receive the requested information in moments.
85.Die Medienagenten is an Interactive Media Agency in Germany that uses Clickatell to offer a service to pubs, and nightclubs who need to inform their customers about upcoming events and concerts.
86. Lastminute.com offers promotional travel offers to its subscribers via SMS. Subscribers select their preference (city breaks, hotels, restaurants, theatres, etc). Each week they will receive an SMS with an offer that reflects their choice. This is a value added service for true 'last minute' customers.
87.The Mann Centre for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park has added mobile to its marketing mix. To join “The Mann Mobile Rush Club,” individuals must text the keyword MANN to a short code. New subscribers will receive an immediate reply, confirming their membership into The Mann Centre’s mobile program and will later receive weekly text messages with details of upcoming performances.
88.BarTalk is a an entertainment installation for bars, or clubs that lets participants send text messages and photos from their cell phones to big-screen displays inside.
89. The SMS Jukebox service, available in France, enables customers in bars and clubs to request songs from a menu on the table and send the request via text message. The song is then queued to play over the sound system.
90.Stratton Mountain Resort’s ran a text message campaign designed to drive skiers and snowboarders directly to their resort. Stratton’s posters featured a call-to-action with a keyword and short code with the lure of free lift tickets. They were placed throughout selected subway stations in upscale Manhattan neighbourhoods. Using unique codes for each advertising medium let Stratton track the results of each campaign. More than 38 percent of responses came directly from Stratton’s posters in Manhattan, which featured the mobile call-to-action.
91. Wild Rivers Water Park in Orange County, U.S., ran a television advertising campaign on Cox Media’s cable network asking viewers to text the keywords WILD or WET to a short code to receive a discount on admission. Consumers that texted in the keywords were sent a reply SMS with a special discount code and directed to a website or asked to show the promotional code at the ticket window.
92.Bristol International Airport put together a special promotion for passengers opted-in to the Easy Jet text service, offering a £5 discount to anyone spending over £35. The Airport decided to target their offer at international passengers travelling on certain routes and sent the text message around 2 hours before their scheduled departure time. Passengers were able to redeem the offer by showing their text message to the cashier. The cashier then scanned a barcode by the side of the till to record the discount in the point of sale system. They also recorded the passenger's flight number. By sending special offers to passengers waiting at the Bristol airport by text message there was a 50% increase in average spend in Tax & Duty Free stores.
93.Las Vegas' Orleans Stadium Hotel and Casino used mobile to promote a Steve Miller Band performance and create a database of concertgoers for future communication. The calls to action for the sweepstakes campaign built around the concert were in television commercials and on promotional flyers at the musical festival. Consumers were asked to text keywords to a short code. Consumers who entered the hotel's mobile sweepstakes were give the chance to win two free tickets to The Steve Miller Band show and a free two-night stay at the Orleans.
94.The Wyndham hotel chain ran a mobile campaign for its Days Inn Business Place division to compile a database of prospects for remarketing. Publicizing the text-to-win campaign via room key card sleeves, email blasts and web, travellers were asked to text a keyword to a short code. Participants were then sent an SMS message asking them to text in to confirm that they want to join the VIP club for future promotional messages. Within the first few months, the campaign generated a 40% double optin rate.
95.Motel 6, in the US, launched a mobile marketing campaign to influence the buying behaviour of Hispanics who were travelling. The call to action aired in regional radio ads asking travelling listeners to text a number in order to get a schedule of events for their destination city. Messages sent out over the three-day period, informed users of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic events taking place in surrounding cites.
96. Gaming giant MGM Mirage has thrown its full weight behind mobile marketing with opt-in offers for guests at six hotel and casino properties in Las Vegas and Detroit. Guests at these MGM Mirage resorts receive targeted special offers, alerts, contests, quizzes and even property and show information via SMS.
97. Virgin Atlantic Airways. launched a WAP site and ran a mobile marketing campaign to promote its transatlantic offering between New York and London. The mobile campaign included advertising that drove traffic to Virgin Atlantic's first WAP site, and provided information on other aspects of the campaign, including complimentary taxi rides in London cabs, British pub events, free movie passes, reminders, a photo gallery, ringtones and wallpapers. The mobile content also provided coupons for movie tickets, SMS sweepstakes and SMS trivia games.
98. In a recent campaign, Coca-Cola Co. gave British consumers 50 pence of mobile phone airtime credit every time they bought a Fanta, Sprite or Dr Pepper product. Cans, bottles and promotional movie theatre cups were labelled with a “50p free mobile credit” logo to entice consumers to buy Coca-Cola products. Once consumers bought the specially labelled products, they could go online to enter their mobile number and promotional code to receive the 82 cents of mobile credit in their mobile account. Users could also receive their mobile credit by texting their 10-digit promotional code to a short code.
99. British supplier Approved Food & Drink turned to mobile to drive traffic to its e-commerce web site. The Approved Food campaign included a simple SMS call-to-action tied to an online offer on a minimum spend available through retail outlets stocking Approved Food & Drink products. Orders placed in the three hours immediately after the texts were sent out, were up by 550 % compared to the previous day.
100.E A Sween Co’s Deli Express, a provider of food services to convenience stores, ran a mobile couponing pilot in advance of a commercial rollout in its CafeXpress convenience store. To get consumers to opt in to the SMS database, CafeXpress used various methods to issue the mobile call-to-action, including in-store signage and table tents, flyers distributed around campus and sales associates at the point of sale prompting consumers to sign up to receive discount offers. The calls-to-action offered consumers the opportunity to receive discounts on food and drink in exchange for registering.
101.Starbucks Coffee Co. ran a loyalty program campaign using 2D barcode coupons delivered via SMS. The call-to-action urged consumers to text the keyword STARBUCKS to a short code to get a WAP link to download a buy-one-get-one-free 2D barcode mobile coupon. Starbucks included a mobile call-to-action for customers to receive various discounts and coffee-size upgrades on the in-store signage.
NB: This is a guest post by Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell, a US-based specialist in mass-micro messaging to organisations in more than 220 countries and territories.