Mobile Commerce + Facebook = More Sales

Mobile Commerce + Facebook = More Sales

With Facebook now being the #1 most viewed website in the world, it is very clear that the integration of marketing through mobile devices with a social media campaign is a must. Facebook is already set up to be viewable on most web enabled phones, so it is very important to have a mobile commerce page that will work in conjunction with your social efforts. Incorporating mobile is a very important part of increasing social media interactivity, and allowing passionate fans to share their experiences about your products with their friends. With mobile devices, consumers can broadcast their opinions in real time, adding speed and efficiency to a viral campaign. Mobile brings you closer to your consumers, and consumers closer to each other, adding fuel and energy to a brand's awareness. We can add a "like" button to all products featured on a mobile webpage, which generates a buzz whenever someone posts it on their wall. Having your brand, company, or individual products contain more "likes" on Facebook will help validate your brand while increasing the interactivity with the consumer. Brands thrive on being an intregal part of their consumers' lives, and Facebook allows you engage the fans while leaving a virtual stamp on their wall. For many Facebook users, their wall represents their day to day lives. The more "likes", the more likely that other potential consumers will investigate about that brand. Facebook and YouTube links can also be integrated into a SMS text message plan, which vastly increases the level of viral activity and ease of accessibility. Presentation Multimedia specializes in helping our clients build up a valuable mobile database, have an active fan base on Facebook, and have their commerce available for purchase on mobile devices. For more information about our Facebook and Mobile Commerce plans, please visit http://www.presentationmultimedia.com or call 914.788.1555.

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Coupons, SMS to be most used form of mobile marketing by 2015: study

From Mobile Marketer:

A new study reveals that coupons and SMS will become the most widely accepted forms of mobile marketing and advertising by 2015.

The study was conducted by mobileSquared on behalf of Airwide Solutions. Sixty-one percent of wireless carriers surveyed thought that coupons or vouchers would become the dominant form of mobile marketing by 2015.

“For years we heard that SMS will be eclipsed by all else,” said Jay Seaton, chief marketing officer of Airwide Solutions, Burlington, MA. “SMS is a tremendous opportunity: It is ubiquitous and works on all devices and consumers know how to use it.

“All the issues of interconnectivity have long been resolved and SMS generates a lot of revenues for operators,” he said. “There are no quality issues and consumers have a high degree of trust that the channel is secure.

“SMS will be and is incorporated into various applications and will continue to be an integral part of marketing strategies.”

Nobody does it like Sara Lee

SMS/MMS
Of the wireless carriers surveyed, 58 percent predicted that SMS and MMS-based messaging would be the second most widely accepted form of mobile advertising in the next five years, followed by search with 45 percent.

The close link between coupons and messaging, with SMS acting as a core distribution channel in the majority of cases, it is understandable why both categories attracted a similarly high response from the carriers surveyed.

The study reveals that users in 2015 are thought to be more likely to use mobile marketing or advertising promotions that are sent to them via their mobile phones than those generated through search, display or navigation.

Sybase 365's SMS-based geo-location services

Opt-ins
British mobile subscribers currently send more than 11 million SMS messages per hour, totalling an approximate 7.7 billion monthly. These stats show that clear potential exists for carriers to capitalize on the 15.4 billion engagements between consumers and the SMS medium that are generated each month.

As things stand, subscribers have to opt-in to SMS mobile advertising. However, as significant mobile marketing and advertising activity is expected in the future, the opt-out option will also become an important component in the 2015 mobile user’s experience.

“In terms of opting out, it is a comfort zone for the consumer,” said Nick Lane, chief strategy analyst of mobileSquared, London. “Once the content is contextualized, ideally opt-out will become redundant.”

According to the mobileSquared survey, 54 percent of carriers thought that an opt-out service would be more important to them than opt-in in 2015, compared to 39 percent in 2010.

The majority of carriers (53 percent) also believe that the customer should control and update their user profile in 2015, rather than the carrier (7 percent) or a combination of both (40 percent).

Industries to benefit
The mobileSquared study points out SMS is ideal for mobile coupons.

Mostly restaurants and retailers use SMS coupons to drive foot traffic to locations.

But other industries can benefit as well.

“I think any sector can benefit,” Mr. Lane said. “Research revealed that all messages are opened within a few minutes of receiving them.

“For anyone who wants to reach out to a database, SMS becomes incredibly powerful,” he said.

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Coca-Cola drives product awareness with cross-platform ad buy on CBS

From Mobile Marketer:

Brands such as Coca-Cola, Mars Inc.’s Snickers, Home Depot, Ford Motor Co., the Discovery Channel and Capital One are driving brand engagement and raising product awareness with advertising across CBS’s mobile sites and applications.

Coca-Cola Zero, Home Depot, Capital One and the Discovery Channel’s “Storm Chasers” have all run ad campaigns with the CBS Sports application, while Snickers and Ford are cosponsors of the CBS Sports Pro Football application. The majority of these are cross-platform buys that include online and television as well as mobile.

“One of the tent poles of our business is to make it easy to buy across CBS Interactive’s inventory,” said Rob Gelick, Los Angeles-based general manager of CBS Mobile and senior vice president at CBS Interactive. “Advertisers can now buy on air, online and mobile as a bundled package that extends reach and allows brands to follow an audience as it migrates from one platform to another.

“For example, Ford and Snickers are both running campaigns in our online sites, and are also both lead sponsors within our Pro Football mobile apps,” he said. “On the mobile front, we’re able to create unique, rich-media experiences like expandable ads and video units that we see as excellent points of connection to our audiences.

“We have a huge amount of products getting released in the mobile space, especially in the sports category, we’re running a lot more rich-media ad units and we’re seeing a lot more brand partners leveraging our mobile inventory"

Mobile advertising boom
Coca-Cola Zero, Home Depot and Capital One are all advertisers within the general CBS Sports iPhone application.

Coca-Cola is sponsoring the SEC Live Game of the Week feature within the application, which features live streaming video, including Coke Zero mobile video ads.

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Kohl’s rolls out first mobile effort to push holiday deals and sales

Kohl’s multichannel holiday campaign focuses on all of the special offers the department store chain offers consumers, with mobile at the heart of it.

The campaign focuses on how shoppers can save on products at their convenience. The multichannel campaign will be communicated across multiple mediums, including print advertising, direct mail, email, digital, mobile and social media.

“Mobile offers retailers another powerful channel to drive sales during the holiday season,” said Nick Taylor, president of Usablenet, New York.

“With the surge in smartphone adoption this year, retailers should capitalize on this opportunity by extending holiday items and sales to mobile,” he said. “Non-optimized retail sites run the risk of losing business during the most critical quarter.”

Mr. Taylor, whose company develops mobile commerce sites, did not work with Kohl’s on the holiday campaign. He is simply a third-party source based on his expertise with mobile retail sites.

Kohl's did not respond by deadline.

Kohl’s is a family-focused specialty department store chain offering moderately priced, exclusive and national brand apparel, shoes, accessories, beauty and home products.

Kohl’s mobile
The company saw an increasing amount of consumers accessing its Web site via their smartphones and created a mobile-optimized site.

Consumers can now shop the store’s merchandise via the site, as well as read customer reviews and view ratings for items.

Additionally, consumers can view shipping deals, find the closest store, browse that day’s ad, contact customer service, view their account and their My Kohl’s Charge history.

The company expects Kohls.com sales to increase by more than 40 percent for 2010 as the site continues to be a go-to resource for shoppers.

Kohls.com offers merchandise and savings available in-store, plus thousands of online exclusives, which are now available on the mobile device as well.

Merchandising for the mobile site focused on increasing awareness of "only-at-Kohl’s" brands through holiday insights from Simply Vera Vera Wang, LC Lauren Conrad, Dana Buchman and Bobby Flay.

Recognizing that consumers are increasingly using smartphones for improved convenience and efficiency, Kohl's has made significant investments in new mobile tools designed to make shopping easier for consumers.

The popular list builder tool will once again be available on Kohls.com and on the mobile version of the site during the days leading up to Thanksgiving as an additional resource to help shoppers conveniently plan their in-store visits and preview hundreds of Early Bird offers.

A screengrab of the Kohl's mobile site

Kohl’s charge card and direct mail
Kohl’s has increased its direct mail investment and distribution.

Throughout November and December, Kohl’s Charge card customers will enjoy more days to save than last year.

Pick-Your-Day savings offers and shopping passes allow shoppers to save multiple times during key sales events. This holiday season, Kohl’s will also include an additional shopping pass with each Pick-Your-Day offer.

Kohl’s will once again distribute a bundled holiday gift guide and jewelry mailer to select Kohl’s Charge card holders, including additional ways to save.

New this year, Kohl’s will also distribute a December guide with more than 30 pages of gift ideas.

Email alerts
Kohl’s database of shopper emails continues to grow as customers look to stay updated on brands and savings opportunities.

Emails beginning the second week of November will feature offers, gifts and apparel available in-store and online, including exclusive offers available only at Kohls.com.

Kohl’s will segment emails according to customer needs, lifestyle and preference.

Recipients can link to Kohl’s Facebook page directly from their emails to share their deals.

Digital and social media
Kohl’s will increase its investment in its digital marketing strategy, leveraging social media and online advertising.

This investment reflects the continuing trend of consumers researching purchases and sharing information online.

The company has seen substantial growth of its Facebook fan base, which has more than doubled since 2009 and now exceeds 2.8 million.

As a result, Kohl’s will continue to increase interaction on the site, making it easier for customers to shop and share their experiences.

The company will promote an ongoing dialogue about Kohl’s brands, programs and gifts, increase online polling functionality and offer integrated seasonal messaging via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

In addition, Kohl’s will seed merchandise giveaways with consumer bloggers.

Homepage takeovers are also a component of Kohl’s holiday digital advertising strategy.

The high-impact placements provide increased interaction with customers, promoting increased brand exposure.

Throughout November and December, Kohl’s will promote sales events with nine homepage takeovers on popular sites such as AOL and Yahoo.

This year, Kohl’s will also have a presence on Oprah.com to seed messaging prior to the Jan. 1, 2011 launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN, and an expanded paid advertising presence on Facebook.

Television and radio
Kohl’s will continue to leverage national and regional broadcast advertisements to engage customers and highlight why Kohl’s is the smartest choice this holiday season.

Broadcast spots will feature shoppers sharing how they gifted at Kohl’s by using savings tools and policies such as Kohl’s Cash, Kohl’s Charge card and Kohl's return policy.

Beginning after Thanksgiving, two 30-second national brand TV spots will run throughout the holiday season during such shows as Dancing with the Stars, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Survivor and Modern Family.

A mix of 15 - and 30-second TV advertising spots will support Kohl’s key sales events and highlight the company’s savings tools and differentiators.

The company continues to take advantage of radio’s strong reach with various 30-second national radio spots debuting on Nov. 2 and running through the week.

Kohl’s will once again use DJ integration throughout the holiday season with radio personalities Ryan Seacrest, Billy Bush, John Tesh and Lia.

“Customers often prefer alternative methods to browse and purchase gifts, especially this time of year,” Usablenet's Mr. Taylor said. “Mobile allows customers to avoid the crowds and engage with brands in the most accessible and convenient way.”

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Kenneth Cole exec: Apps do not make sense for brand retailers - Mobile Commerce Daily

NEW YORK – During his keynote at the Mobile Shopping Summit, a Kenneth Cole executive said that, especially with the rise of HTML5, his company’s focus is on the mobile Web and that an application does not make sense for a brand retailer’s business.

The Kenneth Cole presentation offered a look at what the marketplace is doing in terms of mobile, with a focus on the current design trends in mobile space. The differences in mobile site design tend to correspond to particular categories—mass merchants, look-up sites and brand retailers.

“Looking at the mobile sites of mass merchants, look-up sites and brand retailers, they are all using different design templates and tactics to get their message across,” said Tom Davis, vice president of ecommerce at Kenneth Cole Productions, New York. “This year we put our toe in the water, but we expect [sales driven via] mobile devices to be bigger than some of our bricks-and-mortar stores.

“The technology is about to change with the introduction of HTML5, and as a brand retailer, it’s all about the mobile Web site,” he said. “An app really doesn’t make sense for my business.”

Mobile commerce boom via the mobile Web
Before the brand launched its mobile-optimized Web site, it was seeing about 1 percent of its business coming through mobile devices.

Kenneth Cole tapped Usablenet for the launch of its mobile-optimized site at end of July. Mobile traffic immediately surged to 4 percent of the brand’s total, and that was during the summer, traditionally the slowest time of year for the brand.

Currently, mobile accounts for 10 percent of its total Web traffic and 4 percent of its revenue, although Mr. Davis believes that those figures only represent the tip of the iceberg.

“We’re expecting an incredible spike in mobile traffic and sales during the holidays,” Mr. Davis said. “For X amount of money I can build this mobile commerce business, man it with one or two people, and it will drive more revenue than an entire standalone store.

“It is the easiest business case scenario today, but what I really get excited about is what’s coming tomorrow,” he said.

Mr. Davis shared three main takeaways related to the mobile space:

1. By 2013 more mobile phones will be shipped than desktops and laptops combined, and by 2015 there will be more smartphone users than desktop and laptops users combined, per Mary Meeker.

2. Today’s mobile commerce design is reminiscent of 1990s Web sites, but no doubt that is going to change and change very rapidly.

3. By the end of 2011, customers will expect an excellent, relevant mobile experience that prioritizes content that is important to them while they are on the go.

Mass merchants
Mass merchants such as Zappos, Sears/Kmart and Target have thousands of brands, so to try to navigate through that sort of inventory on a mobile device can be very difficult.

The mobile sites of these types of retailers focus on putting search at top of the page and drilling down by product category down below.

For example, Zappos’ mobile site leads with portal for search, brand lookup and browsing by gender, boiling down what they do on the PC site so it fits on a mobile site. The approach is very simple and straightforward.

To create its mobile site, the company removed marketing messages and featured products or brands that are on its PC site.

Target’s mobile site also leads with search, with minimal call-outs about browsing assortment and a heavy focus on the needs of in-store shoppers, from daily deals and store lookup to deals, coupons and weekly ads.

“They’re not necessarily really driving the product base—they’ve removed promotion callouts, home page hero content and category callouts,” Mr. Davis said. “They’re focused on searching and browsing, simplifying the main navigation experience so that it is quick and efficient.

“They are focusing on simplicity to a Spartan degree to offer what people are looking for on the go,” he said. “If you’re a mass retailer, this is the status quo at the moment.

“I do think this is going to become tedious after a while, as all mass-market retailers seem to be using the same template.”

Look-up sites
Look-up sites from airlines, hotels and movie-ticketing companies target on-the-go consumers looking for quick information.

They do tend to have shopping or commerce ability, but it may not be why consumers visit that site, per Mr. Davis.

A lot of lookup sites lead with a download-our-app call-to-action and a login feature for customization, profiling or quick checkout.

Ecommerce is often secondary or even an afterthought, per Mr. Davis.

Brand retailers
The mobile sites from brand retailers such as American Eagle and Kenneth Cole often lead with their sister brands via tabs, features consistent cross-channel marketing messages and product search, while removing the bottom of the page marketing or promotional banner from the PC site.

“We are a brand, we represent a lifestyle, an attitude, and we’re trying to carry that personality or persona into the mobile space,” Mr. Davis said. “It’s about a cross-channel experience, whether you’re viewing the site on a computer, iPad or mobile phone, the experience is more or less the same.

“You have to realize that you have a very captive audience, a very special audience coming through the mobile channel, often younger shoppers,” he said. “We trimmed down the mobile site navigation to increase speed and efficiency and keep the form and function sleek and quick, and it has paid dividends over and over.

“We want to offer a consistent experience across any channel—everywhere shoppers’ experience should be seamless across in-store, online and mobile.”

Final Take
Kenneth Cole’s Mr. Davis

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Mobile on Rise...Decreased Media Hurts Ad Market

Decreased Media Usage Hurts Ad Market

APRIL 19, 2010

Mobile only channel with rising media time

Online was the largest segment of media time in 2009, followed by TV and video, music and radio, and mobile phone usage.US ad spending was down in 2009 as marketers and consumers alike tightened their belts during the recession. And while Americans looked to save money and trim expenses, they also began to spend less time with media, causing a worse drop in ad spending, according to the Yankee Group.

Overall, US consumers spent less than 12 hours a day with media on average. That was down from nearly 14 hours daily in 2008, a 17% decrease. Yankee Group speculated in its report that the recession may have left Americans too stressed to enjoy as much media consumption as the previous year.

Activities decreased almost across the board, with reading, music and radio, and TV and video dropping most dramatically. The only increase in time spent was with mobile phones. Talk time on mobile was up 12%, while average daily mobile Web use rose 36% to 11 minutes. Texting was also up, by 55%, to take up 27 minutes a day in 2009.

Yankee Group's picture of media consumption differs from others, including Nielsen's Three Screen Report. For Q4 2009, Nielsen reported TV time was up and significantly higher than Internet usage. Nielsen relies on automated data collection, while Yankee Group polled US consumers. In addition, Yankee Group includes both personal and work Internet usage in its media consumption study, while Nielsen excludes work time.

Yankee Group believes the transparency in our consumer attention model provides a more accurate picture of consumer demand for media, while automated systems are more tuned to determining media supply, said the report. As connected devices flourish and multiply in consumers'™ lives, we further believe this attention-driven model will rise in importance as consumers struggle with an increasing tyranny of too much media.

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New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez to Help Raise $100,000 for JDRF in Pepsi Refresh Project Challenge using Mobile Marketing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Joana Casas, JDRF Media Relations

(212) 479-7560, mcasas@jdrf.org

New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez to Help Raise $100,000 for JDRF in

Pepsi Refresh Project Challenge

Supporters can Vote Online or Text Now thru Feb. 5

NEW YORK, Jan. 29, 2010 – Mark Sanchez, quarterback for the New York Jets, is helping the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) try to win $100,000 in grants as part of the Pepsi Refresh Project, an online campaign to fund programs that will have a positive impact on people’s lives.

Voters can go to www.nfl.com/pepsirefresh and vote for Sanchez, or text ‘MARK’ to PEPSI (73774). Voting ends at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2010. If Sanchez outpolls other Pepsi Refresh Project sponsors, the funding will help JDRF establish a nationwide program to educate people about the symptoms of type 1 diabetes – the most severe form of the disease – and get medical care before suffering the life-threatening short-term complications of high blood sugar. Symptoms for type 1 or juvenile diabetes can be mistaken for common illnesses, such as the flu, and if left untreated, even over a very short timeframe, can be deadly.

“I want to help establish a much needed, nationwide educational program with JDRF to ensure that the warning signs of type 1 diabetes will become household knowledge for medical personnel, parents, teachers, and friends,” said Sanchez. “Then, a quick and accurate diagnosis can be made and proper treatment given before it results in a life threatening situation”.

In addition to Sanchez, quarterback Drew Brees and linebacker Demarcus Ware are also participating in the Pepsi Refresh Project challenge

“We re honored to have Mark Sanchez in the vanguard of our efforts to help save lives and eventually find a cure. Mark is an outstanding example of leadership on and off the field, bringing attention to a problem that can have an enormous impact on the 15,000 children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes annually – that’s 40 children a day,” said Alan J. Lewis, Ph.D., the President and CEO of JDRF. “All forms of diabetes are clearly on the rise, but the sad fact is that type 1 diabetes is far and away the most prevalent form of the disease affecting children, and so we are also grateful to the Pepsi Refresh Project Challenge for investing in a program that will positively impact so many lives.”

About type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and kills off the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, a hormone that enables people to convert food into energy. It affects 3 million American children, adolescents, and adults.

To manage their disease, people with type 1 diabetes need to measure their blood sugar multiple times throughout the day (typically by pricking a finger for a drop of blood), and pump insulin or inject themselves multiple times daily to keep blood sugar levels within a healthy range. That daily routine continues for life, because insulin administration does not cure diabetes.

About JDRF

JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 research. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children and adults suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.4 billion to diabetes research, including more than $100 million in FY2009.

For more information, please visit www.jdrf.org .

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