The assigned article “Improving location tech will get more opt-in”,  by Chris Harnick, addressed the advertiser-side of location tech for mobile advertising.

The idea of a coupon stalking me as I walk through my day is still disconcerting to me, despite the Market trials cited by Martin Fuerstein, that indicated “once they experienced the tangible benefits of a relevant service, they became comfortable with loosening privacy settings.”

The idea that a mobile operator will have a tighter radius on me with a 4G deployment is even creepier.  I am truly of the opt-in mindset.  I cannot see myself walking through an open air market and having my phone constantly go off:  Pass Starbucks, $1 off a Latte; next store is a Subway five feet away and I get free chips and a soda with the purchase of a foot long.  Turn the corner and as I walk past Nine West, I get 20% off a purchase of the newest summer sandals and as I approach Barnes & Noble I get a coupon for 40% off one of the newest releases in stock.

NO THANK YOU!!! I already have a tough time dealing with my phone, but if the Coupon Stalkarati become that big of a nuisance, I will probably leave it in the car!

In addition, last week I did cite in my blog post that Virgin Mobile USA has a plan called Sugar Mama that  allows mobile subscribers to earn free airtime by participating in online surveys and interactive commercials.  Involving your brand in such an event would be a great way to create awareness.  However, if it extended to shoving coupons down my throat, I would definitely opt out!

I also disagree with Mr. Feuerstein’s statement that ““High-accuracy location in areas where consumers use their phones the most will provide the required context and relevance required for mobile marketing and advertising to succeed.”  As I described in my rendition of the high accuracy location I was walking through above, I believe it could ultimately end up being more of a nuisance like TV commercials (where most of which get muted or walked away from by many people).

Mr. Feuerstein states, ““High-accuracy location technologies for dense urban and indoor areas do exist but wireless service providers have not deployed the same.”  It is very possible that the mobile carriers have a valid reason for not deploying them until they get a better feel for THEIR customer and the customer’s reaction to such high-accuracy targeting.  Obviously advertising revenues are important, but not as important to them as keeping their paying subscriber would be!  Just ask Sprint.

I also disagree with his idea that consumers are not motivated to receive mobile location-based ads because they are not compensated well enough for doing so.  There are very few businesses I would “opt-in” with for location based ads.

However, where the tipping point may be is with the under 25 age bracket – whose entire life is broadcast with little or no filtering across the net for anyone and everyone to share.  Theirs is a new, brave world of open and full transparency, and they live it to the fullest.  Give them great compensation and you have a market that will grow!

RURAL AREAS vs. URBAN AREAS:

As someone living in this rural area of 26,000 people, with urbanized zones throughout it,  I would be less concerned with the feeling of having my privacy invaded here, than I would have when I lived in the Tampa Bay area of Florida with its population of over 2 Million people.

This makes it very interesting in how I see location based targeted advertising now.  The scenario I laid out in my example above, was the exact path I took last month through the open air mall that is 9 miles north of my home.

Rural areas are underserved by the very nature of their small populations.  However, they are truly a diamond in the rough for mobile advertising.  Most folks in this area get “to town” about once a week.  Their shopping is usually well planned out in advanced and very budgeted.  As a result, they may be more susceptible to location-based mobile ads. Introducing them during peak buying times, like “back to school” would be an interesting proposition that I believe would drive opt-ins.

Sources:

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/search/4989.html

http://www.mobiadnews.com/?p=3007

http://sharonodell.com/2010/07/16/mobile-global-reach-demographics/

This is a follow up to a previous post on this blog. The original post dated May 9, 2010,  is located at:  http://sharonodell.com/2010/05/09/digital-coupons-outpace-newspaper-coupons-10-to-1/.

As for J.C. Penney, it seems they are definitely moving ahead with their Mobile Coupon Marketing Program.  In an article Titled “J.C. Penney Plans more Social and Mobile Marketing, found at IntermetRetailer.com dated June 30, 2010,  [http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/06/30/jc-penney-plans-more-social-and-mobile-marketing]  J.C. Penney describest their “most coveted customers” to be young tech savvy women, ages 25-34″.  They further state the evolution of their brand will result from growth in this specific market segment.  “Marketing more and more is a conversation, and the days of the brands talking at people are numbered,” J.C. Penney chief marketing officer Mike Boylson said last week during a presentation at the Goldman Sachs Dot Commerce conference in New York.

J.C. Penny obviously has a firm belief in Mobile Coupons and in growing their brand around the specific market who use them.

This makes total sense, since the Mobile Market continues it’s incredible rate of growth and new media is continuously being introduced.  No longer are mobile ads strictly SMS.  With Google’s purchase of AdMob and the new iAd platform from Apple, more and more rich media display and video ads are expected.

The article further states, in addition to more mobile marketing, J.C. Penney will use a new social media concept known as “hauling” to reach more back-to-school shoppers, especially fashion- conscious teenagers. Unlike bloggers who write about their shopping experiences and then post their prose online, “haulers” tape their shopping excursions and then upload the video and audio commentary to YouTube. For back-to-school, shopping J.C. Penney has chosen a series of “haulers” ages 14 to 18 who will shop online and in stores and post their shopping episodes on YouTube. “We’ve chosen haulers we think are also key influencers.  JCP.com is entering a new era for online and conventional retailing, he told attendees. “JCP.com is our flagship customer experience and our largest store,” Boylston said. “It’s the growth engine.”

The second part of this assignment was the question as to whether mobile couponing was a fad or the future and would it prove successful. This is a follow up to a previous post on this blog. The original post dated May 9, 2010,  is located at: http://sharonodell.com/2010/05/09/mobile-coupons-success-or-fad/

Recent reports these past few months have certainly indicated that Mobile Coupons are becoming widely accepted.  A recent article titled “Women Take the Lead on Mobile Coupons” dated May 17, 2010, indicates that  more than 2/3 of Women consumers report they have an interest in discounts via a mobile device.  In fact, in a study of Female Mobile Internet Users Worldwide, the study found that of the women polled:

• 67.89%  answered YES to receiving coupons on their mobile phone
• 10.63% were unsure if they would want to
• and only  21.49% said no thanks.

When th respondents were already visitors to mobile shopping and promotions channels,

• 33% of the women reported that they were regular users of those channels
• and another 46% more stated they used coupons “sometimes”

When asked, the women polled indicated that the mobile coupons most interesting to them were:

• The response for Retail Mobile Coupons was 53.49%
• The response for Concert/Event Mobile Coupoons was 21.37%
• The response for dining Mobile Coupons was 16.23%
• The response for cinema Mobile Coupons was 7.31%
• and the response for Theatre Mobile Coupons was 1.6%

In another new report titled “Mobile Shopping from In-Store, A Potential Game Changer” discusses a Multichannel Retailer  survey conducted in March 15, 2010 by m-commerce where these merchants reported:

• 10.7% use mobile advertising to promote sales and special offers
• 6.5% have an m-commerce site
• 6.1% have an iPhone app
• 2.8% already distribute mobile coupons
• 1.4% use mobile search ads
• and 1.4% report having search apps for other mobile devices.

This means that 79.4% have yet to use Mobile Commerce for sales.  Thus, while consumers are ready and waiting, the retailers have yet to catch up with their demand.  In fact, in a Forrester Research study  on March 8, 2010 indicates that in 2009 42% of total U.S. Retail Sales were “influenced” (take place online or are influenced by the web) by Online Research before the purchase was made.  That is expect to escalate to 53% by 2014.  Thus, mobile commerce will grow rapidly.

As a final example that Mobile Coupons are not a fad, but a fact of life, Coupons.com reported on July 2, 2010 that they surpassed 1 MILLION downloads on their two new apps for the iPhone and Android.  Proof in fact that mobile couponing is on the rise since the first increase in coupon use that occurred in 2009.

Steve Horowitz, CTO of Coupons.com states, “Because the apps are mobile, they are available in the store as consumers browse, compare and finally make their brand decision,” he said. “For brand marketers, it means they have the opportunity to engage with consumers throughout the entire path to purchase – from need identification to brand section in the store.  The application includes voice recognition and bar code scanning and lets users print the coupons for redemption or use the Save to Card feature that loads the coupons to a user’s store loyalty card.

“In fact digital coupons represented the fastest growing category of coupons, growing 10 to 1 over their printed cousins that are distributed in the newspaper – we also attribute growth to an eye to the entire mobile coupon ecosystem—from the user and with obvious benefits to retailers who need to ensure a quick pace at POS.”

According to Mr. Horowitz, consumers are clamoring for coupons and mobile access makes them more convenient.

In this Word on the Street Assignment, we had to answer the  Question:  “In what ways do you feel that companies are using mobile technologies to target you regarding their products and services?”

A great article on this subject is in the New York Times.  Written by Stephanie Clifford, it was published on April 16, 2010 and is titled “Web Coupons Know Lots About You, and They Tell” [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/business/media/17coupon.html].

Companies who use mobile advertising target potential customers by:

• Geographical information contained in the phone (local targeting)
• Interests
• Specific Social Media Pages (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc)
• Sex (M/F),
• Age
• Search queries
• The customer’s IP Address
• Prior shopping habits (loyalty programs)
• Ethnicity

All of this is invisible to the customer.  It’s not ‘general’ information either.  These coupons can get eerily specific, virtually following you to bed where it knows what kind of sheets you have!

Some merchandisers use a company called RevTraxx who has no privacy policy.  They get around the privacy policies of Google and can even trend your IP address – if you have a proclivity for downloading pizza coupons on Friday afternoons – you may soon find one already there!

In a worst case scenario, as the article points out, companies with this kind of personal information can offer you substandard products than they might offer another person; or the same product but at a higher price than the next person.  Privacy advocates are very much alarmed by this activity and the article quotes Ed Mierzwinski, the Consumer program Director for USPIRG as saying “There really have been no rules set up for this ecosystem”.  Now, USPIRG is asking the FTC to tighten up online advertising privacy rules.

The FTC took it’s first action in March when it sought input about whether to revamp the COPPA (Child Online Privacy Protection Act) regulations, which were last updated in 2000. Among other questions, the FTC asked whether it should expand the definition of personal information to include “persistent IP addresses, mobile geolocation information or information collected in connection with online behavioral advertising.”

[http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=124908]

The deadline for comments on this, originally scheduled for June 30, 2010 has been extended by the FTC to July 20, 2010

[http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=131185&nid=116157]

In the meantime the “word on the street” is for advertisers to police themselves when dealing with kids 12 and under.  As stated in the article “Why Marketers Must Keep Kids’ Safety In Mind”, “Marketers will have to tread lightly when dealing with minors, both because of existing regulations and the possibility of new ones. As newer channels like mobile and social networking become increasingly important destinations for kids and teens, effective self-regulation could head off some of the possible restrictions strict legislation or rule-making could bring.”

Back in classes again – at last!  This month – Mobile Advertising and Social Media Optimization.  Redux.  I started these classes in May before I went down hard due to illness and had to take a Leave of Absence.

Returning to these classes reminded me of a very important lesson in technology:  It’s moving faster than the speed of light!  I had done a Discussion post for Mobile Advertising back in May that talked about Google’s pending purchase of AdMob and the FTC investigation into whether it gave them too big a percentage of the marketplace.  Well, in less than 45 days everything has changed!  Now Google owns AdMob, is ready to go head-to-head with iAd from Apple and so I had to -rewrite my post to reflect the entirely new environment!

The two questions posed for the discussion in Mobile Advertising class this week were:

1.  Referring to this link talking about how Google was optimizing a news site so smartphones could better use it, the question posed was:  ”Do you feel that Google has an edge on the mobile news market”?

2.  Referring to Google’s purchase of AdMob, the question posed was:  ”Do you feel that AdMob has created an effective way to targeting advertising for some of these major retailers”?

My initial response posted:

In terms of news delivery, I believe that anytime you can create the look of a desktop in a mobile environment it is a bonus, particularly when your aim is to deliver a consistent experience cross-platform.  To date the world of Mobile News has been very basic in terms of simple text delivery.  To have the richness and experience of a desktop/laptop on a mobile device has long been the Holy Grail, ever since the first iPaq was released.

This cross-platform rich environment is a definite advantage to Google.

Google’s recent purchase of AdMob brings them the ability to deliver mobile display ads.  This, clearly is in line with Google’s growth into the Mobile marketplace and is the next logical step n bringing mobile marketing into line with Internet Marketing’s ability to deliver rich advertisements.

jiWire conducted a Q1/2010 mobile insights study with 1,000 mobile users.  Their new report “examined device use…and consumer preferences for mobile content and advertising delivery.

David Staas, senior vice president of marketing at JiWire, says “People have a completely different perception of mobile content and advertising when they’re on-the-go… half of the on-the-go mobile audience say they are more likely to engage with an ad that is relevant to their current location… ”

They also  found:

55% of the on-the-go audience owns an app-enabled smartphone or mobile device. The top devices (and % ownership) are:

• iPhone 36%
• BlackBerry 27
• iPod Touch 17
• Android 7
• Windows Mobile 5
• Palm 2

The top 5 mobile applications are:

1.    Facebook

2.    Google

3.    The Weather Channel

4.    Pandora

5.    Twitter

Further, more than 40% of those surveyed spend more than one hour per day using apps.

Over 50% of this audience has engaged with advertisements on an app in the previous 30 days.  Of that 50%:

35% clicked on ad

27% visited advertiser’s web site

18% made a purchase

The most telling information gleaned from the study:

“Respondents say that advertisements on mobile devices are both welcome and effective, with 53% saying they were willing to share their location to receive more relevant advertising”.

I would say that, again, Google was ahead of the curve in negotiating and defending (against the April 2010 FTC investigation) their purchase of AdMob.

More Info:  Google Answers:  Mobile Image Ad Information