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.”

My college instituted e-books for almost all coursework a few months back.  At first I tried to use them, but I had a lot of trouble focusing and retaining the information, despite my best efforts.  I spent more time resizing the screen larger and larger than I did reading the words.

I was diseh

Finally I began simply buying the paper books from Amazon once I had the titles.  The cost was not prohibitave and I muct prefer highlighting and dog-earing the paper pages to the “new, improved” ability to highlight on ebooks.

Despite my preference for paper books, should I ever be forced into using an ebook, I think I finally found my ebook reader!

Weighing in at 5.5 pounds and about 1 inch thick, meet the new KNO.  Full color, flash supported, like an iPad on steriods, and I LOVE IT!

This is making my “living expense funds” wants list and my Christmas list.  I think I’m in love!!

Kno Movie from Kno, Inc. on Vimeo.

Kwedit is currently only for digital goods, however, their partnership with 7-11 Stores will create a new payment method that changes the landscape of online sales, especially using Kwedit Direct!

In the New York Times article “Buy Now, Pay Later (Maybe with your allowance), Kwedit bring online purchasing to the under-13 crowd, as well as a tipping point to add new buyer personas to e-commerce.

Currently, Kewdit is being used strictly for digital goods in children’s games, where they can make purchases of digital goods in the game using a promise to pay.  As they do pay for the goods, their “kwedit” score goes  up, allowing them to purchase more on a promise.  Kwedit is reportedly seeking the “sweet spot” where the kewdit limit is not too high, but not low enough to discourage the purchases.  At the same time, the digital goods sellers suffer no real loss for non-payment (except obviously their time in creating them).

The cooler part of this new platform is the potential in the future availability to add “Kwedit Direct” as a payment form for all other online transactions.  According to the New York Times article, the buyer will be able to make a purchase online using the Kwedit account, then print out a bar code and take it to 7-11 to make a payment in person using their cash, or their credit or debit card.

This potentially increases online sales to those who have avoided buying online because they do not want to expose their bank account, credit or debit cards – or they simply do not have one.

This is an exciting opportunity for online merchants and worth watching as it rolls out!