MMA Publishes Mobile Couponing Guidelines update

MMA PUBLISHES MOBILE COUPONING BEST PRACTICES AND GUIDELINES

 

New Document Provides Industry Standard for Mobile Coupons and Rebates

 

New York, London, UK, Singapore & São Paulo: April 11, 2011 – The MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) (www.mmaglobal.com) today published “Guidelines and Best Practices in Mobile Price Promotions” for North America. Created by the MMA’s Mobile Couponing Task Force, the document is designed to provide marketers, merchants, wireless carriers and other mobile marketing ecosystem members with an industry-standard standard for using mobile coupons and rebates to increase sales and promote consumer loyalty.

 

Mobile coupons are one type of Mobile Price Promotion, which the MMA defines as “electronic coupons or rebates that traverse the full redemption process without the requirement for conversion into a paper or other hard-copy format.”

 

Mobile Price Promotions are distributed, discovered and redeemed through a variety of mobile technologies, including SMS, MMS, Mobile Applications, Mobile Web, Bluetooth, NFC and 1D/2D barcode scanning. “Guidelines and Best Practices in Mobile Price Promotions” provides a concise overview of these channels, as well as the key considerations for developing and executing these types of campaigns:

 

• The five stages of mobile price promotions, such as the ways that consumers can discover and redeem coupons and rebates.
• General best practices and principles, including transparency, good taste, privacy, opt-in/opt-out and government laws, rules and regulations.
• Campaign-specific best practices and principles, such as those involving contests, food, pharmaceuticals and alcohol.
• Tips for designing coupons, using the word “free” and creating notices such as terms and conditions.

 

“Our research shows that consumer interest in mobile coupons continues to grow, giving brands, merchants and marketers a powerful new opportunity to establish and maintain relationships with consumers,” said Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA. “The MMA created ‘Guidelines and Best Practices in Mobile Price Promotions’ to give the ecosystem an industry-standard framework for capitalizing on that opportunity while protecting the consumer experience.”

 

These standards represent a collection of feedback from MMA’s Mobile Commerce Committee, which includes over 120 member companies, as well as industry input during a 30-day open-to-public commentary period. The MMA’s Mobile Couponing Task Force is co-chaired by Mobile Dreams Factory and Inmar and includes Cellfire, Infinian and Verizon Wireless. This group of companies are specifically responsible for compiling the feedback and finalizing the standards. For more information about “Guidelines and Best Practices in Mobile Price Promotions,” visit http://mmaglobal.com/mobilecouponguidelines.pdf

 

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)

 

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association representing all players in the mobile marketing value chain. With more than 700 member companies, the MMA is an action-oriented organization with global focus, regional actions and local relevance. The MMA’s primary focus is to establish mobile as an indispensable part of the marketing mix.   The MMA works to promote, educate, measure, guide and protect the mobile marketing industry worldwide. The MMA’s global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM) and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com.

Half of US adults 18-64 are "mobile shopping"

This is a phenomenal number. However, there are many caveats regarding the actual use cases. Much more information below.

You will need to view the presentation full screen to see the complete content.

Marketing to the Mobile Shopper

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Laird Garner Speaking at ACP Annual Coupon Conference

I'm excited to speak once again at the ACP's Annual Coupon Conference - April 12-14 in Atlanta. Announcement is below:

			Keynote Doug Rogers a former Wyeth President will discuss building winning organizations with "nice guy" principles, delve into human behavior, how it impacts social communities and potential opportunities for couponing. Join Jason Rogers from the multiple award winning agency Catapult as he draws from the latest joint research with Google, Forrester and others to document trends then demonstrates how leading brands are adapting their shopper marketing, social media, and digital coupon programs to reach the evolving consumer successfully. Consumer panel - hear it from the source! In this live consumer panel we will engage some "All You" consumer members in a discussion about there coupon use. How they get them, where they use them and there likes and dis-likes regarding coupons. Laird Garner will be back to discuss Emerging Technology. The implementation of technology is happening so fast this presentation will be not be finalized until minutes before Laird takes the stage. Among the topics: mobile commerce, social media, and the latest Pads, Slates, 4G, and Cloud. Retailer panel - back by popular demand, John Morgan will again moderate a panel of leading retailers to discuss the issues of the day from a retailer's perspective. The Last Mile for GS1 Databar - There will be a GS1 Databar update general session and a Q&A track session to get all your questions answered on the GS!Databar implementation. Therese Mulvey, Valassis will be discussing: "Integrated Media - Adjusting to Changes in Consumer Buying Habits". ...and more unique research, latest trends, and innovation that you can't get anywhere else but the Industry Coupon Conference.
	Dear Industry Colleauge, Click here to get the ACP e-zine packed with information about the upcoming Industry Coupon Conference as well as more of the latest news from ACP and the coupon industry. On-line registration for 2011 Industry Coupon Conference "Coupons: Opportunities & Options," is available on our website. The Westin Buckhead Atlanta Click here for more details >> More Information is available at www.couponpros.org or contact: John Morgan Executive Director Association of Coupon Professionals Direct: (610) 789.9993 Main: (610) 789.1478 Email: John.Morgan@acp-hq.org www.couponpros.org

Google Mobile Ads launches enhanced location-aware ads

From Google Mobile Ads Blog:

"you can now  feature your business location and phone number on an expandable map ad  that can appear on mobile websites and apps in the Google Display Network. The ad appears as a banner text ad with a business icon that expands to show your business location on a Google map along with your ad creative, click-to-call phone number and option to get directions. Since ads can be served based on the user’s location, a potential customer will see the phone number and map of the store location that’s nearest to them."

Cool mobile coupon compendium graphic

Via www.mobilemarketingwatch.com and www.promotionalcodes.org.uk -- great "infographic" combining several sources of mobile coupon growth statistics. You may have to do a fair amount of zooming or file saving to see the details.

Infographic By Promotional Codes

Augme and Inmar join forces, using ONiX

More: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/augme-technologies-collaborates-with-inmar-to-launch-innovative-mobile-promotions-for-new-cross-retail-consumer-brand-marketing-opportunities-2010-07-28?reflink=MW_news_stmp

"Augme, whose AD LIFE(TM) mobile marketing platform is used by some of the nation's largest brands and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, and Inmar, the nation's largest clearinghouse for digital couponing and retail incentive programs, have joined forces to develop a brand-oriented end-to-end solution that delivers purchase-incentive programs and drives multiple purchases by consumers, in a wide variety of retail locations. The collaboration will produce the first "live" offer to run on Inmar's ONiX digital incentive network."

Microsoft mobile Bing now scanning barcodes

More: http://www.bing.com/community/blogs/search/archive/2010/07/27/camera-scanning-on-the-iphone-app.aspx

"Comparison shopping has been around for ages and all of us do it. Whether checking different stores to compare prices or reading reviews on various products, there’s just something about getting the best deal on the best product that validates the entire shopping experience (or maybe that’s just me).  As more and more activities become mobile, comparison shopping is as well. In fact, research shows that 56% of iPhone users compare prices when shopping on their phone. With the recent update to the Bing iPhone app we’re excited to make comparison shopping with your phone even easier with the new camera scanning feature on the Bing for iPhone app."

"Shooger Sweetens Search" for digital incentives

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Shooger2010/07/prweb4283344.htm

"Providing deal seekers with more ways to find money-saving offers, Shooger, a mobile coupon platform, announced today that it has launched a new website, http://www.shooger.com, with web-based search functionality for consumers looking for local, national and online deals and coupons."

Don't let old models keep you away from new, digital consumers

For all of the stat's and predictions geeks, there is a lot more information in this Research Brief and at PricwaterhouseCoopers.

Suffice it to say that the rate of change in media being driven by digital services is still big news.

"... the digital pace of change has proven to be even quicker than anticipated with consumers embracing new media... and digital downloads at often-unexpected speeds..."

When people are given a choice between more control or less control over their media consumption, they always opt for more control. Even if it means a little less quality, a little less "flash" and polish. This should not be surprising.

A few more key points from the article:

• Multi-function, mobile devices will continue to dominate growth rates - 96+ million Americans will be mobile Internet subscribers by 2014.
• Consumers will expect all forms of media to embed the interactivity of the Internet.
• Local relevance, flexible use, and personalization will drive consumer willingness to pay for content.

All of these taken together should motivate companies to re-evaluate, test, and deploy new business models, immediately, to stay ahead of these rapidly changing consumer expectations.

Foursquare and Starbucks missed it by...that much

In the words of Major League's Harry Doyle, the inaugural Foursquare-Starbucks campaign was "Juuust a bit outside..."

Brand marketers take note: The mobile-digital paradigm requires more integration, relevance and consistency than ever before. It is not about repurposing the same old campaigns through a different channel like you were flipping between TV networks.
You will have to work harder, do more research, and "connect the dots" between technological capabilities and consumer expectations. This ain't easy...and blowing it is also much more difficult to hide.

This is a good review and reminder from MediaPost as they disect the recent Foursquare/Starbucks campaign.

"...the companies may want to consider lessons learned from this initial rewards offer, which ends June 28, before jumping into the next one. The Frappuccino promotion has come under criticism on various counts, laid out in a recent post by Forrester analyst Augie Ray.

"For one thing, he points out that becoming mayor of a Starbucks location isn't so easy -- he estimates it may take 30 check-ins or more during a two-month period to gain that honor just to get $1 off a $4 Frappuccino. Woohoo. That's not even on par with an old-fashioned punch card offering a free java after 10 trips."

"[Foursquare and Starbucks] would be wise to heed such suggestions to provide more diverse and worthwhile offers. "If Foursquare and other geo-location platforms (are you listening Facebook and Yelp?) want to build long-term success, it's going to take unique, customized and relevant offers, and not the same 'Please check in here a lot and we'll give you 100 pennies' offer," wrote Ray."