"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."

Infographic By Promotional Codes

"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."

"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."

"... 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.

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."