GEN WOW: The Latest In Digital Marketing, from the Author of BRANDING UNBOUND, and THE ON-DEMAND BRAND

Wendy's Serves Up Mobile Couponing Test, Real-Time Twitter Experience

Maybe it IS hip to be square.

Wendy's - they of the square burger patties - is rolling out a new mobile coupon test to help spur business. The company's gone very discount lately - what with the "Fill Up For Less" deluxe value meals for $2.99, email offers and gift cards and whatnot. Mobile coupons can't be that far behind.

Working with Options Media Group, the popular burger chain is enabling consumers to opt in to receive coupons via text message, which are redeemed by showing the mobile device to cashiers. 

According to Forrester Research, 61% of consumers say their interested in receiving mobile coupons - but that's down dramatically from 80% three years ago. And 7-Eleven's test of mobile coupons raised questions about the proper way to collect the mobile phone numbers of customers who might be minors.

Wendy's isn't likely to be quite as highly scrutinized - its clientele, like most fast food outlets, tend to be so-called superfans, mostly young me between the ages of 18 and 24 who frequent fast food joints several times a day.

This could be a win-win for the fans and the little red headed girl with the pigtails alike. Now, what's this Wendy's RealTime thing all about?

It seems to involve real-time tweets and Facebook posts about topics like fresh ingredients and messages like "I'm so hungry I almost ate a toothpick" and promotions like "Show Us Your Bacon Face." 

Seriously?

Read more about Wendy's mobile couponing, here.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

BRANDING UNBOUND WAS JUST THE BEGINNING:

>>> CLICK HERE FOR A FIRST LOOK <<<

In UK, Tesco's Wine Discovery iPhone App Enhances In-Store Shopping Experience

Here the US, Visa and stores like Safeway and Mollie Stones have been making the mobile - specifically text messaging - to enhance the wine shopping experience by enabling consumers to text in for wine recommendations while they're in the store.

In the UK, Tesco markets is going a step further with an iPhone app that uses visual search technology to enable shoppers to quickly scan a wine label to retrieve information and reviews on the wine. But my favorite feature is a wine discovery capability that lets you match specific wines to a meal you're planning, and even a way to make random selections based on price, country, and type of wine by shaking the phone. I looks like you can place a purchase through a Tesco wine store online, but I can see how this might be more meaningful when someone is actually in a store doing their grocery shopping.

There are some other minor issues, but overall, this is a good example of a way for retailers to use mobile to enhance the in-store shopping experience.

It also helps compete with price checker apps by enabling the same kind of thing - and even allowing the shopper to buy wines that are not in stock from an online store - a convenience that could trump lower prices in some instances.

Look for many more such apps from retailers in 2010.

Read Econsultancy's review of the app, here.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

BRANDING UNBOUND WAS JUST THE BEGINNING:

>>> CLICK HERE FOR A FIRST LOOK <<<

Cyber Monday Sales Jump 20%; Mobile Payment In-Store Jumps 650%

The lowdown:

According to MSNBC, sales for Cyber Monday (otherwise known as "the first day back at your desk at work after Thanksgiving) surged 20% year of year.

This comes amid word that physical store sales burped up 0.9% - which, all things considered, is a sigh of relief.

Among the more interesting data points: Mobile payment in physical stores surged 650%.

Key takeaway: Smart retailers are going to bridge the digital-physical world gap. And if you want to get a sneak peak at how they're doing that, check out my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (Spring 2010, Amacom/McGraw-Hill).

Read more on Cyber Monday sales, here.

And read more about mobile payments on Black Friday, here.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

BRANDING UNBOUND WAS JUST THE BEGINNING:

>>> CLICK HERE FOR A FIRST LOOK <<<

Back from Digital Hollywood

Just don't call us the Digital Hollywood Squares.

I was in Santa Monica this week to participate in a panel discussion on games as an advertising and marketing platform for entertainment and consumer products brands.

It was a lively discussion with executives from several of the online and mobile gaming outfits, and hosted by James Green, CEO of Giant Realm. Great group of people, and an interesting debate.

Some really intelligent (and funny) people aboard - which made it feel like a game show.

Peter Marshall, eat your heart out.

Read more, here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

BRANDING UNBOUND WAS JUST THE BEGINNING:

>>> CLICK HERE FOR A FIRST LOOK <<<

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Quick Links:

BRANDING UNBOUND: THE BLOG - The latest in mobile marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

First Look: The Cover of My New Book, 'The On-Demand Brand'

Forgot to mention that during my speaking engagement at the Global Retail Executive Council at CTIA this week, I was able to share the first glimpse of the cover art for my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (Amacom/McGraw-Hill, Spring, 2009). Be sure to read all about the book, here. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

BRANDING UNBOUND WAS JUST THE BEGINNING:

>>> CLICK HERE FOR A FIRST LOOK <<<

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Quick Links:

BRANDING UNBOUND: THE BLOG - The latest in mobile marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

Polo Ralph Lauren Opens Up On The Power of Mobile Marketing

David Lauren, scion of of Ralph Lauren, and Polo's senior vice president of marketing, shares his insights on mobile marketing with AD AGE. And he's a good person to ask. It was Lauren, after all that turned store windows into interactive shopping displays, deployed QR codes to sell fashions via mobile phone, and recently launched a mobile app for buying customizable rugby shirts.

His most insightful line is as obvious as it is powerful:

"For some brands, technology is not a natural extension of what they do. They're trying to create a brand based around the technology that's in front of them, and that's doing it backwards."

It's a knowing insight that demonstrates how so many brands go wrong with digital initiatives - and how Polo's working to do it right.

Read more, here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

BRANDING UNBOUND WAS JUST THE BEGINNING:

>>> CLICK HERE FOR A FIRST LOOK <<<

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Quick Links:

BRANDING UNBOUND: THE BLOG - The latest in mobile marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

Geek Squad Launches Anti-'Sex In The City' Campaign For Men

The geeks are getting revenge of Carrie Bradshaw and company.

The gang over at Geek Squad just sent me word that they're heading to movie theaters in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to save guys dragged by their wives and girlfriends to see the new "Sex In The City" movie, which opens tomorrow.

The geeks are coming armed with quarters—and lots of them.  The mission, according to Geek marketers, is simple:  Agents will be on site handing out packets with quarters for arcade games. But that’s not all. The packet will also contain a list of "highly-accurate 'Sex and the City' themed excuses to help the unfortunate male break free his unfortunate babe-flick bondage."

The handout, part of which is shown here, includes slots for quarters, and explanations to get out of the movie and into the lobby such as, "Damn it! I specifically asked for three pumps of artificial butter flavoring!" and "II think I saw my old college roommate in the lobby - that guy owes me $50."

Hilarious hijack. Go geeks (and thank you!)

Quick Links:

BRANDING UNBOUND The Blog
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

7-Eleven Stores Disguised As 'Simpsons' Kwik-E-Marts

Was it really even necessary?

Over the weekend, a dozen 7-Eleven stores were turned into Kwik-E-Marts, the convenience store workplace of Apu in "The Simpsons," CNN is reporting.

They even stocked the store with Simpsons-centric brands - Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal, and Squishees, which, of course are Slurpies. I'm just hoping there's Duff Beer.

No, it's not all a case of reverse produce placement - the creation of real world products based on fictional products that I wrote about a while back. It's actually a promo for the unnecessary "Simpson's Movie" from 20th Century Fox. Which should have come out in the 20th Century, not after what, 17 years?

As for the promo itself, Kwik-E-Mart was always a loosely-veiled reference to 7-Eleven, wasn't it?

What exactly did 7-Eleven get out of the promo? And what did it's franchisees - many of whom are Indian - think?

Get the lowdown, here.

Quick Links:

GENERATION WOW: The World of Multiplatform Marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
BRANDING UNBOUND IN ADWEEK Magazines
Rick Mathieson.com

 

'Cocaine' Gets Pulled From Store Shelves Nationwide

Retailers nationwide are kicking the habit and taking an energy drink called "Cocaine" off the shelves.

As I talked about last year, the drink has garnered controversy pretty much since its introduction.

And, as I pointed out in October, retail giant 7-11 was among the first to drop the brand.

Now, the New York Times is reporting that Redux Beverages of Las Vegas, the makers of the drink, have announced they will sell the drink under a new brand name after the FDA issued a warning Redux was illegally marketing the drink as a drug alternative and a dietary supplement.

"Of course, we intended for Cocaine energy drink to be a legal alternative the same way that celibacy is an alternative to premarital sex," Clegg Ivey, a partner with the company tells the Times, adding that he hoped to have the drink back on store shelves under a new moniker within weeks.

"We like to think we have a great sense of humor," Mr. Ivey says. "And our market, primarily folks from ages 20 to 30, they love the ideas, they love the name, they love the whole campaign. These are not drug users."

Maybe so. But I wonder if I'd have to be snorting something to think a drink by that name would have anything but a short shelf life.

Quick links:

BRANDING UNBOUND The Blog
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

 

The New In-Store Experience: ‘Social Retailing’

Interactive services firm IconNicholson is combining social networking and shopping to redefine the in-store experience, according to Marketing Vox.

The company’s new Social Retailing technology uses an in-store, three-panel “Magic Mirror” that can send photos or videos of shoppers in outfit options to their Myspace page or to friends’ email and mobile phones for instant opinions.

The system will even enable shoppers to view others’ past purchases, and view options that aren’t available in-store, but that can be purchased online and then delivered.

The company’s longtime client, designer Nanette Lepore, says she will implement a version of this technology in a department store sometime in the next few months.

Both IconNichols and Nanette Lepore have been leaders in using next-generation technologies to transform the way consumers interact with actual stores.

In my book BRANDING UNBOUND, for instance, I look at IconNicholson's work with both Prada and Lepore.

As shoppers make their way around Prada’s Epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles, for instance, readers embedded in furniture scan the RFID-based smart tags on clothing items and then automatically display video of models wearing the fashions, as well as designer sketches and information about cut, color, fabric, and availability on the nearest video display.

In dressing rooms, shoppers can access much of the same content via an interactive touch screen display. When in default mode, the display plays video – dubbed “aura” – showing content associated with the selected clothing collection, including the images and inspirations that led to the design. And while each shopper tries on the clothes, the dressing room’s Magic Mirror takes time-delay video and replays the action in slow motion so the shopper can take in the full effect.

“Prada really likes to be cutting edge, whether it’s in yacht racing or in their clothing designs – that’s what their brand is all about,” Rachael McBrearty, vice president of creative strategy for IconNicholson, tells me in the book. “They wanted to be leaders in create a whole new shopping experience.”

As I point out in the book, Nanette Lepore has been quite aggressive in deploying IconNicholson-created innovation in her own selling environments.

The Lepore Looking Glass, for instance, is an in-store mirror that interacts with on-clothing RFID tags at the company’s SoHo store. Hold say, a houndstooth suit or Persian Lamb jacket and chiffon skirt ensemble up to the mirror, and a transparent video monitor housed within the mirror’s glass reveals itself to play animated scenarios featuring the brand’s whimsical Lepore Girl mascot, who up-sells accessories and complementary items.

This new Magic Mirror takes the Prada implementation a step future, enabling shoppers to get that all-important feedback from friends right at the point of consideration. In Nanette’s case, you may be able to get your friends’ opinions on possible accessories, too.

Which may save (or cost) shoppers a lot of money. And boost brand loyalty among shoppers who just have to put on fashion shows before they actually make a purchase. 

Quick links:

BRANDING UNBOUND The Blog
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

 

7-Eleven To Stop Selling 'Cocaine'

Insert your own joke about 7-Eleven kicking the habit here. On the heels of my post on the new energy drink "Cocaine," 7-Eleven has decided to stop selling the controversial (and highly caffeinated) energy drink, according to Today's Chicago Sun Times. For many, the larger question may be: What were they smoking when the decided to carry it in the first place?

Quick links:

BRANDING UNBOUND The Blog
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
ADWEEK Magazines Excerpt
Rick Mathieson.com

Cheerios Ads – On Milk

How did we get to the 21st century before somebody came up with the idea of buying ad space on the front of milk containers?

Ad Age is reporting that General Mills’ Cheerios brand cereal has taken out ads on the front of milk containers to promote its “Fruity Cheerios” extension.

Though the milk brand loses some real estate for its own brand, let’s face it, most are local milk brands that consumers are going to buy just by nature of it being the only choice.

For cereal, any space in-store is crucial. Seventy percent of purchase decisions on cereal are made in the store. And, as industry analyst Bill Leach tells the pub, “The only way to grow in the declining cereal category is to take it from someone else.”

The target in this case: Kellogg’s Fruity Pebbles. I actually don’t Cheerios and Pebbles are apples to apples (or whole grain-and-sugar-fest to whole grain-and-sugar-fest). But the point is well taken. This is the perfect match of message and medium. And it’s brilliant to the point of “duh.”

Generation Wow

Ads On Checkout Conveyor Belts

The plain-Jane checkout conveyor belt is getting a makeover – into a moving billboard.

Cincinnati-based Kroger Stores is the first national retailer to open checkout lanes with ads in a new test at a few dozen of its stores, according to Ad Age (sub. required).

"Conveyor belts have never been on anybody's radar screen for marketing," Frank Cox, president-CEO of EnVision Marketing Group, a Little Rock, Ark., firm with a patented system to print digital, photo-quality ads directly on conveyor belts, tells the pub. "But a store with eight to 10 checkout lanes, well, you're talking about 100 square feet of wasted ad real estate."

Retailers who adopt the technology can charge for the ad space. Right now, Kroger’s is made up of local brands, not national brands. But that could change soon.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but by the time I reach the checkout lane, it’s a little too late to convince me to buy your product. I’ve just put my goods on the belt and I’m not going to run back to get your item off the shelves. And besides, this kind of ad creep is just annoying.

Generation Wow

Polo Ralph Lauren: A New Twist On Window Shopping

Window shopping now has whole new meaning.

Polo Ralph Lauren’s Madison Avenue store is stealing a page from the Steven Spielberg movie “Minority Report” with new window technology that enables customers to shop – even when the store is closed – by tapping on the window.

Customers attracted to new fashions can tap on the window, which is outfitted with a thin touch foil mounted on the glass that makes the glass a touch screen interface. They can call up a projected image of different clothes, displayed on the actual window. And if like what they see, they can use a credit card swiper mounted on the outside of the window.

In my book BRANDING UNBOUND, I look at how these sorts of intelligent retail concepts are quickly evolving into a world where this kind of transaction could happen wirelessly, through a device such as a consumer cell phone - or RFID-style technology built into a phone, credit card or necklace. You see what you want, wave at it, and it’s yours.

"I really wanted to find a way to make that amazing technology a retail reality," said company senior vice president David Lauren, in a statement cited by the Reuters news service.

A nice transitional approach.

Generation Wow

Intelligent Fitting Rooms Offer Recommendations

I can just see it: "Those jeans make you look fat." "Green just isn't your color." Or "Maybe you should shop somewhere else."

According to sflorg, researchers from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University have developed what they call "An intelligent simulator and smart dressing mirror" designed to help garment retailers to boost sales.

Here's how it works: Systems built into fitting rooms detect radio frequency identification (RFID) tags placed on the clothes brought into the room or placed in front of a dressing room mirror. A database then delivers complementary recommendations - accessories, mix and match items, etc. - through a touch-screen LCD monitor.

In my book BRANDING UNBOUND, I look at similar solutions already deployed at Prada's Epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles. RFID readers placed around the store detect tags placed on clothes. As shoppers walk around the store, the readers instantly display runway video and information on cut, color and availability on the nearest display. When they go into dressing rooms, the same kind of content is delivered to touch-screen monitors. Smart mirrors actually run time delay video of the person so they can turn around and see how the garment looks from behind.

Look for these and other technologies to literally transform the shopping experience for a new generation of consumers.