Article: Untapped Potential for Mobile Loyalty Programs

As smartphones and the mobile internet increase penetration among Americans, shoppers are relying more on their phones while out and about to get product, store and price information to help them make decisions. Loyalty programs can also be tied to mobile, giving customers an easy way to access points and coupons—and retailers an easy way to capture customer data.

When Zoomerang surveyed US mobile phone owners on behalf of mobile marketing firm Hipcricket in October 2010, more than a third of respondents said they would be interested in a mobile loyalty program from a trusted brand. But just 9% were already participating in such a program.

There was even greater interest in a loyalty program members could join via a brand’s page on a mobile social networking application like Facebook. But a majority of respondents said their favorite brands did not market to them at all on their mobile phone, suggesting companies may be leaving valuable opportunities on the table. Shoppers already involved in mobile loyalty programs were highly satisfied: 90% said they had gotten value from being a member.

Overall, interest in mobile loyalty programs was about the same as Hipcricket found in 2009, but respondents’ desire for mobile coupons had gone up over the same period. Nearly two in five US mobile phone owners were at least somewhat interested in receiving mobile coupons, up from 18% the year before. And nearly half were at least somewhat likely to redeem them, a rise of 3 percentage points.

A September 2010 survey of US shoppers by the In-Store Marketing Institute found a similar level of interest, with 34% of respondents interested in mobile coupons—likely somewhat lower because the survey included consumers who were not mobile users. That poll also found a third of shoppers were interested in mobile coupons that could be sent to their loyalty card, and half wanted coupons that could be sent to their loyalty card in general.

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Sponsorships: A Potential Strategic Activity

By Debapriya Chakraborty on February 09th, 2010  

Sponsorships can be defined as extending support to events, organizations, and activities through financial means or through products or services. With gamut of marketing and advertisement activities adopted by companies, sponsorship has achieved the highest growth rate among all. Through sponsorship activities companies seek to focus their image in the perception of the consumers. Unlike advertisements, they are found to be less avoided by consumers.

Companies are generally sponsor events, activities or person which adds to their image and also is relevant to its products and services. Non-profit organizations are highly dependent on such sponsorships. The sponsoring companies in turn gain a positive image in the market. Sponsorship activities also boost sales of a company through sample distributions. For instance, Idea Cellular sponsored the event “Talk for India “hour to protest against the terrorist attack in Mumbai, where the revenue generated was donated to support the Indian armed forces. The recycling campaign of Nokia, which was recently launched, encourages consumers to recycle their handset against which the company will plant a tree. This kind of campaign not only aids in building goodwill among the consumer but also enhances sales for the company. Now-a-days companies are sponsoring events to even cinemas.

The media coverage is incomparable in this kind of marketing tool. Sponsorships also help the sponsored companies organizing events to offer customers low rate tickets. Companies, especially telecom companies sponsor events, festivals and other such activities to increase their customer loyalty. For instance, KBC, which was a super hit television quiz show of Star Channel India was sponsored by Airtel India and enabled only Airtel customers to participate in the contest through SMS. This not only increased the customer base of Airtel but also enhanced customer loyalty by sponsoring a popular show.

Medium of sponsorship also helps to gain competitive advantage in an oligopoly market. It creates huge product awareness and its association with the event helps them to develop a relation with their targeted market within a very short span of time. For products and services for niche segment, sponsorship programs adopted by companies are very effective. On the flip side, with the gaining popularity of sponsorship programs, chances are big for a company to get lost among host of other sponsors, unless the concerned company is the main sponsor. To handle this issue to some extent sponsors for an event is generally divided into categories like magazine sponsors, radio partners, food sponsors, drink sponsors, co-sponsors and many others to ensure visibility of the sponsoring companies.This prevents overlapping of sponsoring companies.

Completed B tech in Information Technology under West Bengal University of Technology.Currently pursuing Masters in Business Administration(MBA) from Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management(IISWBM),Kolkata with marketing as major specialization and finance as minor specialization. Have penchant for blogging and broadening my learning curve. Like to explore more insight on branding and its nuances.

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