Marketers test mobile coupons

This year could be the year that mobile coupons play a more prominent role in driving traffic and sales, and several bigwigs have already put their money where their cell phone is.

by Helen Leggatt

cellfire%20logo.gif How many people leave the house without their cell phone? Not many. In fact, a recent Pew Internet and American Life Project survey found that Americans said it would be harder to be without their cell phone than television or a landline.

And how many people clip coupons yet forget to keep them close at hand, or neglect to use them in the timescale required? Quite a few, and coupon clipping has seen a decline over the last few years.

So what better way to ensure coupons and discounts are delivered to the right people at the right time than to distribute them via cell phone.

Many companies are seeing great response rates from mobile coupons. Subway’s recent MySubway Mobile campaign achieved mobile coupon redemption rates of 5% to 6%. The average redemption rate for print coupons is around 2%.

“There’s 240 million phones and text messaging is getting bigger than email,” said Michael Lewkowicz, chairman of the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust and president of Subway franchisee QSR Brands, Buffalo, NY via MobileMarketer.com.

“Our demographic is youth and youth has the phone and we have to get them to email and text. That’s where our youth are. They can type the numbers 1 to 10 better than they can do the ABCs.”

Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Del Monte, General Mills and Kimberly-Clark are teaming with retail giant Kroger and mobile coupon and discount offer service provider, Cellfire , in what is being reported as possibly the largest test of mobile coupons in the U.S.

Tags: cell phone, mobile coupon, mobile marketing, print coupons, redemption rate