TXT NOW Text/SMS Message Marketing

The Hard Rock Café is using a new mobile tool to improve its customer service and increase customer loyalty.

For the SMS initiative, the Hard Rock Café tapped the new Web-based software from ReadyPing Inc., a service provider of wait-list management and text-message paging. Text-messaging has the potential to fundamentally shift the way restaurants and other service-driven retailers manage customer wait times.

“Rise Sushi was the first of approximately 100 restaurants that tested ReadyPing’s beta system after it was released in January 2009,” said Joe Sprovieri, founder/CEO of ReadyPing, Chicago. “We listened very closely to all of their feedback.

“We also worked with businesses in other industries that inquired about using our service,” he said. “As a result, a completely new software platform was developed that can be used by any business with waiting customers.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/hard-rock-cafe-taps-sms-to-improve-customer-service/

by Mickey Alam Khan

In running a mobile coupon campaign, burrito restaurant chain Big City Burrito learned a valuable lesson: Be careful what you wish for.

The chain’s metropolitan Denver area mailed coupons to select residents offering a free burrito for texting in to a short code. What happened next at the three Big City Burrito restaurants is word of mouth at its best and mobile at its most enticing.

“Customers lining up to buy a burrito found out from others about the free offer, stepped out of line, texted and then stepped back into line,” said John Besley, owner of Money Mailer of Metro Denver.

“We had people broadcasting to their [mobile] address books,” he said.

By Giselle Tsirulnik

Mobile HomeStore

Ashley Furniture HomeStores generated $138,460 from a recent four-day “Secret Sale” advertised through an SMS and email campaign.

A whopping $85,438 was attributed to text messages. To quickly build its database, Ashley Furniture ran contests such as a free gas giveaway and a $500 weekly shopping spree, both encouraging users to opt into an SMS database for future offers.

“A few months ago, the corporate marketing folks began telling us about text message marketing and sharing some success stories,” said Charlie Malouf, co-owner and chief operating officer of Ashley Furniture of Charlotte, NC.

“At first I was pretty skeptical, because I thought text message marketing in the way that it was described to be was just annoying spam,” he said. “I did not realize it was all permission-based. That’s when my interest increased in this medium.

“I am still surprised that the text message marketing efforts performed so much better than the email marketing offer we had.”

By Giselle Tsirulnik

Popeye’s mobile coupon campaign that promotes the fast food chain’s three-piece chicken dinner has achieved a 54 percent double opt-in.

Cox Media is running television spots in Wichita, KS, encouraging consumers to text the keyword POPEYES to a short code (term for text phone number). Ping Mobile powered the campaign. Already 750 consumers have texted and more than 50 percent have opted in for future communications from Popeye’s.

“This type of mobile advertising campaign was a perfect fit for the Popeye’s stores in Wichita,” said Mike Orr, account executive at Cox Media.

“With the ability to directly engage clients with coupons and offers that provide the client with detailed feedback of what day of the week as well as what time of day that a response was generated from a product placed ad is a tremendous validation of return on investment,” he said.

Consumers that texted in received a message that said, “Show this msg at Popeye’s Chicken & get a FREE 2PC DINNER with your purchase of a 3 pc dinner & medium drink. Hurry into Popeye’s TODAY offer ends 7/31/09.”

Snapple Builds Mobile Market
Source: Frost & Sullivan

One example of how well mobile marketing can succeed was a campaign that Enpocket put together last summer for the beverage company Snapple.

The campaign, under the promotion name “Snaffle,” involved the printing of 225 million bottle caps with numbers that could then be matched with winning Snaffle numbers. The winning numbers were announced on TV, on the Internet and delivered via text messages to handsets. Prizes included a trip to Australia.

Enpocket delivered the SMS alerts to customers who opted in to the campaign. The alerts were timed during the lunch hour, identified as the peak purchase time for Snapple.

Enpocket says 90 percent of all consumers who received the alerts opened them and an estimated 33 percent of those who participated bought additional Snapple products as a result.

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