BRANDING UNBOUND

First Read: Books Overcome Games in iPhone Apps

Will the iPhone save the publishing industry?

Word's out that for the first time, game apps have been overtaken by book apps - accounting for one out of every five new apps, according to studies cited by The Telegraph.

To be clear, that's apps launched, not downloaded. There's a difference - one that that has yet to be documented.

If true, what might an Apple tablet do to the equation (and to Kindle)?

Read more, here.

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Business Week: M-Commerce Now Ready For Primetime

It's been said so many times that it feels like just another false start.

But Business Week is reporting that e-tailers and retailers alike are goosing sales thanks to m-commerce, citing stats I've shared here about how Papa Johns, as just one example, has already made over $1 million in sales via mobile. That's a drop in the bucket of course, but Papa Johns says that number is growing at an annual tenfold pace.

And according to BW, ABI Research projects North American sales of physical goods ordered via mobile phone could top $800 million this year - compared to just $346 last year. 

There's a lot of stuff about the rise of smart phones and companies trying to get people more comfortable with supplying personal information.

But the real key, in addition to these things, is making commerce manageable from a traditional website, and is just activated via mobile app(s). That way nothing's on the phone to steal;  a phone is lost or stolen, the consumer can just log onto the associated site and cut off funds.

M-commerce is going to be big - but consumers have to feel completely in control, and I don't think phones with transaction capabilities are the answer. Instead, apps that are controlled through the kind of traditional web interface consumers are already comfortable with - just like Starbuck's new loyalty card iPHone app  - seem like an obvious solution.

Read the Business Week piece here.

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Generation Wow: Expanding the conversation to multi-platform marketing
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Back From GREC, Gearing Up For DTC

Back in the office after my trip to speak at the Global Retail Executive Council (GREC) event at CTIA this week.

Had a blast and met some really cool people, including Tim Downs of Interwork Media, who spearheaded the event; Jim Crawford, executive director of GREC and Melissa Fryback, development director for GRE; and Christina Bock and Ricca Silverio of Bock PR; Corey Fugman of Apple and more.

Anyone involved with, or interested in, mobile marketing and how it applies to retail should check for future events - there really isn't another resource for exploring mobile as part of the retail experience. And you've got to get to know this group. In one five minute conversation with Melissa, she spit out a half dozen great ideas for retailers looking to leverage the power of mobile. Not pie in the sky stuff; practical ideas from a working mother.

My particular talk was on how mobile can be used to enhance the in-store shopping experience by capitalizing on the surprising ways consumers use mobile phones when they're shopping. I brought along Mozes CEO Dorrian Porter as my special guest, who shared some of his company's projects and how they're making a difference for companies like Pinkberry.

Next up: A keynote at the DTC Fall 2009 Conference, which will look at ways direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketers (think Viagra, Lipitor and other "ask you doctor about" medicines) can tap the power of digital experiences to promote their offerings as never before.

Should be fun!

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It's All GREC To Me (At Least Tomorrow)

Getting ready for the big Global Retail Executive Council event at CTIA tomorrow, where I'll be giving a keynote on making the retail-mobile connection.

If you can't make it, Retail Trends magazine interviewed me yesterday for an upcoming article on the topic. I'll link to it as it becomes available. I also recorded the convo, so if I get a spare moment one of these days (I'm pretty much traveling all month for speaking engagements), I'll post it.

Tomorrow should be fun. I'm bringing along my friend (and longtime blog sponsor) Dorrian Porter, CEO of Mozes, which has been doing some really innovative things to connect people to the things - music groups, movie stars, products and retailers - they love via mobile.

I'll give readers an update on how it went tomorrow. 

In the meantime, you can learn more about the event, here.

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Generation Wow: Expanding the conversation to multi-platform marketing
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AMC Adds Personalized Mobile Messages To Gift Cards; But It's The Coming Attractions Where Things Could Get Interesting

Movie chain AMC has added a mobile component to its gift card business.

Now, people who give the gift cards to family and friends can also send a personalized message to the recipient's mobile phone or email address. Apparently this includes text, recorded audio messages and images, delivered to the recipient in real-time, or at a specific time and date in the future.

Through the solution, from Transaction Wireless, users can purchase a gift card online at www.amctheaters.com, and then personalize it for any special occasion (happy birthday, congratulations, holiday, whatever.) by adding a personal note via text and voice recording, as well as an image or photo.

The personalized gift notification is then sent to both the recipient’s mobile phone and e-mail address and physical gift cards are mailed to redeem at theaters.

I'm not sure why the entire offering couldn't be done on mobile instead of integrating with gift cards, but it's a start. Starbucks has a new mobile app that lets you manage your loyalty card program and is testing just turning the app into the primary customer loyalty interface. There's no reason AMC couldn't make this a service where the gift is an email or text message that links to a downloadable app where they can use their phone as the redemption mechanism, fill up the account for more movies, or receive future movie gifts.

I'm just saying.

Read more, here.

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JC Penney Premieres Mobile Coupons

JC Penny may not be the first name you think of when it comes to hip digital marketing initiatives - but it's not for lack of trying.

JC Penney was among the first retail brands to use widgets, what with its JCPToday offering. And now, it's rolling out scannable mobile coupons in a test at Houston locations.

"These mobile coupons are the ultimate in customer convenience because there's no need to clip or carry around a printed coupon, and they can be instantly scanned from a cell phone. It's another way we're innovating to enhance the customer's shopping experience," said Mike Boylson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for JC Penney, in a statement.

As MediaPost reports, Cellfire - not surprisingly - is behind the operation, which can be joined by texting "JCP" to 28888. 

As I've posted about before, the recession seems to be driving a lot of folks to adopt mobile coupons.

Whether it drives some serious dollars to Penney remains to be seen. But as an experiment, it makes good cents (sorry).

Read more, here.

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Starbucks Brews Up New Mobile Payment App

The mermaid is going mobile in a whole new way.

Starbucks has a double shot launch going on with a new GPS store locator and a new app that lets you check the balance on your Starbucks card and refill gift cards, which are being expanded into a loyalty card program.

Among other things, you'll get discounts, free refills, and two hours of free wi-fi.

One obvious question here is answered by CNet, which reports that two markets are testing the ability to use onscreen barcodes to replace the gift card all together. That one component makes this a substantial development, as the company is living up to the notion of the on-demand brand.

"We're really venturing into new waters in terms of mobile payment," Stephen Gillett, senior vice president of digital ventures at Starbucks, tells Cnet regarding the Starbucks Card Mobile app.

"The mobile app is really the powering of some of our most frequently used functions on (the Starbucks card's Web site) and our in-store activity in terms of balance and payment and favorite orders," Gillett adds.

The app was developed internally with some help from third-party companies like mobile billing start-up mFoundry.

And yet, another obvious question: Why aren't both apps rolled into one?

Yet another: Couldn't they work "Bucks" into the name?

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BRANDING UNBOUND WAS JUST THE BEGINNING:

 

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Generation Wow: Expanding the conversation to multi-platform marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
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Visa Launches New Mobile Phone Credit Card: Less Than Meets The (RF)I(D)?

Well, sort of. What sounds deceptively like m-commerce is really near-field communications.

As Textually points out, there was the news last week about RFID stickers that can be placed on the back of your mobile phone that lets you wave your phone over a terminal to make a purchase. 

But that sounds like you could put the sticker on your wallet or your forehead and it'd still work the same way.

And waving your forehead over a scanner seems more entertaining than merely waving your cell phone.

Now there's this news from the New York Times that Visa is testing a system in Malaysia that involves a chip on the phone that communicates with a payment terminal.

Yawn.

Sounds like you could put the chip in your wallet or your forehead and it'd still work the same way. A little more painful and potentially unsightly, but I digress.

See, m-commerce needs to be a little more functional than this. In these models, you've just stuck the stuff that makes your credit card work onto another device.

I guess the idea is that this means you don't need to bring your wallet with you, because you know you're going to have your phone with you. But I'm also going to have my keys, so why not just do this business on my key fob. The credit card stuff and, for that matter, the cell phone itself.

Instead, I want to be able to point my camera phone at a QR code to instantly place a purchase on a credit card that I've entered into a Visa account (...or any transaction company account for that matter...which may be the problem for Visa). 

Am that asking too much?

Read more here.

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Ticketmaster, Tickets.com Launch Mobile Ticket Sales

Mobile? That's the ticket - at least according to Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc., and Tickets.com, which are both launching new m-commerce solutions this week.

According to today's Wall Street Journal, Ticketmaster will enable BlackBerry users to search from Ticketmaster's inventory and purchase tickets directly from their handsets.

And Tickets.com will let baseball fans buy and receive tickets via mobile phone from 13 MLB teams starting with the April 10 opening home game of the Oakland A's.

Mobile ticketing's been around for some time, of course. What makes these different is that with many older systems, you to buy tickets that you then needed to go to a computer to print out. 

In India, more than a quarter million people routinely buy movie tickets and such using services such as those from JiGrahak.

Now, systems from UsableNet and others will enable U.S.-based consumers to buy tickets, which will go directly to the mobile phone, where they can hold their phones up to a scanner at the venue.

Of course, not everyone will be happy about mobile ticketing to games, especially.

I mean, what's a scalper to do?

Read more, here.

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Scanbuy's 2D Barcode App To Come Pre-Loaded on LG Camera Phones

Of course, I'm not sure it means much, if there aren't standards so that any 2D barcode scanner will work with any 2D barcode.

But still - it's a step in the right direction.

Scanbuy is announcing this morning that its 2D barcode app - which enables a consumer to scan a 2D barcode with a camera phone in order to access product information and perhaps reviews and instant purchase capabilities - is going to be pre-loaded on new LG mobile phones.

It's also available for download here.

The reason it's an important announcement is that it presages a time when what is already the ultimate activation mechanism for print, broadcast, outdoor, online and direct mail advertising gains the ease of use needed to bring mobile content, marketing and commerce to everyday consumers everywhere.

Read more, here.

Quick Links:

Generation Wow: Expanding the conversation to multi-platform marketing
BRANDING UNBOUND The Book
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