The following is a guest post by Mobile Guru.
Anyone who has ever bought a Sunday paper you know that the ads comprise a majority of the paper and sometimes it seems like there are more ads than actual content. One large piece of the ads is News Corps News America Marketing division, the premier publisher of coupons in the US and Canada which produces over 165 Billion coupons annually. Their most popular site, smartsource, is now going to offer the same coupons, but instead of cutting them out and bringing them to a store, they are going to be accessible through a broad spectrum of web enabled devices. The same coupons that are available online to print and cut out will now be able to be downloaded directly to any mobile communication device, without having to download any special software or application. All you need to do is go to the website, select the products that interest you, and load them into your mobile device. Not only is this an incredible launch for mobile coupons, but it is allowing a large data base of information to be assembled on the user.
Imagine the information a company like Johnson and Johnson or stores like Walmart and Target can gain from the patterned use of coupons. Plus you keep the coupons loaded into your phone and can reuse them every time you shop until they expire. Imagine the redemption rates on coupons that are chosen by the consumer plus the enhanced margins derived by alleviating costs associated with traditional hard copy paper delivery. Most importantly, the possibility of their smartsource site being able to target specific tendencies of specific users enables them to further refine their targeted content offering them even more relevant coupon opportunities.
With the growing number of mobile players and offers in the market, the ability to scale your offering while making it device independent and usable across all potential stores is essential to market penetration. News America Marketing has teamed up with Augme Technology (AUGT) and is using their AdLife platform to bring mobile coupons to the masses. Keep in mind the current Smartsource magazine reaches an estimated 74 Million households each week. Their offerings are usable in over 55,000 stores including Safeway, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Staples, Dollar General and almost every other household name in the US and Canada. Augme’s AdLife platform was originally utilized in News America’s very successful mobile coupon launch in October 2009 for ConAgra’s Pam cooking spray, Kellogg’s Special K, Cadbury Adams’ Trident gum, Tyson Foods, Sara Lee Corp.’s Jimmy Dean Foods and Kimberly-Clark’s Huggies and Kotex brands. Since then, Augme has been transitioning the current smartsource website to mobile devices.
As said by Henri Lellouche, Senior Vice President, iGroup, News America Marketing.
“Digital couponing solutions where consumers can clip coupons, select samples, or obtain product information via mobile devices are a game-changing promotional tool.”
Mobile couponing is still in its infancy in terms of adoption, but given the near term roll out to the masses, it will see increased interest along with major growth. It is not hard to see coupon usage via digital medium having the potential to be a game changer in terms of marketing, with this being the tip of the iceberg of what the mobile revolution will soon make commonplace.
I’m a long time investor with investment experience in high tech, biotechs and precious metals. I blog on topics that are of interest to me and my goal is to generate intelligent discussion. I don’t consider myself an expert in any one area, but know a little about a lot of things. I believe as soon as we stop learning, we stop living. You can connect with me atSeekingAlpha.
