Filed under: RETAIL, TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Forrester, geo-fencing, Paul Gelb, Placecast, Publicis Groupe, Razorfish, The New York Times, the North Face
As part of its new marketing campaign, the North Face, the outdoor apparel and gear company, is sending mobile users text messages as soon as they get near one of their stores.
For years marketers have been fascinated by the advertising potential of the mobile channel because of cell phones’ ubiquity, over 230 million Americans own a cell phone, and because they send signals about shoppers’ locations. Claire Cain Miller of The New York Times (February 23, 2010) reports that “the dream has been to send people ads tailored to their location, like a coupon for a cappuccino when passing a coffee shop.”
“To be that close to the actual sale or physical location is such a value for marketers, and something they’ve been looking for out of mobile for a long time,” says Paul Gelb, national manager of emerging media at Razorfish, the digital advertising agency that is part of the Publicis Groupe.
North Face’s mobile campaign was created by Placecast, a location-based mobile ad company in San Francisco. It uses a system called geo-fencing. When a cell phone owner steps into a geo-fenced area, a text message is sent, but only if the consumer has opted-in to receive messages.
Placecast created 1,000 geo-fences in cities where the North Face has many stores. In urban areas the fences are up to a half-mile around stores, and in suburban areas they are up to a mile around the stores.
“All of our highly brand-conscious clients were reluctant about text messaging because there was not as much of an engagement or sexiness to it,” claims Mr. Gelb. “But here, when you have such relevance, it connects to a person’s passions.”
Julie A. Ask, a vice president and mobile analyst at Forrester adds, “being contextual and personal is the holy grail of mobile, and location is one of those aspects.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/business/media/23adco.html?scp=1&sq=geofencing&st=cse
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