AT&T and Placecast Team Up to Launch First ‘Scalable’ LBS Marketing Program

AT&T and Placecast recently announced a joint effort to offer geo-fencing based ShopAlerts in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Placecast first launched this service one year ago, and is currently behind a similar partnership in the UK with local carrier O2, which started last October.

Taking advantage of this service is easy: first, users opt-in to receive alerts via SMS or MMS messages that are sent to them once they enter specific “geo-fenced” areas. The ShopAlerts they receive will have either a mix of text and graphics or text only, informing them of any promotions, coupons, and offers from advertisers. Aside from this info, these messages can also contain links to the mobile Web or branded elements.

This service has attracted attention from advertisers such as Kmart, SC Johnson, HP, Nature’s Recipe, Jet Blue, Kibbles ‘n Bits, and the National Milk Mustache “Got Milk?” Campaign.

With this step, mobile carriers have made themselves more relevant on the mobile marketing and advertising scene instead of just being location and data providers. This system also takes care of the issue of privacy because users need to opt-in to receive the ShopAlerts.

Users can opt in via as many avenues as possible, be it TV or print ads, in-store signage, or through Facebook pages. This way, a synergy of both traditional and social media can be utilized in order to drive mobile marketing. This program can be used as a tool to attract new customers and to reward loyal ones.

Campaigns such as these have the potential to yield great results. A study of the original beta program conducted with selected US retailers last year revealed the following fascinating facts:

• 60% of participants were impressed by the location-triggered messages
• 79% said it increased the chances of them visiting a particular store
• 65% were compelled to make a purchase as a result of a ShopAlerts message
• 73% of the participants expressed a desire to continue using the service in the future.

The SMS is a medium that is often overlooked and undervalued, given that it has almost 100% penetration of the mobile phone user market and isn’t limited to smartphones the same way apps and mobile web are. This makes this an LBS marketing program that is primed to deliver the type of potential scale and reach that has been long sought after by brands and agencies alike. To give you an idea of this service’s market potential, AT&T alone has 95 million subscribers in the US, and regardless of whether or not they have smartphones, all of them can be reached by text.

ShopAlerts give companies and advertisers the power to deliver deals and offers directly to the customer, driving them into local retail stores. It’s also a potential tool for targeting people in specific markets such as Jet Blue promoting discounted tickets on a particular route. Such location-based mobile marketing stands to benefit both national brands and retailers alike.

Placecast CEO Alistair Goodman has stated that opt-out rates for a nearly identical service in the UK with the carrier O2 are extremely low. It’s only a matter of time before other mobile carriers in the US and Europe develop similar programs as well.