Augme Technologies AD LIFE^TM Platform to Give Consumers Holiday Party-Planning Tools and Social Sharing Capabilities Directly From Their Mobile Device

Its becoming clear that advertising is undergoing a technological and ideological shift. Consumers are no longer content to merely receive marketing messages, they want to interact with them. Constellation Wines U.S. demonstrates its awareness of this shift with a holiday marketing campaign by Augme Technologies that features QR Codes and an overall interactive experience.

Beginning November 14, 2010, free-standing inserts (FSIs) in newspapers reaching 38 million households nationwide will direct customers to an interactive experience via QR codes or SMS keyword. Retail establishments will also include these mobile calls to action on bottleneck hangers and case cards. Texting the key words "HOST", "WINE", "CHEERS" or "PARTY" to 30333 or scanning the 2D barcode will direct consumers to a mobile site powered by the AD LIFE™ platform. Customers accessing the mobile site will find the following features:

• Party Planning Calculator: Users will receive customized results recommending the amount of wine needed based on length of party, number of guests, and available budget.

• Food and Wine Pairings: The mobile site includes recommendations for specific wines based on a customer's party menu.

• Promotions: Consumers will have the opportunity to opt-in to receive promotions from Constellation Wines U.S. or specific brands that they favor.

• Social Network Integration: Consumers will be able to share their findings (e.g. how many bottles they purchased using the party planning calculator) on Facebook and Twitter. A pre-loaded message will encourage consumers to text to view the experience.

"As Constellation Wines U.S. kicks off the holiday season, Augme's scalable solution for mobile devices provides the perfect tool for holiday party planners and wine lovers nationwide," stated David Apple, Chief Marketing Officer at Augme Technologies, Inc. "Our mobile strategy delivers a target audience at scale, while providing a cost-effective, centralized execution and reporting platform that makes it simple for Constellation Wines U.S. to assess the behavior of their consumers and track the performance of the program."

Augme Technologies' end-to-end mobile platform also enables Constellation Wines U.S. to evaluate the success of the different elements of the campaign in real time. Augme has assigned distinct keywords to the various media components of the mobile campaign (e.g. FSIs, case cards, etc.), which will be tracked and reported to Constellation Wines U.S., providing valuable data and analytics about which media triggered the most user engagement.

"By integrating a mobile media component as part of our overarching holiday promotional campaign, we hope to provide consumers with a convenient way to obtain helpful tips and information across a variety of wines within our portfolio, which can enhance their wine buying experience." Amy Kupec, Group Director of Promotions for Constellation Wines U.S.

The value of interactive campaigns in regards to engaging the consumer, has been obvious from the get-go, but the data-gathering and analytical aspects are just beginning to emerge.  Unlike conventional print advertisements, mobile technology enables us to monitor and test the efficacy of different messages and media.

If you liked this article, also try:

The Point of Sale News, an online magazine dedicated to the retail industry.

Turn Facebook Into a Point of Sale