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Showing posts within the category: Announcements

73822 Campaign Spotlight: Vote Now To Select PETA2′s Cutest Vegetarian Alive

peta2, a division of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, yesterday opened voting for its Annual Cutest Vegetarian Alive contest. The promotion highlights female and male vegetarians and vegans between the ages of 13 and 21 who have taken a stand in the name of saving animals and leading healthy lives.

Acceptance for contestant entries started April 16 at 12PM PDT and will last until April 30 at 12PM PDT. Once accepted, applicants receive an e-mail confirmation, and they then have exactly one week to gather votes. The primary voting mechanism is text messaging, as each contestant receives a unique code that people can text to the short code 73822 (U.S.) or 99099 (Canada) and register up to one unique vote per day. Those who choose not to text can also vote online.

You can view a gallery of all the contestant profiles with photos, quotations and unique voting codes on the peta2 website. Winners receive the crown of peta2′s Cutest Vegetarian Alive 2012, a feature on the peta2.com website, a professional photo shoot and the opportunity to appear in a peta2 ad. Full contest details are available here.

A special shout out to last year’s winners, Madeline from St. Louis, MO and Corey from Martinsburg, VA. You can see their winning photos below.

We wish the best of luck to all the 2012 contestants. Be sure to register your vote today!

 

Published April 19, 2012 – 9:10 am by kane

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Waterfall Speaking At Bronto Summit and Cross Channel Marketing Forum

With conference season heating up, Waterfall is pleased to announce two more speaking engagements: the Bronto Summit and The Cross Channel Marketing Forum.

The Bronto Summit takes place April 10-12 at the Rizzo Conference Center in Chapel Hill, NC. The Summit provides attendees new ideas to connect with buyers and drive revenue through email, mobile and social marketing. Each session is focused on actionable takeaways so that participants can take the next step in innovating their marketing strategy.

Waterfall’s Matt Silk will present a session called “Integrating SMS Into Your Cross-Channel Messaging Strategy.” Matt will be providing detailed insight into the mobile marketing ecosystem, including where the industry is today, where it’s headed, and what marketers can do now to stay ahead of the curve.

Please let us know if you will be in Chapel Hill for the Summit and if you would like to meet up. For those non-attendees, you can to stay abreast of the Bronto Summit happenings by spreading the word using the #BSum12 hashtag on Twitter.

The Forum for Cross-Channel Merchants, new this year, provides attendees with insight into how the best brands create an integrated, 360-degree approach to designing and delivering customer delight.

The forum takes place May 7-9 in Nashville, TN. Waterfall’s Matt Silk will present a round table discussion titled “Creating Interactive Dialogues,” which will focus on how to activate online and offline customer touchpoints so that they work together engaging customers and prospects in interactive mobile dialogues.

In addition to Waterfall, other presenters include representatives from leading companies like Valassis, Rosetta, Living Social and Omaha Steaks, and the sessions cover topics such as “How Mobile Changes Everything” and “Integrating Online and Offline for Targeted Consumer Engagement.” It should be an amazing event (those interested can sign up here)!

Please let us know if you are going to be in Nashville so that we can meet in person. Otherwise stay tuned for updates related to the Forum and other mobile marketing conferences.

Published April 9, 2012 – 11:33 am by kane

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Ad:Tech San Francisco 2012 Wrap-Up

This week it was awesome to see so many of our colleagues at Ad:Tech San Francisco. Between the exhibit hall, awesome speaker sessions and parties (shout out to Too $hort, Sir Mix-a-lot, Coolio, Tainted Love and Sisqo), it was quite the whirlwind.

For those who were unable to make the event, here are some of the takeaways we grabbed from the conference:

  • Focus: This year’s show seemed heavily focused on SEO and Analytics. Every company we talked to seemed to be thirsting after ways to draw consumers to the web and and monetize these visits.
  • Swag: The best swag award from the conference goes to our friends at Acxiom. They offered up a $5 gift card for taking a 7 question quiz (an incredibly detailed and complex exploration about paid search, media buying and channel usage habits).
  • Attendees: There weren’t a ton of what many people associate as “big names.” You could argue that this absence was due to the fact that everyone knows who the big SEO / PPC players are, but there is without question ample opportunity to get noticed at Ad:Tech without getting drowned out.
  • Hot: In terms of what was hot, mobile advertising probably took the cake. Tons of folks are looking at how mobile ads can go beyond banners and into the realm of rich media (a “Hey look it’s a Fedex guy on my mobile screen!” type of thing). Monetization was also getting a lot of attention, as folks described things like “using images as a channel” to figure out new ways to earn revenue.
  • Strategy: According to Andrew Solmssen, managing director of Possible Worldwide, brands and marketers need to think “mobile-first.” Clearly, we agreed with Andrew, but also thought his insight about using technology to interact with consumers, not just for technology’s sake, was particularly important.
  • Apps: According to Evan Neufeld, chief marketing officer at Ground Truth NYC, discovery for apps is a “tremendous problem.” A great point, which (especially when coupled with their re-open rates) sheds light on why app strategy is extremely tricky and requires powerful analytics.
  • Parties: Hats off to everyone who braved the nighttime rain on Tuesday to go out and have a good time. San Francisco’s chilly weather certainly reared its ugly head, but for the most part revelers remained undeterred.

For those we were unable to meet at the conference this year, please shoot us a note and get in touch. And mark your calendars for next year!

Published April 6, 2012 – 7:27 am by kane

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Richard Branson Gives A Shout Out To Mobile Campaign For The Cove

Cool mobile marketing update to announce today: Richard Branson, best known for the Virgin Group (he’s the UK’s 4th richest citizen with an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion), included a shout out to mobile, Waterfall and Participant Media/TakePart in his latest book, Screw Business as Usual.

In Branson’s discussion of how to use new media to make a significant difference, he specifically mentions Waterfall and Participant Media/Takepart’s award winning mobile marketing campaign for The Cove. As Branson states, the Dolphin campaign currently has received 2 million signatures for its petition and has significantly impeded dolphin hunting in Japan.

Be sure to check out the The Cove case study for complete campaign details and let us know if you have any questions. It’s awesome to see how far this campaign has come!

Published March 29, 2012 – 12:06 pm by kane

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44144 Campaign Spotlight: Reese’s NCAA March Madness Campaign

Another awesome mobile promotion is getting a lot of great press recently. It’s a campaign from Reese’s that awards, among other prizes, a free trip to the 2013 Men’s Final Four:

Along with our friends over at Young America, Reese’s teamed up with the NCAA for this campaign, titled “The Perfect Pick,” to get in on the excitement of March Madness college basketball. Fans can enter the campaign via one of two ways: online @ https://www.hersheys.com/reeses/promotions/perfectpick.aspx or via mobile by texting REESES to 44144.

An instant win incentive drives entrants and followers for the promotion. The coolest part about an instant win is that people receive instant gratification for their participation, which as we know can be crucial in the digital age. For this particular campaign, after entering the message/user flow is as follows:

  • Birthdate verification to ensure compliance
  • Submit email address
  • Receive a text immediately informing whether a win or not
  • Automatically receive entry into the grand prize drawing

Simple, straight forward and compelling. Users have the option to enter daily and instantly win awesome prizes including Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, t-shirts and, of course, that all expense paid trip to the 2013 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Atlanta, Georgia.

Given their ability to effectively engage users and perfect tie-in with the mobile channel (interactive and immediate), we expect that we’ll see Instant Win campaigns get a lot of buzz in the industry. Let us know if you see others and your reaction.

 

Published March 15, 2012 – 10:43 am by kane

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67463 Campaign Spotlight: Nickelback Viral Sweepstakes

Update on an exciting new campaign posted on Canadian rock band Nickelback’s Facebook page. It’s a viral sweepstakes, which allows for the rapid, user-driven spread of a campaign call to action.

For a mobile viral sweepstakes, a person enters by texting a keyword to a short code. For the Nickelback campaign, this call to action is “Text NICKELBACK to 67463.” It’s a strong keyword/shortcode combo given the relevance of the keyword to the promoting band and end content desired.

Once entered, the person immediately receives a personal code that he or she can promote to his or her friends. For each new friend that texts the code, the original person’s chances of winning the sweepstakes increases. At the same time, each friend gets his or her own code to share with more friends, instantly and effectively driving the viral dissemination of the campaign.

From an analytics perspective, the brand knows exactly who was referred to the campaign by whom, as well as who was an organic entrant and from where (find out everything you need to know about viral sweepstakes here).

One of the most interesting aspects about the campaign is that the call to action was promoted entirely through Facebook. We tracked Facebook activity for the Nickelback campaign, curious to see the social/mobile intersection. Within two hours 450 people had liked the post with 40 individuals posting comments about their excitement for the show. The pros of advertising entirely through Facebook is that you target that audience with specific, compelling content. On the downside, perhaps not as many people will see the call to action given that you have to like the page and be signed in.

A huge strong point of the campaign is the awesome incentive provided, which includes 2 Round Trip plane and VIP concert tickets. For more information about the campaign head on over to the Nickelback Facebook page and website.

And for any folks looking for tickets to check out the concert in NYC on April 19th, we definitely recommend you enter by texting, again, NICKELBACK to 67463. It’s going to be an awesome show (what’s your favorite Nickelback jam?)!

Published March 15, 2012 – 10:41 am by kane

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23377 Campaign Spotlight: Budweiser Track Your Bud

Our partners at Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser recently launched an awesome new campaign called “Track Your Bud.” Using a cross-channel mobile approach, Budweiser gives participants visibility into the Budweiser brewing process, thereby greatly enriching the overall brand experience.

The campaign flow demonstrates a number of best practices other mobile marketers can and should learn from. Let’s go through the campaign flow step by step (the included links provide additional background information about the point mentioned for those interested in more info).

Flow Component:

1) Call-to-action

  • Anheuser-Busch Action - QR code that includes an SMS CTA printed on Budweiser packaging
  • Best Practice - Including multiple engagement points, e.g. SMS and QR codes, ensures a max audience can participate in your campaign.

2) SMS CTA

  • Anheuser-Busch Action - Text KING to 23377 (BEERS)
  • Best Practice - Excellent keyword/short code combo. Easy to remember, relevant, easy to type in, looks good on the packaging, etc.

3) Call-to-action response

  • Anheuser-Busch Action - QR code and SMS CTA route to mobile site www.trackyourbud.com
  • Best Practice - Mobile site optimized for user-friendly viewing on a mobile device

4) On-going engagement

  • Anheuser-Busch Action - Users can go to mobile web page or download an app to enter their Bud’s Born on Date (printed on every can or bottle) to track where their beer was brewed as well as the brew master
  • Best Practice - Assuming people have a solid first time experience, there is a nice non-monetary incentive to get them to continue to engage, as each new bottle provides a different experience

5) Channels

  • Anheuser-Busch Action - QR, SMS, Mobile App
  • Best Practice - Nice blend of channels to create a comprehensive mobile experience. I can guarantee I am going to try to find my favorite brewmaster and brew site next time I’lm out with some friends : )

Below you can see screenshots from the various flow components. Hats off to Anheuser-Busch and Budwesier on this awesome mobile initiative!

Mobile web user experience:

 

SMS + QR code call to action

Published March 12, 2012 – 12:19 pm by kane

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People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals Launches Canadian Shortcode 99099

A big congrats today goes out to PETA, which has expanded its mobile program into Canada after massive success in the United States.

For those people living in Canada who would like to participate in PETA’s animal rights campaigns, all you have to do is text PETA to 99099. Doing so will enable mobile alerts from PETA, from which you can actively engage in supporting PETA’s important cause.

U.S. and Canadian users can also sign up for PETA’s mobile program via the organization’s web form, which automatically detects Canadian vs. U.S. mobile phones.

Stay tuned for upcoming campaigns – not to mention some of our favorite calls to action!

Published February 20, 2012 – 4:04 am by kane

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CTIA Enforcement of Penalties Related To Unresolved Shortcode Audits To Begin February 24

Short code owners and SMS marketers take note: CTIA will begin enforcing penalties on unresolved short code audits February 24, 2012.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given that CTIA has been trying to prep for this “launch” date for about three weeks now, with a month-long grace period and multiple webinars. Plus, various industry folks have written their opinions about these CTIA audits over the past several months.

Wherever you stand on whether these audits have their heart in the right place or are accomplishing something meaningful, we thought it important to provide an update as to what these penalty enforcements mean:

CTIA’s goal:

CTIA is partnering with WMC Global to monitor cross-carrier shortcode advertising and message flows. Their goal is to identify anything negatively impacting consumers and ensure consistent and clean content.

What’s being monitored: 

CTIA is setting out to monitor premium and standard rate short codes, as well as advertising across the multimedia landscape (including online, TV, print, banner ads and the mobile internet). This is to say that both calls to actions and message flows (including system commands, e.g. STOP, HELP, opt-in) will be checked for sufficient compliance.

What’s not being monitored: user-generated content (e.g. response messages from consumers, blog posts, Facebook comments, Twitter feeds), news article content or old and expired offers (e.g. previous time sensitive television appearances, contests that are concluded).

Monitoring standards:

The CTIA has created a “playbook” that lays out its guidelines: Note: these guidelines are different from the Mobile Marketing Association’s consumer best practices.

Violations Notices:

CTIA plans to send out notification of violations weekly via email. Violations will include information about cure date (i.e. how much time to resolve), severity level (0 = immediate, 1 = 48 hours, 2 = 5 business days), actions required to resolve the issue and other information. Waterfall Mobile clients are provided audit support for dedicated short codes free of charge and will work with clients to get any open issues resolved.

Penalties:

Primary penalty for failure to resolve an audit penalty is suspension of a short code.

If you have any other thoughts or opinions related to the launch of these audit penalties, we’d love to hear from you via the comments.

Published February 17, 2012 – 4:04 am by kane

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Waterfall Presenting at Bronto Summit 2012

Waterfall’s Matt Silk is hitting the road again, this time to Chapel Hill, NC for the 2012 Bronto Summit April 10-12, 2012.

The three-day event will feature discussions about topics ranging from using email to build a social media presence, combining personalization and customer satisfaction and tailoring lists to create more relevant content. Matt’s session, “Integrating SMS Into Your Cross-channel Messaging Strategy,” is on April 11th at 3:15PM.

Other speakers at the Summit include executives from Bronto, RapLeaf, The E-Tailing Group, Envelopes.com and Coffee for Less. It’s going to be a great event and we are really looking forward to it. For those interested, please have a look at the Summit’s website or engage with #BSum12 on Twitter.

Bronto, a leader in driving revenue solutions for Commerce, demonstrates the power of integrating email, social and mobile in order to increase end user engagement.

Please let us know f you are planning on attending the Bronto Summit, as we would love to connect with you on-site in North Carolina. Be happy to fill you in on the latest in mobile, Bronto and Waterfall, or anything else on your mind.

Also, for those unable to attend, please send in any questions for Matt that you would like to be discussed. We’ll be sure to address your inquiry and fill you in on the details after the event.

Published February 14, 2012 – 1:15 pm by kane

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