2012 100 - Networld Media Group

Prosper Mobile Insights has found
that a majority of survey respondents
had used their smartphones or tablets
for some type of shopping behavior.
Of the 348 smartphone and tablet users
surveyed, 67 percent agree that
location-based coupons are “very con-
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BEHAVIORAL TARGETING
venient and useful,” while 42 percent
had used their smartphone or tablet to
scan a barcodes or present a text message
or promo code to a cashier. Forty
percent had made a purchase directly
on a mobile device, and 36 percent had
scanned a QR code. A major hurdle
As yet another example of how the Amazon model continues to shape the
evolution of the Web, the deluge of user-generated content — from product
reviews and comments posted on news stories, to the glut of unguarded
personal information offered up by users of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
et al — amounts to a behavioral marketer’s dream come true. All that
data, freely given, is rich in the sort of detail that behavioral marketers
prize in selecting which advertising messages are displayed to that individual.
The algorithms Amazon developed to suggest items of interest
based on a particular user’s browsing habits and purchasing history may
soon permeate the entire Internet. The challenge is to find the appropriate opportunities
without seeming too invasive or behaving like a virtual stalker.
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ZAPPOS
facing QR code acceptance has been
that most mobile phones do not come
equipped with the requisite scanning
capabilities, although marketers expect
that 2D barcode readers will be
standard issue for smartphones beginning
in 2012.
Seeking to drive home the point that Zappos offers “more than
shoes,” the online retailer last summer launched a uniquely interactive
print ad campaign that invited consumers to dress naked
models using QR codes. The ads depicted naked models (mostly
women) doing outdoor activities, such as jogging or riding a
scooter through Manhattan locations, with strategically placed
censor bars emblazoned with the campaign’s tagline. The QR
codes lead the user to a website where a video shows how the scenario
depicted in the ad plays out. Consumers can then choose an
outfit for the model and go to Zappos to buy it. While some Zappos
brands declined to participate in the campaign, fearing the
photos were too risqué, Nathalie Binda, marketing vice president
for women’s active wear manufacturer of Lolë, did not hesitate to
sign on, calling the campaign “gutsy” and “very Zapposesque.”
“If there’s one brand out there that can do it,” she said, “it’s Zappos.”
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