By Rimma Kats
Mobile Marketer
Many airlines are going mobile to accommodate the growing trend of tech-savvy consumers and are expanding their mobile marketing strategy to retain customer loyalty.
Companies such as Continental Airlines, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines have all integrated mobile. The airlines have used mobile applications and paperless boarding passes to not only sell tickets and give travelers an expedited check-in process, but to also make sure they have all the tools they need while on the go.
“Our customers have shown us that they want to take more control of their travel experience,” said Jared Miller, senior director of customer self-service at Continental Airlines, Houston. “Self check-in, which began at Continental in 1995, now accounts for over 95 percent of all domestic customer check-ins.
“With the growth of smartphone usage and mobile Web adoption, customers are now able to self-serve many aspects of their Continental travel experience, freeing up their time and getting access to real-time information,” he said.
Mobile boarding passes
In March, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air rolled out three mobile applications for Apple’s iPhone, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile.
Consumers can check their flight status information, flight schedules, flight alerts and check-in one to 24 hours prior to their scheduled departure.
“Mobile is important to us more to retain customer loyalty and give our travel-warrior customers the tools they want most,” said Steve Jarvis, vice president of customer innovation at Alaska Airlines, Seattle.
“Specifically for Alaska, we differentiate ourselves with superior customer service and making travel easier for customers,” he said. “Mobile applications allow us to improve on both of these measures.”
The airline has launched mobile technology at 16 of the airports it serves that lets travelers check-in from a mobile device and use an electronic boarding pass at security to board the plane.
By July, Alaska Airlines plans to have about 50 percent of its airports outfitted with electronic check-in technology including three of its Hawaiian destinations – Maui, Kina and Lihu’e.
“Mobile presents another channel for Alaska Airlines to reach our customers and meet their needs,” Mr. Jarvis said. “Customers can opt-in to receive relevant offers through our mobile club or receive updates on flight changes for the convenience of planning.
“With so many customers traveling without access to a printer, the mobile channel gives customers the ability to stay connected and take advantage of marketing offers and other announcements,” he said.
Mobile expansion
This past year Continental Airlines claimed to be the first carrier to offer mobile boarding passes on nonstop flights from Britain to the United States.
The company provides mobile passes that display a two-dimensional bar code with passenger and flight information.
The mobile boarding passes not only save the airline paper and money, but also help prevent manipulation or duplication of tickets.
Continental currently offers mobile boarding passes at 42 of it airports and plans on expanding to other locations.
“Mobile has transformed the customer experience in that the customer is able to access self-service options while on the go, remote from the office or home, or at the airport,” Mr. Miller said. “In many ways, the customer’s smartphone is like their own personal kiosk.
“Mobile is not only about the mobile Web though,” he said. “We recognize that while smartphone adoption is growing, not all customers carry a smartphone or use it in the same way.
“With mobile devices, customers are also able to contact us by calling our contact centers and we utilize IVR technologies to allow feature rich self-service options there as well.”
Read more >
Showing posts with label mobile marketer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile marketer. Show all posts
Monday, May 10, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Tickets.com In the News: MLB’s Tickets.com expands mobile services for clients
Mobile Commerce Daily
By Rimma Kats
Tickets.com has partnered with Txtstation to provide clients with the ability to interact with consumers in-venue via mobile.
Tickets.com clients can now interact with fans at games, concerts, events and broadcasts in real-time via SMS. Txtstation will help the company’s clients build brand identity via interactive promotions and mobile marketing.
“Our alliance strategy is to partner with best-in-class companies in order to make industry-leading technologies available to our clients,” said Sheri Fink, director of ecommerce and strategic alliances at Tickets.com, Orange County, CA.
“Txtstation is a leader in the mobile marketing industry and is the ideal partner for Tickets.com so we can provide our clients with cost-effective mobile marketing tools in order to support their business needs,” she said.
“Tickets.com already offers clients mobile ticket purchase and mobile bar code delivery services and partnering with Txtstation is the natural next step by allowing us to add mobile marketing to our mobile offerings.”
Tickets.com, a subsidiary of Major League Baseball Advanced Media, provides event ticketing technologies and services for arts, entertainment and sports organizations worldwide.
Txtstation is a mobile marketing company specializing in sports and entertainment that lets broadcasters, event owners, sponsors and general media communicate with viewers or fans directly via mobile devices.
Paperless tickets
Txtstation will provide custom programs and graphics that will differentiate campaigns for each individual brand and client’s needs.
The real-time one-to-one dialogue with event attendees will let Tickets.com clients identify and capture data on all audience members who respond to a mobile call-to-action.
The information can be used for opt-in, ongoing mobile marketing, cross-promotions and other revenue-building initiatives.
Additionally, Txtstation’s service will deliver revenues from SMS, MMS and content downloads.
"Fans want convenience when they’re purchasing tickets and arriving at events,” Ms. Fink said. “Mobile ticketing provides the ultimate convenience - the ability to purchase tickets anytime, anywhere and have them delivered directly to a mobile device.
“It enables venues/teams to sell tickets up to the last minute and enables the fan to enter the venue without having to wait in a Will Call line to get their tickets.
“With more and more airlines adding mobile boarding pass technologies to their offerings, we expect mobile ticketing to continue to dramatically grow in popularity over the next few years as fans become accustomed to the convenience that mobile offers.”
Other ventures
In August, Tickets.com launched a mobile version of its consumer ticketing Web site called ProVenueMobile.
Users who visit the mobile site at http://mobile.tickets.com can complete a ticket transaction from their handset.
“Using mobile for interactive promotions and marketing during live events engages fans and helps clients strategically build their mobile fan base,” Ms. Fink said. “Venues/teams can identify and capture data on audience members that can be used for sending relevant mobile offers.
“For clients who have ProVenueMobile, fans can click through the mobile offer and purchase their tickets on their mobile phones,” she said. “This enables fans to choose to have the ticket delivered to their mobile phone - the ultimate in convenience.”
Rimma Kats is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer. Reach her at rimma@mobilemarketer.com.
By Rimma Kats
Tickets.com has partnered with Txtstation to provide clients with the ability to interact with consumers in-venue via mobile.
Tickets.com clients can now interact with fans at games, concerts, events and broadcasts in real-time via SMS. Txtstation will help the company’s clients build brand identity via interactive promotions and mobile marketing.
“Our alliance strategy is to partner with best-in-class companies in order to make industry-leading technologies available to our clients,” said Sheri Fink, director of ecommerce and strategic alliances at Tickets.com, Orange County, CA.
“Txtstation is a leader in the mobile marketing industry and is the ideal partner for Tickets.com so we can provide our clients with cost-effective mobile marketing tools in order to support their business needs,” she said.
“Tickets.com already offers clients mobile ticket purchase and mobile bar code delivery services and partnering with Txtstation is the natural next step by allowing us to add mobile marketing to our mobile offerings.”
Tickets.com, a subsidiary of Major League Baseball Advanced Media, provides event ticketing technologies and services for arts, entertainment and sports organizations worldwide.
Txtstation is a mobile marketing company specializing in sports and entertainment that lets broadcasters, event owners, sponsors and general media communicate with viewers or fans directly via mobile devices.
Paperless tickets
Txtstation will provide custom programs and graphics that will differentiate campaigns for each individual brand and client’s needs.
The real-time one-to-one dialogue with event attendees will let Tickets.com clients identify and capture data on all audience members who respond to a mobile call-to-action.
The information can be used for opt-in, ongoing mobile marketing, cross-promotions and other revenue-building initiatives.
Additionally, Txtstation’s service will deliver revenues from SMS, MMS and content downloads.
"Fans want convenience when they’re purchasing tickets and arriving at events,” Ms. Fink said. “Mobile ticketing provides the ultimate convenience - the ability to purchase tickets anytime, anywhere and have them delivered directly to a mobile device.
“It enables venues/teams to sell tickets up to the last minute and enables the fan to enter the venue without having to wait in a Will Call line to get their tickets.
“With more and more airlines adding mobile boarding pass technologies to their offerings, we expect mobile ticketing to continue to dramatically grow in popularity over the next few years as fans become accustomed to the convenience that mobile offers.”
Other ventures
In August, Tickets.com launched a mobile version of its consumer ticketing Web site called ProVenueMobile.
Users who visit the mobile site at http://mobile.tickets.com can complete a ticket transaction from their handset.
“Using mobile for interactive promotions and marketing during live events engages fans and helps clients strategically build their mobile fan base,” Ms. Fink said. “Venues/teams can identify and capture data on audience members that can be used for sending relevant mobile offers.
“For clients who have ProVenueMobile, fans can click through the mobile offer and purchase their tickets on their mobile phones,” she said. “This enables fans to choose to have the ticket delivered to their mobile phone - the ultimate in convenience.”
Rimma Kats is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer. Reach her at rimma@mobilemarketer.com.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Mobile Web growing beyond the traditional boundaries
Mobile Marketer
Chris Harnick
According to Nielsen, unique mobile Web users increased by 14.4% this past year. Youths between the ages of 13 and 17 who now use the mobile Web grew by 45% and 67% for seniors over age 65. Lead analyst of mobile media at Nielsen added, "This [interactive medium] affords brands the opportunity to integrate mobile into their broader campaign efforts to forge the personalized experience that uniquely comes with mobile by providing the right message at the right place."
Read more >
Chris Harnick
According to Nielsen, unique mobile Web users increased by 14.4% this past year. Youths between the ages of 13 and 17 who now use the mobile Web grew by 45% and 67% for seniors over age 65. Lead analyst of mobile media at Nielsen added, "This [interactive medium] affords brands the opportunity to integrate mobile into their broader campaign efforts to forge the personalized experience that uniquely comes with mobile by providing the right message at the right place."
Read more >
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
EBay generated $400M in business from iPhone app
Mobile Marketer
By Giselle Tsirulnik
EBay President/CEO John Donahoe said mobile is one of the key areas that the company is focusing on since devices will surely impact the way that consumers shop.
Mr. Donahoe said that the iPhone and BlackBerry devices are already changing consumers’ shopping habits and recommended that retailers change and evolve if they want to compete. He spoke at the Shop.org annual summit in Las Vegas.
“Mobile devices will play a role and the notion of mobility will have a huge impact on ecommerce,” Mr. Donahoe said.
In two years, about 40 percent of Internet access will happen from a mobile device. IPhones are only about 8 percent of the market, but they make up about 40 percent of Internet usage at present.
Since $400 million was generated in business since the eBay application’s launch, Mr. Donahoe said that devices like this one and others like it are going to impact his company.
Mr. Donahoe is president/CEO of eBay
Last week someone bought a $350,000 Lamborghini on the iPhone. Also, someone bought a $150,000 boat from their iPhone.
Consumers are bidding via mobile, browsing products and eBay’s mobile sales volume is growing in the double digits every month.
“I know this will be an important device for ecommerce,” Mr. Donahoe said.
Mrs. Freeman Evans is vice president and research director of Forrester
One of Mr. Donahoe’s colleagues came into his office and laid a book on his desk. To cover the title of the book, his colleague placed a pack of M&Ms on it. He snapped a picture with his iPhone and was able to locate various book stores that sell it and their prices for it.
Mr. Donahoe believes that innovation is driven by the small application developers and that they will impact how people will shop.
EBay is launching its first developer conference and will open its PayPal and eBay platforms for developers.
Mr. Donahoe talked about PayPal and said the payments side of ecommerce is what stifles the business.
“People are just not comfortable providing their credit card information over the Internet,” Mr. Donahoe said.
Mobile payments are the future.
EBay is right at the center of the technology and commerce worlds. 300-400 million people use eBay products worldwide.
The reason for eBay’s success?
“You have to adapt to compete and that is what we have done,” Mr. Donahoe said. “We adapted to the fact that consumers are embracing new technologies and we took advantage of that.”
Ecommerce is maturing as a market, but it is only about 5 percent of overall retail sales.
Mr. Donahoe forecasts it will eventually end up at 20-30 percent.
Traditionally in retail people talk about the online and offline, but the lines are blurring.
People are researching online, go in-store to buy and then once they are at a retail location, they use their mobile phones to comparison shop.
“There won’t be just one winner in ecommerce,” Mr. Donahoe said. “There will be many winners. When there is a lot of innovation, there are multiple winners.
“Online payments are a bit different, as it is a major friction point for online retail,” he said. “The online payments world will soon mirror the offline.
“It is all about convenience and speed and mobile payments and micro payments will help bring that 5 percent to 10 percent.”
After Mr. Donahoe’s keynote, Patti Freeman Evans, vice president and research director at Forrester Research interviewed the eBay executive.
She asked who he considers as his competition and he said instead of worrying about competition, eBay focuses on the customer.
Most likely this type of an approach is what got eBay 90 million unique visitors per month. A whopping 75 percent of that traffic is organic. The marketplace also buys about 20 million keywords from Google.
EBay is all about giving its merchants – big and small – access to traffic so that they can sell their merchandise.
“When we though about competition we did not want to focus on any competitor,” Mr. Donahoe said. “Instead we ruthlessly focus on customers. We need to think about how to win and get our sellers to win."
Senior Editor Giselle Tsirulnik covers ad networks, advertising, content, email, media, messaging, legal/privacy, search, social networks, television and video. Reach her at giselle@mobilemarketer.com.
By Giselle Tsirulnik
EBay President/CEO John Donahoe said mobile is one of the key areas that the company is focusing on since devices will surely impact the way that consumers shop.
Mr. Donahoe said that the iPhone and BlackBerry devices are already changing consumers’ shopping habits and recommended that retailers change and evolve if they want to compete. He spoke at the Shop.org annual summit in Las Vegas.
“Mobile devices will play a role and the notion of mobility will have a huge impact on ecommerce,” Mr. Donahoe said.
In two years, about 40 percent of Internet access will happen from a mobile device. IPhones are only about 8 percent of the market, but they make up about 40 percent of Internet usage at present.
Since $400 million was generated in business since the eBay application’s launch, Mr. Donahoe said that devices like this one and others like it are going to impact his company.
Mr. Donahoe is president/CEO of eBay
Last week someone bought a $350,000 Lamborghini on the iPhone. Also, someone bought a $150,000 boat from their iPhone.
Consumers are bidding via mobile, browsing products and eBay’s mobile sales volume is growing in the double digits every month.
“I know this will be an important device for ecommerce,” Mr. Donahoe said.
Mrs. Freeman Evans is vice president and research director of Forrester
One of Mr. Donahoe’s colleagues came into his office and laid a book on his desk. To cover the title of the book, his colleague placed a pack of M&Ms on it. He snapped a picture with his iPhone and was able to locate various book stores that sell it and their prices for it.
Mr. Donahoe believes that innovation is driven by the small application developers and that they will impact how people will shop.
EBay is launching its first developer conference and will open its PayPal and eBay platforms for developers.
Mr. Donahoe talked about PayPal and said the payments side of ecommerce is what stifles the business.
“People are just not comfortable providing their credit card information over the Internet,” Mr. Donahoe said.
Mobile payments are the future.
EBay is right at the center of the technology and commerce worlds. 300-400 million people use eBay products worldwide.
The reason for eBay’s success?
“You have to adapt to compete and that is what we have done,” Mr. Donahoe said. “We adapted to the fact that consumers are embracing new technologies and we took advantage of that.”
Ecommerce is maturing as a market, but it is only about 5 percent of overall retail sales.
Mr. Donahoe forecasts it will eventually end up at 20-30 percent.
Traditionally in retail people talk about the online and offline, but the lines are blurring.
People are researching online, go in-store to buy and then once they are at a retail location, they use their mobile phones to comparison shop.
“There won’t be just one winner in ecommerce,” Mr. Donahoe said. “There will be many winners. When there is a lot of innovation, there are multiple winners.
“Online payments are a bit different, as it is a major friction point for online retail,” he said. “The online payments world will soon mirror the offline.
“It is all about convenience and speed and mobile payments and micro payments will help bring that 5 percent to 10 percent.”
After Mr. Donahoe’s keynote, Patti Freeman Evans, vice president and research director at Forrester Research interviewed the eBay executive.
She asked who he considers as his competition and he said instead of worrying about competition, eBay focuses on the customer.
Most likely this type of an approach is what got eBay 90 million unique visitors per month. A whopping 75 percent of that traffic is organic. The marketplace also buys about 20 million keywords from Google.
EBay is all about giving its merchants – big and small – access to traffic so that they can sell their merchandise.
“When we though about competition we did not want to focus on any competitor,” Mr. Donahoe said. “Instead we ruthlessly focus on customers. We need to think about how to win and get our sellers to win."
Senior Editor Giselle Tsirulnik covers ad networks, advertising, content, email, media, messaging, legal/privacy, search, social networks, television and video. Reach her at giselle@mobilemarketer.com.
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