Pepsi rolls out multifaceted LBS mobile loyalty initiatives

PepsiCo Inc. has debuted application-centered mobile initiatives to help its restaurant partners inspire customer loyalty and drive consumers to nearby locations.

PepsiCo is working on two separate initiatives. There is an exclusive partnership with location-based mobile social networking application Foursquare and the launch of its own Pepsi Loot location-based application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.

“Pepsi Loot is what we hope is going to be the first geo-based iPhone application that has a loyalty program associated with it,” said Margery Schelling, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Foodservice, Purchase, NY. “Consumers on-the-go always have mobile devices with them, and when they are hungry, they can open Pepsi Loot on their iPhone and it shows them every Pepsi location in a certain area.

Bloggers in the marketing mix

Many bloggers have readership numbers that are larger than many traditional media platforms including magazines, newspapers, television and radio shows. Mr. Gadget, who writes daily about new gadgets and gizmos in the tech world, commands over 170,000 reads per month. If that were to be ranked against the nine magazines in Pacific Magazines’ computer genre stable, it would slot in just behind number two. Not too shabby. SuperKawaiiMama on the other hand is one of Australia’s most recognized fashion bloggers. Her unique and clearly identifiable style often gets her stopped on the street for photos. With over 130,000 monthly blog reads she is not too far behind popular fashion journal Grazia. And finally one of Australia’s biggest parenting bloggers PlanningWithKids receives over 65,000 monthly blog reads which is only a few pegs back from the leading parenting print publications in this country. It is also important to note that blog readers are influential people in their own right. Given that they care so much about a particular subject, so as to be constant consumers of blogged content, the readers themselves become opinion leaders in their own circles. The viral implications of a blog marketing campaign therefore make it an even more attractive proposition for marketers.

Social media 40% of Jetstar’s marketing budget

Jetstar has announced it will direct 40% of its marketing budget to social media.

“We’ve conducted some very successful marketing and PR campaigns via social media in the past 18 months, including YouTube and Twitter, and the response has been phenomenal,” said David May, Jetstar’s head of marketing.

May explained the increased costs of traditional media when compared with audience reach were key to the decision.

“Social media offers more value for money and is a smarter way to reach our customers – which is what Jetstar is all about.”

Online ad market predicted to hit $2 billion

The online ad sector fell short of the $2bn mark at the end of 2009, with expenditure reaching $1.87bn, a growth of 9% year-on-year.

The sector’s growth spurt magnified in the three months to December with online ad dollars growing 10% to $513m compared to the previous three-month period, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Australia’s Online Expenditure Report, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Social media still misunderstood by brands

Big Australian brands are investing time in social media but are not quite following through with what is needed in an ongoing capacity, according to a report from Burson-Marsteller.

According to the PR firm 40% of the companies surveyed have at least one Twitter account, but 44% of these Twitter profiles are inactive and many are not updated frequently.

The report also found that 50% of the companies surveyed have established official Fan Pages within the most widely used social network in Australia, Facebook, however 15% of these pages are inactive.

The study looked at online stakeholder engagement via corporate blogs, official Facebook Fan Pages and Twitter, examining 20 companies identified by Interbrand in its ‘2009 Australia’s Best Brands Report’.

“The study revealed a lot of inactive accounts, which could suggest ad-hoc efforts with no clear strategy for online stakeholder engagement. Only 20% of the companies surveyed have a corporate blog… (which) provide businesses with a controllable and direct form of communication – it’s therefore surprising to see the relatively low levels of adoption in Australia,” said Daniel Young, director of Burson-Marsteller Australia.

Nokia, apps and smartphones – a turning point?

Whilst the iPhone is at the centre of the mobile development buzz, with Android knocking firmly on the door, one often forgotten fact is that Nokia still dominates the smartphone market.

With 44% of smartphone handsets currently on the market carrying the Nokia brand, the Finnish company still hasn’t won the hearts and minds of the developer community.