txting from a store near u

txting from a store near u
Lara Mossa

May 20, 2007

Trey Cox, 17, of Clarkston sends and receives seven to 10 text messages a day. It's simply quicker than e-mail to catch up with friends, see how they're doing and make plans, he said.

His friends have their cell phones with them all the time, he said, while they might not see an e-mail message for hours.

It's that logic that led advertisers to spend $1.4 billion on text messaging last year. That amount will grow to $2.9 billion by 2011, according to JupiterResearch, a New York-based Internet research company.

Cell phones have a 76 percent penetration rate in the United States and about one-half of mobile subscribers use text messaging.

Moosejaw Mountaineering is one local company that sees the advantage of text messaging. Meijer and national retailers such as Target also are connecting with customers through their cell phones.

Moosejaw, which sells clothing and equipment for outdoor activities, has grown in part because of its ability to connect with its customers, especially young adults. Based in Madison Heights, the company has six stores including two in Oakland County and sells products online.

"When we saw our staff texting each other even when they were sitting 3 feet away from each other, texting more than e-mailing, we knew we had to hop onboard," Moosejaw co-founder Robert Wolfe said.

Moosejaw has developed what it calls a "total madness" culture. Signs in the store have clever quips, while the Web site has a link for "Today's Remarks," which encourages communication between customers.

Text messaging falls into that culture, he explained, especially because it's rampant among young adults. The company will text silly stories or questions. A message sent recently said: "Text me back with Rock, Paper or Scissors. I already know what I'm throwing and if you beat me I'll add 100 Moosejaw points to your account."

But the service isn't just fun and games. Moosejaw will text customers tracking numbers for their online orders. With the tracking number, they can go to the UPS Web site and see when their order will arrive.

Moosejaw began experimenting with text messaging four years ago, but, at the time, the technology was too cumbersome and expensive, Wolfe said. The company debuted its text messaging service with a mobile coupon in March.

This month, Grand Rapidsbased Meijer will roll out a text messaging service at its 177 stores in five states.

Just in time for record gas prices, the company will send alerts to its customers a few hours before gas prices rise. Eventually, the service will be available through e- mails or phone calls.

"People are so frustrated and they feel they don't have any control over gas prices," said Michael Romano, vice president and managing partner of SmartReply Mobile & Voice Marketing, the company that implemented the program. "Maybe we can bring a little sanity back for customers who shop at Meijer."

SmartReply, based in Irvine, Calif., has 90 retail clients and, of them, 20 have mobile marketing programs.

Meijer began testing the program in Indiana and Ohio markets a year ago. Besides building brand awareness, the text messages will mean additional convenience store sales as customers choose Meijer gas stations to fill up.

Similarly, Meijer is working on text messaging services for pet lovers and wine enthusiasts. Wine connoisseurs, for instance, will be able to sign up to receive text messages on special offers.

Target Corp., based in Minneapolis, has been sending text messages since 2005. The retailer uses text messages only when it's relevant and makes sense for that campaign, Target spokesman Joshua Thomas said.

Currently, Target is enlisting customers for its Go International campaign, which alerts customers when a new fashion designer is going to have product in the stores.

Part of the reason text messages are becoming popular is because the effectiveness of email alerts is starting to decline, Romano said.

Unlike e-mails, companies cannot send text messages unless customers opt in to the service and provide their cell phone numbers.

While this narrows the number of people receiving the messages, it increases the percentage of people who respond or redeem coupons.

Among mobile subscribers, 46 percent said they never want to receive a commercial text message, 30 percent are concerned about getting charged for text messages, and 15 percent already find them annoying, according to JupiterResearch.

"I guess it would kind of get annoying if they sent advertisements," said Cox, the Clarkston High School senior.

But if he could choose to be on a specific store's mailing list such as Abercrombie & Fitch, a teen apparel chain, that would be OK with him, he said.

The platform will be slower to catch on with older consumers, said Lon Otremba, chief executive officer, of Access 360 Media, a marketing company that specializes in online and mobile promotions.

But the upside is mobile marketing is less expensive and easier to execute than conventional advertising. The messages are sent in real time, which means restaurants can send an alert about lunch specials right before the lunch hour. And retailers can track the results and collect valuable data on their customers.

Early adopters to the service have included media, wireless carriers, automotive companies, financial services, consumer packaged goods and food services, according to a study by JupiterResearch.

Along with mobile coupons, many of the promotions are tied to contests or sweepstakes that build brand loyalty.

"American Idol," the hit TV show, generates tens of millions of votes each week through text messaging. Other companies that have used text messaging include Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Kellogg's.

As cell phones become ever more versatile, advertisers also experiment with display advertisements on mobile Internet pages and ads for mobile video clips.

"The lingo is text," Moosejaw's Wolfe said. "Nobody wants to call anymore."

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