April 2, 2012
Mobs Splash Out the Cash
Whether they’re flashing legs or cash, mobs are becoming a recurring sight in stores nationwide. Social media is being used, yet again, to attract likeminded people to form a mob and get together for both a bit of fun and a more serious underlying purpose. In a recent case, spending money to support small, local businesses.
Reuters reports the first International Cash Mob day was held on March 24 with some 200 mobs in the U.S. and Europe committing to spending a minimum of $20 (£12.60) per person in local businesses. The story identifies Andrew Samtoy, a Cleveland lawyer, as "the concept’s founder" although Public Radio International (PRI) credits a Buffalo blogger, Chris Smith, with the idea. Among Mr. Smith’s intentions, besides helping small businesses, is that participants should "meet people, spend and have fun."
Participants spread the word through social media. More traditional media in the form of local newspapers and radio stations have also joined in as mobs began appearing.
The retailers targeted may even be selected by the mob. In one city, PRI reports, Twitter and Facebook pages accepted nominations, created a shortlist and made final selections through votes.
Cash mobs have now been organized in 32 states and Canada, according to PRI. Mr. Smith’s intention was to bring customers to struggling stores and friendship to local customers. Each of his mobs ends their shopping spree at a refreshment point nearby (perhaps bringing cash to two enterprises in one).
An additional intention is to encourage mobsters to turn into recurring customers.
"It’s not just about the money that comes in that day, it’s about a real small business that doesn’t have a lot of money and a marketing budget. They get a little earned media coverage they wouldn’t normally get that allows them to establish themselves a little bit more," Mr. Smith told Here and Now on WBUR in Boston.
Annie Johnson of Anything Goes in Rhode Island, which features work from local artists, told PRI that about 35 people came to her store for a recent cash mob. "We’ve already had people return," she added, as well as some who didn’t participate on mob day but wanted to support the concept.
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Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions: Are Cash Mobs supporting local businesses likely to catch on? What other ways could smaller stores capitalize on social media and its crowdsourcing appeal?
Poll
I guess it depends on what you mean by, “catch on.” If you mean will we continue to see cash mobs, I think the answer is, “Yes.” If, on the other hand, you mean will there be a cash mob in your neighborhood at least once a week, the answer is, “No.”
Still, if you’re an independent retailer, every little bit helps.
I’m a big supporter of unique, local businesses and the best way to help them is to tell friends about them. If you can organize a cash mob great. But small, local retailers should look for other more likely sources of business as it is unlikely that they will be the recipient of a cash mob.
I like it, because it doesn’t involve the big box stores, and it helps out a local business. I hope that the first impression they make is a good one, so returning business is likely to happen.
Knowing the great following some smaller retailers and even independents have on some social channels, there is no reason that this couldn’t become a long-term growth strategy. If the retailer looks at past mob events, makes the changes necessary to rectify any challenges of the past, then future mobs will become even more attractive for shoppers.
Cash mobs will likely be a fad, but there are tons of ways local stores can capitalize on social media. Of course the challenge for the business owner is to separate the signal from the “SoLoMo” noise. Lots of start-up activity in this space; including Seattle-based SpurOn which lets you send discounts at small businesses to your friends and then rewards you for their subsequent purchase activity.
There’s a lesson here, I believe, that lends perspective when reviewing government entitlement programs. Before Social Security was created, Americans quite successfully supported each other through private organizations, churches, and individual efforts. Before we became a welfare state, these same groups looked after the least fortunate. And, perhaps most important, these private efforts did not create entitlement dependency with the resulting laziness of those who habitually live on the dole.
Cash Mobs are the modern equivalent of citizens taking care of each other. No government bailouts needed. I hope we see many more of them.
It’s a fun, feelgood story, but it’s hard to imagine the “cash mob” strategy gaining any kind of meaningful scale. At the end of the day, consumers will be motivated by the same drivers that always have motivated them, and a cash mob is not one of them.
Tricks and gimmicks like this usually can make small differences on the margin of things, and savvy marketers take every advantage they can get. But it’s hard to see something like this becoming a meaningful factor.
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I guess it depends on what you mean by, “catch on.” If you mean will we continue to see cash mobs, I think the answer is, “Yes.” If, on the other hand, you mean will there be a cash mob in your neighborhood at least once a week, the answer is, “No.”
Still, if you’re an independent retailer, every little bit helps.
I’m a big supporter of unique, local businesses and the best way to help them is to tell friends about them. If you can organize a cash mob great. But small, local retailers should look for other more likely sources of business as it is unlikely that they will be the recipient of a cash mob.
I like it, because it doesn’t involve the big box stores, and it helps out a local business. I hope that the first impression they make is a good one, so returning business is likely to happen.
Knowing the great following some smaller retailers and even independents have on some social channels, there is no reason that this couldn’t become a long-term growth strategy. If the retailer looks at past mob events, makes the changes necessary to rectify any challenges of the past, then future mobs will become even more attractive for shoppers.
Cash mobs will likely be a fad, but there are tons of ways local stores can capitalize on social media. Of course the challenge for the business owner is to separate the signal from the “SoLoMo” noise. Lots of start-up activity in this space; including Seattle-based SpurOn which lets you send discounts at small businesses to your friends and then rewards you for their subsequent purchase activity.
There’s a lesson here, I believe, that lends perspective when reviewing government entitlement programs. Before Social Security was created, Americans quite successfully supported each other through private organizations, churches, and individual efforts. Before we became a welfare state, these same groups looked after the least fortunate. And, perhaps most important, these private efforts did not create entitlement dependency with the resulting laziness of those who habitually live on the dole.
Cash Mobs are the modern equivalent of citizens taking care of each other. No government bailouts needed. I hope we see many more of them.
It’s a fun, feelgood story, but it’s hard to imagine the “cash mob” strategy gaining any kind of meaningful scale. At the end of the day, consumers will be motivated by the same drivers that always have motivated them, and a cash mob is not one of them.
Tricks and gimmicks like this usually can make small differences on the margin of things, and savvy marketers take every advantage they can get. But it’s hard to see something like this becoming a meaningful factor.