March 6, 2007
Watch Commercials, Get Free Cell Minutes
It’s not a new concept. Watch or read a marketer’s message and get something in return. The concept is now being applied by Virgin Mobile in its “Sugar Mama” program that enables subscribers to the company’s cell phone service to earn free calling minutes by watching commercials on their PCs.
Since it was first rolled out seven months ago, Sugar Mama has registered 250,000 people to its website and awarded three million free calling minutes as a result of their commercial viewing habits.
Marco Johnson is an 18-year-old consumer who is more than happy to go online daily to get free minutes from Virgin. He has watched spots for Mountain Dew and also watched music videos from The Shins (very cool group) to gain more time on his cell. After watching spots he takes part in short online surveys or others using text messaging on his phone.
According to Mr. Johnson, he has added roughly 75 minutes a month to his account by participating in the program.
“It definitely has saved me money,” he told The Seattle Times. “It’s my senior year, so it’s really hectic. On the weekends, sometimes I talk 10 to 20 minutes. But on Monday, I can go to Sugar Mama and get those minutes back in a day or two.”
Jayne Wallace, a Virgin Mobile spokeswoman, said Sugar Mama was one of the first programs to connect mobile communications with advertising.
“We were hearing that people weren’t embracing the idea of getting ads on their cellphones, and yet when we talked to our customers they said they might consider advertising,” she said.
Virgin customers also told the company that if they were going to receive advertising, they wanted to receive something in return.
Mobile advertising, as widely reported, has begun to take off with programs such as Sugar Mama, but many more just deliver the commercial message directly to consumers on their cell phones.
Consumers have demonstrated a willingness to participate in commercial programs if they already have an interest in the subject matter. Many willingly participate in voting for various reality shows using text messaging.
The key to the success of mobile advertising, say ad executives, is for the information delivered to be so useful that consumers do not even look at it as a commercial message. In the future, for example, consumers may be able to download a coupon for a business as they pass by. By offering this immediate incentive, both the consumer and advertiser see a benefit to the advertising.
Omar Tawakol, chief advertising officer at Medio Systems, said, “Ads that work are viewed as content and wanted by the consumer. Mobile search (find a restaurant, for example) is one of those types of ads.”
The major concern expressed by consumers and mobile service providers is privacy and the potential for spam. The sensitivity to that possibility has companies working overtime to keep unwanted advances out.
“The last thing we want to do is cross that line into violating a person’s space,” said Jeremy Lockhorn, aQuantive’s director of emerging media. “I would err on the side of taking extra time and waiting until consumers are going to be comfortable with what is happening.”
Mr. Tawakol said mobile phones will enable advertisers to connect with a mass audience of consumers but each communication will truly remain one-to-one.
“The convergence of having the biggest reach and the most personalization promises this will be the most significant ad medium ever,” he said. “It’s just a question of how fast are we getting there.”
Discussion Questions: What is your reaction to Sugar Mama and how other service providers and advertisers are trying to find the “right way” to market via mobile marketing? Do you also see mobile marketing as “the convergence of having the biggest reach and the most personalization promise” of any ad medium in existence at the moment?
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Poll
As long as a program like this one is purely based on choice and opting in, it’s got to be a winner all round.
One reason why Sugar Mama works for Virgin is because what they’re giving away technically adds no incremental costs–minutes are capacity which costs the same whether it gets used or not. Plus, it has the upside of training people to use their phones more–so if the free air time goes away, you might actually get some people still using their phones more as a result.
For those looking to apply Virgin’s model to their own businesses, I would caution:
– Make sure what you’re giving away doesn’t have any incremental cost to it.
– If you’re going to give away something that does have incremental cost, make sure you know exactly what the ROI is.
– Give away something that has the potential to build additional business for you in the future.
Sugar Mama works because it appeals to people who don’t value their time. Those with the greatest discretionary income value their time the most, are the hardest to reach, so they’re the most prized by advertisers. Yes, teenagers buy a lot of certain categories. For those advertisers, Sugar Mama might be worthwhile. BTW, there’s a big difference between ad personalization and advertising to 1 person at a time. If Sugar Mama phone screens show the same ad to all subscribers, it isn’t personalization, it’s mass communication. When Google shows an ad based on a search, that’s personalization, which is much more valued by the advertiser.
The “Sugar Mama” program is a great program–a win for the consumer who can choose to participate and be rewarded with something they value, and the advertisers, who have an audience that is ‘willing’ to watch.
As technology becomes more personal and more available, matching advertising to consumer participation will be key. SMS, email, and podcasts are new vehicles with unchartered territory which specifically target a younger more tech savvy demographic. Millennials want to personalize how they are communicated to. This program allows members to participate in a method that they enjoy…it will be interesting to watch if this program gets adopted by other carriers.
The Sugar Mama program is smart marketing. It takes into consideration several key modern challenges in today’s marketing world. First: technology. It gives people a technological freebie to a service (cell phones) that has become more and more popular as times go on. Today’s Gen-Y are the most tech-savvy generation ever. Second: the marketing scheme is geared toward usefulness–it is not just marketing, it is use service advertising.
As for the reach of this service–no doubts: cell phone service has become cheaper and easier, and the potential marketing reach possibilities are endless.
It’s a good thing it helps both parties.
More Discussions
Is Five Below Poised For Even Greater Growth?
Five Below is hitting serious growth numbers. Can this trend continue?Should IKEA Be Flattening Management?
Should IKEA be trimming down its management headcount?Is Legislation the Answer on Visa, Mastercard Swipe Fees as ~$200 Billion Record Is Set?
Is lawmaking the way forward on swipe fees?
As long as a program like this one is purely based on choice and opting in, it’s got to be a winner all round.
One reason why Sugar Mama works for Virgin is because what they’re giving away technically adds no incremental costs–minutes are capacity which costs the same whether it gets used or not. Plus, it has the upside of training people to use their phones more–so if the free air time goes away, you might actually get some people still using their phones more as a result.
For those looking to apply Virgin’s model to their own businesses, I would caution:
– Make sure what you’re giving away doesn’t have any incremental cost to it.
– If you’re going to give away something that does have incremental cost, make sure you know exactly what the ROI is.
– Give away something that has the potential to build additional business for you in the future.
Sugar Mama works because it appeals to people who don’t value their time. Those with the greatest discretionary income value their time the most, are the hardest to reach, so they’re the most prized by advertisers. Yes, teenagers buy a lot of certain categories. For those advertisers, Sugar Mama might be worthwhile. BTW, there’s a big difference between ad personalization and advertising to 1 person at a time. If Sugar Mama phone screens show the same ad to all subscribers, it isn’t personalization, it’s mass communication. When Google shows an ad based on a search, that’s personalization, which is much more valued by the advertiser.
The “Sugar Mama” program is a great program–a win for the consumer who can choose to participate and be rewarded with something they value, and the advertisers, who have an audience that is ‘willing’ to watch.
As technology becomes more personal and more available, matching advertising to consumer participation will be key. SMS, email, and podcasts are new vehicles with unchartered territory which specifically target a younger more tech savvy demographic. Millennials want to personalize how they are communicated to. This program allows members to participate in a method that they enjoy…it will be interesting to watch if this program gets adopted by other carriers.
The Sugar Mama program is smart marketing. It takes into consideration several key modern challenges in today’s marketing world. First: technology. It gives people a technological freebie to a service (cell phones) that has become more and more popular as times go on. Today’s Gen-Y are the most tech-savvy generation ever. Second: the marketing scheme is geared toward usefulness–it is not just marketing, it is use service advertising.
As for the reach of this service–no doubts: cell phone service has become cheaper and easier, and the potential marketing reach possibilities are endless.
It’s a good thing it helps both parties.