Mobile Commerce Zones

Today, my channel of choice is mobile marketing via the Internet. It’s a bit of a departure from my usual channels discussion, but customer discussions have me thinking about mobile marketing, and the Forum Oxford has me thinking about community, so here I am.

The holy grail of mobile marketing is to push offers to consumer mobile phones when they are in proximity of a merchant’s location. So today, after creating a demonstration coupon service supported by 5o9™ Context Manager software (my shameless plug for my company) all the pieces fell into place. Granted, to make this happen some big players would need to come together in the co-marketing initiative of the century, but if they did, the benefits to all involved would be huge. So here’s the idea:

Pull together two giants – Microsoft and Sprint – to target commercial districts across the country. Microsoft sells a community Web server (or perhaps partners with local ISPs) for a shopping district, such as LODO, Cherry Creek, Downtown Boulder or 29^th Street in Colorado. Wi-Fi or Wi-Max access points are installed by Sprint in these relatively defined areas (could also work in shopping malls). With a little help from coupon generation software and online campaign management tools supplied by Microsoft ISVs, and with location and shopper data supported by 5o9 software, consumers in the vicinity of a Mobile Commerce Zone could either search for coupons and specials from the local merchants, or give the local merchants permission to push them offers while they visit the area. Users can define a 1 mile, 2-mile or 5-mile radius from which they are willing to receive offers, and each consumer can determine if they are willing to receive all, some or none of the offers based on category or interest (dining, music, beverage, clothing, household, etc.). And they could even get walking directions to the store or restaurant based upon their current location.

Push marketing via the Internet. Supported by any phone with an Internet connection. Delivered via high-speed Wi-Fi or Wi-Max networks. Supported by local advertising. Backed by respected industry leaders. Driven by consumer choice and permission. Closed loop, time-restricted, measurable marketing for local businesses. A social, mobile shopping community. Everyone wins!

And of course, this can be extended to other countries based on infrastructure partnerships with top mobile network providers there. And it can also be extended to other communities, such as theme parks, ski and beach resorts, city museums/botanical gardens/zoo complexes, or even college campuses.

The only question that remains, is will companies like Microsoft and Sprint take a leadership position to demonstrate the power of how the Internet can support both community and commerce by giving consumers control of their contextual data via the Web-connected mobile phone? The technology exists today. We as commercial entities simply need to relinquish a bit of control back to the consumer in exchange for accelerated adoption of mobile marketing, and cost-effective, targeted, measurable, affordable mobile marketing for local businesses.