SMS & IVR has a more powerful place

The benefits of running a competition should endure long after the promotion ends, with the brand communicating with its newly acquired 'community' through a planned, responsible and interesting marketing programe that stimulates interest and drives sales.

Expanding Branding has found several ways to go beyond the traditional SMS or IVR competition and has developed a research and reporting layer that turns ordinary messages into meaningful information for brand marketers. The number of applications that can be developed using these basic technologies is quite staggering and creative ideas flow out of every client's unique business requirement.

While FMCG products are the favourite for competitions using traditional SMS for entry where a lucky draw takes place and prizes are despatched to the winners, other applications include dealer locators, loyalty programmes and incentive programmes.

One of the best ways of rewarding consumers is to send Airtime Vouchers directly to their cellphones, either immediately or delayed (e.g. end of the month) as it eliminates all physical prize fulfilment logistical issues (stock holding, deliveries etc). The Sunsilk campaign saw every purchaser get a scratchcard with unique number to redeem their airtime vouchers while 100 airtime winners per month were drawn using a special electronic lucky draw generator for the Aromat and Pond's campaigns.

The Fragram and Down to Earth dealer locator campaigns require the caller to SMS their postcode and the system returns the addresses of the nearest stores. While not big in volume, these provide a value added layer to the brands and it is surprising how many people use the facilities.

Other applications such as Ceres Liquifruit require sophisticated data extraction from the incoming SMS message - all of which are possible with specialised processing tools developed by Expanding Branding.

All SMS and IVR competitions work best when the supporting marketing colatteral is easy to follow, clear, concise and positioned in the right catchment areas - including in-store, journals, and above the line media.

Contact Carol Taylor on 082 901 2714 or carolt@expandingbranding.co.za.