Mobile Marketing

Category: Mobile Marketing

Augmented reality added to cereal marketing

Julie Campbell | March 16, 2013

Lucky Charms is using mobile to go beyond traditional “prizes” to appeal to adult consumers.

In its most recent mobile marketing campaign, General Mills has created an augmented reality app for its Lucky Charms cereal that sends adult consumers on a “Chase for the Charms.”

This app allows mobile device users to go on a virtual hunt for marshmallow treats.

The goal of the augmented reality game is to reach the end of the rainbow with Lucky the Leprechaun. The cereal manufacturer released a video as a teaser for the app ahead of its launch, which is St. Patrick’s Day.

The augmented reality campaign is linked to the holiday that is known for its similar theme of Irish lore.

On St. Patrick’s Day, users will be able to tap on their mobile device screens when they use the augmented reality application, to capture Lucky the Leprechaun’s charms as they appear before them. The charms use AR technology to look as though they are located in the real world. As an incentive, the company is also offering prizes based on the number and type of charms that were collected.

Among the instant prizes are t-shirts, a cereal dispenser, or a chance to appear as an animated character in an upcoming ad for the product. The grand prize is a pot of actual gold that is valued at $10,000.

Behind the augmented reality campaign is the creative agency called Saatchi & Saatchi. The app itself was the creation of Ogmento. The app itself is being heavily marketed. On Friday, mash-up music video was released, featuring several of the classic advertisements for the cereal. The video itself was performed by John Boswell, who is better known as “Melodysheep”, and who is otherwise recognized for his Julia Child tribute.

This new mobile marketing campaign is the latest effort by the brand – now 49 years old – to reach out to adults who had grown up with the cereal and who are now using smartphones and tablets and are receptive to the augmented reality experience. The strategy was started last year with a television ad which has since broadly expanded to include the AR technology.

Mcommerce performance from W.W. Grainger is excelling

Lucy | March 15, 2013

Keynote is using the company as an example of how some retailers are improving site performance.

The results of the Keynote Mobile Commerce Performance Index for the week that ended on March 10 have been released, and W.W. Granger Inc. topped the list with an exceptional mcommerce performance in both its load time and its successful completions.

These are the two main factors that are taken into consideration by the index when it issues its scores.

During the most recent week of the index, the mcommerce site for W.W. Grainger loaded with an average speed of 4.30 seconds and was able to completely and successfully load 99.46 percent of the time. By combining those two factors, the website earned a score on the index of 938 out of a possible 1,000 points.

The next mcommerce website on the index didn’t load nearly as quickly at almost a full second slower.

HSN Inc., the TV retailer, earned the second place with its 5.23 second load time and its 99.56 percent success rate. Its score was quite close to that of Grainger, at 931. In third place was Barnes & Noble, which loaded within 5.47 seconds and had a 99.46 percent success rate. That company earned a score of 909.

The fourth place position was taken by Toolfetch.com LLC. Its load time was actually far better than that of Grainger, at 3.24 seconds, on average. However, its success rate was 99.02 percent, which brought its score to 895 and held it from achieving one of the top three positions. Target Corp snatched up the fifth spot this week, though its load time was considerably slower than those ahead of it, at 8.36 seconds. Its success rate, however, was better than the company that ranked first, at 99.67 percent. Its score was 871.

Grainger currently holds the 76th position in the Internet Retailer Mobile 400, with HSN at 14 and Barnes and Noble positioned at 31. Toolfetch is currently ranked at 248, while Target has the 34th position.

Over the entire mcommerce index, the average load time for that week was recorded to be 9.67 seconds, while the average success rate was 98.82 percent. The average score among all thirty of the businesses was 701.