Class Action Lawsuits & Zip Code Marketing

Interesting and more importantly – scary – article regarding class action lawsuits being filed against retailers/advertisers that are zip code targeting residents with their direct mail efforts.  Apparently Massachusetts passed a consumer privacy law that makes it illegal for retailers to ask for your zip code, when you make a purchase within their stores.  Retailers are not allowed to ask for customer zip codes and then use those zip codes for direct marketing purposes.  First Michael’s was taken to the cleaners and now Bed Bath & Beyond is facing a similar suit.

You can read the article yourself at: Bed Bath & Beyond Lawsuit

Enjoy,

April 2012 Consumer Insights Survey

Summit Marketing is conducting an online survey to capture societal sentiment regarding what impact, if any, increased fuel prices has on the decision to dine out.  We ask that you take a few minutes to complete the short survey and then share it through your personal email groups and networks including your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn contacts.

As a thank you for completing the survey, your email address will be entered into a drawing for a $100 American Express gift certificate.

Be sure to complete the survey before it closes on Monday, April 13!  Click here to take the survey now.

Couponing in the United States

A recent survey from Valpak shows the demographic break downs of those that use coupons. No surprise that coupons skew female. Interestingly, their findings to the question, “What wouldn’t you purchase without a coupon?” resulted in 33% of respondents answering with Carpet Cleaning.

Test your knowledge of couponing by taking the poll!

[polldaddy poll=6046230]

Top Cities for Coupon Redemption

Use this article as you craft your next new/existing customer, referral or new store opening strategy. 

http://stocks.newsok.com/newsok/news/read?GUID=20688448

And for those of you not in Commercial:

• STL ranks #3
• KC ranks #9
• DC ranks #16

With Atlanta #1, Tampa #2 filling out the top slots.

Crazy Cool QR Codes

These are some of the coolest QR Codes I’ve seen, both visually and functionally. Had to share it. Follow the link below to check ‘em out for yourself.

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/genius-qr-codes/

*For Blog Subscribers who read these posts via email…my last post contained a link that didn’t show up in the email delivery. So just in case that happened again, here’s the URL to cut & paste into your browser: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/genius-qr-codes/ )
Thanks!

Foursquare: Someone Doesn’t Get It. Is It Me, Or Is It Businesses?

Someone is missing the point of Foursquare and I don’t think it’s me. (I don’t mean to brag, but I am the Mayor of three places, including Summit Marketing, St. Louis.) Please correct me if I’ve got it all wrong. If I haven’t been using the app properly then, by all means, let me know so that others can learn from my silly mistakes.

Before you read any more, I must disclose something that you may find hard to believe. I am not a socialite. I don’t hit all the trendy spots in town and ‘Check In’ to announce my presence to all my online friends. I don’t use Foursquare as a tool to find out where all my friends are hanging. I have one friend on Foursquare and she’s my wife. (Gotta keep tabs on her somehow :>)
So maybe that’s why I’m not seeing any benefit to Foursquare. Does the number of friends you have influence how many or what kind of offers you get? Nope. At least I didn’t find any mention of that when I read about using specials within Foursquare’s merchant section. http://support.foursquare.com/entries/481480-what-are-foursquare-specials

So unless I’m missing something, the businesses around here are definitely missing something. They’re missing out on my loyalty.

For the past two months I’ve been using Foursquare to check in at the different businesses I visit. I have yet to receive or unlock a special that has benefited me. Not even a Newbie special or a special when I became Mayor.

I visit some places, like grocery stores, 1-3 times a week. (Don’t I live an exciting life?) I think grocery stores provide a great example for our discussion here. A couple miles from my home, two competing grocery stores (Dierberg’s and Schnuck’s) are located across the street from each other. I drive past them every day so they’re both equally convenient. Here’s the thing…I’m not loyal to either store. Some days I go to Schnuck’s, some days I go to Dierberg’s. I don’t have any rhyme or reason for that. Over the past two months I’ve checked in at Schnuck’s 9 times and Dierberg’s 7 times. And I have absolutely nothing to show for it. OK, every once in a while I get a nifty little badge icon and a congratulatory message on my phone from the nice folks at Foursquare, but not one thing from the actual store where I’m checking in.

All it would take is for one of the stores to give me a valuable special and they would get the lion’s share of my business. Now I don’t expect them to turn my visit into that awesome old game show, Supermarket Sweep, but $5 off a purchase of $50 would be cool.

Giving me a simple offer like that would engage me and allow me to interact with their brand on my phone. More important, it would make me want to continue to check in at their store to see what other specials I could unlock. The more specials I would unlock, the more connected to the brand I would become.

In a way, a check in is like a consumer asking a business for some love. When check in after check in gets ignored, it’s like the business’ way of rejecting their customers. One can only take so much rejection before moving on.

I can see the potential value Foursquare offers to businesses and consumers. But until businesses “get it”, I don’t see how Foursquare will survive. The potential will go unfulfilled. If there’s nothing in it for me, then why should I care?

So do I have this all wrong or do you agree with me? What are your experiences with Foursquare? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.
-Kevin