»
Cellfire’s free mobile coupon service is now available to cell phone users across the country. The company just concluded a beta launch of the service to California customers using Cingular Wireless.
Cellfire provides coupons from and national retailers within the user’s geographic region. To browse current offers, consumers click on their phone’s Cellfire icon and scroll to the discount of their choice. To redeem the coupon they press “Use Now” and show the coupon to the cashier. Because the application resides on the handset it eliminates the need to connect to the Internet during the transaction.
“There’s been talk for years about integrating location with mobile commerce — allowing cell phone subscribers to directly benefit from discounts and promotions at the stores they most often visit,” said J. Gerry Purdy, Ph.D., principal analyst with MobileTrax. “Now, Cellfire offers cell phone subscribers the ability to opt-in to promotional programs that provide instant, brand-name coupons in many retail store locations.”
Cellfire says tests had coupon redemption rates between 15 and 25 percent, MarketingVOX reports. Its system is based on a downloadable Java application, distributed via Motorola’s HelloMoto.com, Cingular’s mobile site and Cellfire.com; it is being promoted via an online ad campaign and is compatible with 43 phone models
Current advertisements include rent-one-get-one-free from Hollywood Video, a free appetizer at T.G.I. Friday’s, as well as discounts from retailers such as 1-800-flowers.com, Carlson Travel and other local retailers.
All sectors of the media business will suffer from the weakened economy in 2008 and 2009, with a slump in local advertising particularly hurting newspapers and local TV, according to a new projection from Goldman Sachs.
Broadcast nets will experience…
The New York Times is shuttering its International Herald Tribune site; NYTimes.com will soon host the international news normally reserved for its sister website.
The move is not about cost savings, but rather about growth, NYTimes.com general manager Vivian Schiller…
Unilever’s Vaseline set forth on an unusual research project in a small town in Alaska. Setting up a storefront, the company began giving away free bottles of lotion and asking recipients to name the person who had recommended they come…
Meet the Press, the show hosted by Tim Russert for 17 years before his death last June, is beginning to slip in ratings.
Last month, CBS’s Face the Nation pulled ahead of Meet the Press for the first time in two…
Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years, according to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, MarketingCharts writes.…
Wal-Mart and Costco reported same-store gains in September, with sales rising 2.4% and 9% respectively. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 3%, writes Retailer Daily.
Below, fiscal results from the discount retail giants:
Sales of food and…
