12/13/10 by Brian Bauer | Cellit News, News | No Comments »
Cellit Brings Mobile Coupon Redemption to Android
Cellit Releases Cellit Widgit for Android
Chicago, IL, December 3, 2010– Cellit LLC, a leading provider of mobile marketing and mobile couponing solutions, announced today the release of their Widgit mobile coupon redemption technology for the Google Android platform. This new Widgit enables retailers and QSR brands the ability to redeem and track mobile coupons in real-time directly through their Android based devices, without any integration with their POS system. Cellit adds the Widgit for Android to their portfolio of mobile coupon redemption tools, including the Windows-based Widgit and the iWidgit for iOS.
“Delivering a mobile coupon code (or bar code) is just the first step in building a mobile couponing ecosystem,” said David Wachs, President of Cellit. “As a leader in mobile CRM and couponing, we have been issuing unique mobile coupon codes for years. The real hurdle has always been validation and redemption. Cellit provides multiple ways to handle this, from our open APIs to our Widgit for Windows-based POS systems. Now, we are excited to release the Widgit for Android devices. This small app allows the simple validation and redemption of mobile coupons from any Android device, making the program perfect for roving ticket takers or a mobile sales team. Furthermore, companies with antiquated POS systems, incapable of integrating with our API can now simply keep an Android tablet next to the register. This provides a cost effective, easy to implement solution.”
The Widgit for Android also includes Cellit’s mobile loyalty features, enabling the easy debiting of loyalty points for transactions directly to the customer’s account.
“We see mobile loyalty as having tremendous potential. In this day and age when the cell phone is replacing the credit card, there is no reason why the cell phone cannot also replace the loyalty card. The loyalty functions of the Widgit reduce fraud while removing the requirement for all patrons to carry a loyalty card. Now, their cell phone number becomes their loyalty number. Furthermore, as all loyalty members must sign up to the mobile program, they will opt in for additional messaging, creating a positive feedback loop. It’s incredibly easy to implement.”
The new Widgit release is immediately available for free in the Android Market. The iWidgit for iPhone and iPad is already available in the Apple App Store. Cellit also provides custom integration for proprietary POS platforms, including Micros, Agilysys, Aloha and more.
About Cellit, LLC
Headquartered in Chicago, Cellit was founded on the premise that mobile technology can be accessible to all by combining engineering expertise with world-class customer service and marketing support. Cellit develops innovative and cost-effective self-service solutions for mobile marketing, as well as custom mobile solutions for some of the world’s largest brands. With clients including Taco Bell, Subway, Zumiez, IKEA, Tribune Corporation and GPS Insight, Cellit has a reputation for delivering groundbreaking custom mobile applications in record time. More information on Cellit can be found at their web site: http://www.cellit.com.
For more information, please contact:
Brian Bauer
Director of Operations
Cellit
Tel 800.790.6597
Fax 866.856.3936
Email brian.bauer@cellit.com
Web www.cellit.com
11/08/10 by Brian Bauer | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
I’ve written before on the process a business should go through in determining whether or not a mobile application, mobile website, or sms strategy is appropriate for the specific business needs. Despite the social pressure and media focus on applications, they are not for every business. There are many aspects to consider in making the application/no application decision, not the least of which is cost and overall benefit. But I recently realized that there’s another consideration that is a by-product of the huge success of applications that has been here-fore not been addressed. That consideration is discovery.
Let’s just assume that you’ve made the decision to go ahead and build an application. You’ve carefully considered your clients needs, usage habits and put in lots of wonderful features that take advantage of the unique gizmo’s and whizbangs that only the latest HTC blah-blah-blah offers. You’ve decided on the mix of platforms that make sense to develop on, weighing penetration and available features for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows7. Several months of development later, and tens of thousands of dollars, you’re ready to make it available to the world. With one click the application is uploaded to the application store of your choice and the world is a better place.
Now what?
Your wonderful addition to productivity, entertainment or user experience now competes with tens-of-thousands or hundreds-of-thousands of other applications to be found. Unless your company is very lucky to show up on the ‘most popular’ or newest pages for a significant period of time, users will only discover your application if you 1) tell them about it, and 2) help them find it.
There are some services out there that will help your business navigate customers to the application. One I recently read about was GetJar, which provides one link that a customer can click on. When a customer does so, the service automatically detects the platform and serves up the appropriate download page for your smart phone application. I’m sure there are others, and feel free to post a link below on any that you’ve seen that would be of use.
However, in my opinion, the bigger issue is informing customers about the application. Each business has limited marketing means – if not in actual dollars that can be spent, then in meaningful touch points through which they can engage the customer base (ie – email newsletters, in-store signage, homepage space, etc). With the many messages that need to get out (Sale today! See our new products! Sign up for our loyalty club! as examples), this is just one more message that will compete for attention.
To sum it up – it’s not just enough to commit the time, energy and resources to make an application, it’s also important that a company commit the time, energy and resources to inform consumers about the application.
08/10/10 by Brian Bauer | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
I tell people I text message for a living, and they laugh uncomfortably – not sure whether I’m joking or being serious. However, it’s true: I spend all day thinking about the way people interact with their phones, and how marketers can enhance their consumer’s experience by engaging this ‘new’ medium. Then I go home, and spend the night sending messages to my friends to make social plans, my co-workers to check in on any last minute/late night projects, and yes – even my mom to find out how her flower garden is going (this week: tackling the weeds around the bed of peonies). I compare the iPhone to the Evo; how the iPad impacts the mobile landscape; whether a $5 gift certificate is enough to drive participation in a particular promotion; if a client should offer a buy-one-get-one free offer or a percent off offer – and the list goes on and on.
I’ve recently noticed a rise in opinion pieces about mobile. These articles or blog postings often start with “I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about mobile lately,” and then proceed to make some valid, but well documented and rehashed points about the industry. It’s great that marketers of all stripes, sizes and interests are looking at it and contributing to the growing field of published documents, thought-leadership pieces and best practice manuals. While I really appreciate all the interest and focus on mobile, there seems to be a race to produce and contribute. As a result quite a bit of useless chatter has been created.
Last week I twice read how mobile was at an inflection point, with each author offering differing reasons as to how mobile has reached such point. I believe inflection point is a very specific term, and was shocked to have read about it multiple times. Articles like this, written by someone professing to be an expert, lure decision makers into believing that having any mobile campaign, even if it doesn’t work, is better than nothing at all.
To read about unrealistic expectations and disillusions of such a very promising and powerful medium is especially frustrating. Marketers are spending serious portions of budgets on mobile programs, and in some cases their mobile campaigns are designed to fail from the start.
In an emerging industry like mobile, where nobody has extensive experience, the rules are being defined as we go. However, while people are mentioning that adopting mobile is at an inflection point, the same can be said for the industry from a leadership perspective. It is time that opinion leaders truly emerge into the collective forefront, and distance themselves from the chatter. It is time that organizations bless and condone speakers, and help the uneducated sift through the many individuals, organizations and groups offering their perspectives.
Such a system should encompass three main components:
- Speakers Bureau Certification Program: A semi-informal process that ensures members of the database are qualified to speak on designated subjects (each speaker will list their areas of expertise, ranging from marketing to applications, mobile ad networks, SMS, mobile web, etc), are proficient public speakers and are educated on best practices and industry rules.
- Speakers Bureau Database: An online repository of contact information for endorsed speakers sorted by areas of expertise and specialty. This resource will allow organizations either based in the Midwest, or holding meetings in the Midwest, to quickly and easily identify local speakers to participate on panels, lead sessions and educate their attendees.
- Speakers Bureau Events Listings: Any event featuring a member of the Speakers Bureau Database speaking on the subject of mobile marketing will have their appearance listed on an online calendar.
I have a proposal in front of the Heartland Mobile Council for such a bureau. I spent some time today with Michael Becker from the MMA, and he assures me that the association is working on a certification program to help designate those people with the credentials to speak effectively on the subject. It’s an effort that Cellit takes seriously, as the work doubles when we have to re-educate a client who’s been given misinformation in the past.
I text message for a living, and I know there are others out there in the same situation. You want people like us talking to you, writing articles, and contributing – not the mobile hobbyist or lobbyist.
07/05/10 by Brian Bauer | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
If you’re reading this blog, you’re either a smart young professional or a budding business owner. Time is of the essence, and you’ve got lots of things to do, mountains to climb, and success to accumulate. Sad, but true – 60% of the public (read, people like you) still have either a flip phone or a feature phone (those smart-phone wannabe’s with full keyboards). And it’s time that number changed dramatically.
Here are my five reasons why you should run out right now, regardless of when your contract comes up for renewal, and purchase a new smart phone:
1) 40% of people already have. While that’s not quite half, the rate at which people are purchasing smart phones is only increasing.
2) There are amazing productivity gains to be had from a smart phone. In addition to checking email and quickly looking at mobile websites – things like integrated calendaring, a complete address book and syncing with your desktop will help you move the ball forward. It was only recently that I stopped writing down addresses, relying on my calendar and mapping software to instantly look up my next destination.
3)Apps, Apps, and more Apps. More and more companies are finding innovative ways to integrate with a smart phone. Whether its games, Facebook, Twitter or a more substantive business application – your phone becomes a one-device connection to your personal and work life.
4) Because my mom has one. Well, not really … but certainly there are plenty of people around you that squirm when you pull the old clunker out.
5) Mobile is passing you by. The mobile world is evolving quickly, and those not participating in it will be left behind. Whether you like it or not, your customers, employees and friends are purchasing a smart phone – and being able to anticipate how they could use it will only help you grow your business.
I purchased a Blackberry Curve two years ago, and am now finding myself feeling outdated and left behind. Like you, it’s time for me to upgrade. The big question for me is Android vs. iPhone, which seems to be a personal decision for most people. So join me this holiday weekend in jumping in fully.
Page 1 of 912345»...Last » 
