TimmyH
Retailers go Mobile to reach Gen Y
August 19th 2008 09:27
Mass advertising E-mails have been around for some time. Their prevalence has almost made them obsolete. But retailers are joining the mobile revolution and beginning to use text messages to capture Generation Y with sales, giveaways and even fashion tips.
E-mail is dead. "You're going to see a lot more chains get into this," said Cynthia Cohen, a Coral Gables marketing consultant who tracks teen trends. "To today's kids, texting is what the telephone was to the baby boom."
This innovation has come about when texting is at an all-time high and on the increase. But getting the language of texts will be crucial for retailers. Walking the wrong line could see them labelled “lame” in a heart beat.
But that’s the risk you run when trying to connect with a teenage market. "If customers decide you're spamming them even once too often, they won't just get angry; they will smash their cell phone into little pieces and you'll lose them as a customer forever," Andy Nulman, president of Airborne Mobile, a Montreal text message ad agency, told a group of retail executives eager to learn about the emerging medium.
Activists are outraged, saying that the intrusive practice is just going to encourage more consumerism from Generation Y, which is already wracked by eating disorders and credit card debt.
"This miniaturization of technology exposes children to unwanted commercial messages faster than society can react to slow them down," said Susan Linn, author of Consuming Kids and director of the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood
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E-mail is dead. "You're going to see a lot more chains get into this," said Cynthia Cohen, a Coral Gables marketing consultant who tracks teen trends. "To today's kids, texting is what the telephone was to the baby boom."
This innovation has come about when texting is at an all-time high and on the increase. But getting the language of texts will be crucial for retailers. Walking the wrong line could see them labelled “lame” in a heart beat.
But that’s the risk you run when trying to connect with a teenage market. "If customers decide you're spamming them even once too often, they won't just get angry; they will smash their cell phone into little pieces and you'll lose them as a customer forever," Andy Nulman, president of Airborne Mobile, a Montreal text message ad agency, told a group of retail executives eager to learn about the emerging medium.
Activists are outraged, saying that the intrusive practice is just going to encourage more consumerism from Generation Y, which is already wracked by eating disorders and credit card debt.
"This miniaturization of technology exposes children to unwanted commercial messages faster than society can react to slow them down," said Susan Linn, author of Consuming Kids and director of the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood
Really Long Link
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