Placecast is announcing a fairly significant partnership with European carrier O2 to enable geo-fence marketing campaigns for a number of brands for the carrier’s users.
Via, O2 More, an opt-in service for O2 customers; brands like Starbucks and L’Oreal will send the carrier’s users exclusive offers and information via SMS and MMS on their mobile phones when they are inside a geo-fenced area around a store or other location.
All of this is powered by Placecast’s ShopAlerts, which are location-triggered mobile text messages sent from brands to consumers. Consumers can opt-in to receiving text messages in a variety of ways—at the store, online, via text-message, mobile websites or on Facebook. Once the technology has been activated, consumers will be alerted when they are near a location that they are interested in or when the brand is offering sales and specials. ShopAlerts’ technology uses “geo-fences,” which are virtual boundaries that can be targeted via location-based marketing. Retailers can customize alerts to fit their brand and strategy.
Over 1 million O2 customers in the UK are opted-in to the service. And until now, O2 More’s messages were based on age, gender, and interests. But now Placecast has created over 1500 geo-fences around Starbucks and L’Oreal stores in the UK. For example, O2 will send an SMS alert to an opted-in users offering a 50 pence discount for its new line of coffee, VIA.
This is the first carrier partnership for Placecast, which has licensed ShopAlerts to a number of retail partners, including American Eagle Outfitters and the North Face.