STORES Magazine - August 2008 - (Page 80)

NUTS AND BOLTS / MOBILE MARKETING Reach Out and Text Someone Kids getting the message about Downtown Locker Room BY REBECCA LOGAN ip-hop fans hoping to see a recent Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige concert could try winning tickets by texting messages to a contest sponsored by Downtown Locker Room. H In doing so, they agreed to become part of DTLR’s “mobile club” — which means they now receive text messages from the purveyor of urban fashion, music and footwear. The arrangement marks Downtown Locker Room’s first step into mobile marketing, a method that marketing director Jeffrey Bowden says fits well with DTLR’s grass-roots approach to attracting the business. “When you think about the technology behind it you don’t really think ‘grass roots,’” Bowden says. “But it really is because you are reaching your [customers] … in a way that they want to be reached. “Texting is viable for them because they are the ones that really created it,” Bowden says. “They are the ones that made it so big. So now I’m reaching them in a way that’s familiar” to them. Hanover, Md.-based DTLR has about 65 stores in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Depending on the region, some stores go by DTLR; the others use the full Downtown Locker Room name. Bowden says he had been looking for a mobile marketing vendor when he got a call from Brandon Davenport, cofounder and COO of Baltimore-based Vesta Mobile Solutions. Vesta Mobile Solutions has been courting a wide spectrum of potential clients, from broadcasters to colleges. “There is huge potential” for retailers, Davenport says. “It’s all about the idea that you can talk directly to your customer or your audi80 STORES / AUGUST 2008 Davenport says mobile marketing generates a 17 to 24 percent return on message — “a huge difference from e-mail.” Eighty-three percent of marketers surveyed for a recent Forrester Research report said that mobile marketing’s effectiveness will increase in the near term. Only 30 percent of mobile owners have interacted with some form of marketing on their phones, according to the report which asserts that the “lack of exposure is largely a supply-and-demand issue; as more marketers integrate mobile mechanisms into Mobile marketing campaigns, more users will generates a have a chance to derive ence at any time.” value from these tools.” Downtown Locker return on message DTLR is still working Room’s marketing is very with software that would much aimed at being visiallow the retailer to take better advantage ble in the places its customers are most of texting’s potential. Bowden hopes to likely to look: it is on Facebook. And soon be at the point where DTLR’s text you find several examples of DTLR’s messages could include a link that mobile many in-store artist appearances on club members could then use to downYouTube. Bowden even tried to get the load exclusive coupons. retailer on the recently completed HBO “It is important that you put some series “The Wire,” which would have type of call to action on there,” Davenbeen sure to create some buzz. port says. Bowden says the potential to track All about buzz And DTLR is all about buzz — anothROI is another appealing aspect of moer reason the company has started to bile marketing, but thus far he has been text. Sending messages to a mobile club judicious about the number of messages member who might be hanging out with that he has sent to mobile club members. friends can have its advantages. “If his Some new clothing lines may merit a phone clicks and he’s with a gang of message; others may not. “I’ve got the guys he may say, ‘Hey. I just got this: The buying department involved on the marnew Jordan’s are hitting tomorrow,’” keting end, making sure we decide what Bowden says. is really good information.” Used properly, texting can be more imBowden also says he will stick to the mediate and social than e-mail, he says. “code” of texters that just about any “These kids are never without their teenager can recite. “It’s got to be short, phones,” Bowden says. sweet and straight to the point,” he says. Davenport agrees. “There is a sense of “It’s ‘DTLR. $20 coupon.’ Bam.”StORES exclusivity — a sense of being important,” he says. “You are receiving inforRebecca Logan is a Fayetteville, N.C.mation that other people aren’t.” based writer. 17-24% WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - August 2008

STORES Magazine - August 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page The Lure of Free Shipping Walmart’s New Look What Shoppers Think Will Widgets Work for Wheat Bread and Wasabi? 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Store Design Industry Economics Hot 100 Retailers Concept2Watch Mobile Technology Small Store Technology Website Optimization Site Selection Mobile Payments Recycling Merchandising: Cool Sells Merchandising: Merchandising in Mexico Store Construction & Development Human Resources Loyalty Programs Mobile Marketing Loeb Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - August 2008

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