Promo - March 2009 - (Page 13)

The players B rian Q uinton RETAIL Smartphone Shoppers Coupons Inc. brings CPG discounts to the iPhone Apples in the produce aisle? Of course. But soon shoppers will get both groceries and coupons on their Apples— iPhones, that is—thanks to the purchase by online coupon portal Coupons.com of Grocery IQ, one of the most popular iPhone apps in the lifestyle category. The acquisition from developer Free State Labs for an undisclosed sum offers the first entry point into the mobile coupon market for Coupons Inc. To date, the company has offered printable coupons over its Web site, which receives 12 million unique visits a month for downloaded discounts from brands like General Mills, Kraft Foods and Johnson & Johnson. Grocery IQ lets users compile and share shopping lists, and comes preloaded with more than 130,000 namebrand supermarket items, customizable by product and package size. For example, a user can specify not just Heinz Tomato Ketchup, but the spicy, reduced-sugar, no-salt or fridge-door-fit varieties—and in a range of sizes from 14 oz. to 114 oz. Once the Coupons Inc. integration is complete, the new iPhone link should let users start getting brand- and locationspecific coupons based on the lists they compile and the favorites they store on the Grocery IQ app. Version 2.0 of the app will be a free upgrade; new users will pay 99 cents in the iTunes App Store. “We saw a very popular iPhone app that looked just like one we’d design for ourselves, so we acquired the assets,” says Coupons Inc. CEO Steven Boal. “It’s an example of how we think grocery couponing will develop over the next few years.” Users will have three ways to redeem the iPhone coupons at first: by displaying them at the checkout counter, by credit to their supermarket loyalty account, and by printing them from an e-mail inbox. Among its grocery retailer clients, Coupons Inc. has a relationship with Kroger, which has run tests of loyalty-card redemption Coupons Inc. will be able to integrate its of mobile coupons. CPG discounts with Coupons Inc. plans to the 130,000 name expand the Grocery IQ brands built into the iPhone Grocery IQ user base with a version for app, as seen in this Android smartphones later screen shot. this year. l P INCREMENTALITY Nope. It’s not actually a word. But it can really DRIVE your brand. Let us show you how to achieve it. DEAN WILLIAMS Director of Client Development 800-659-9439 www.marketingdrive.com MARKETING DRIVE Realize Your Brand’s Full Potential Promo / WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM / March 2009 OK to Mech. ❏ PR USA Please check ❏ OK to Mech. With Changes ❏ Need to see another layout 13 http://www.Coupons.com http://www.marketingdrive.com http://www.marketingdrive.com http://WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Promo - March 2009

Promo - March 2009 Contents Editor's Note No Lumps Sampling by Surprise Legal Check Smartphone Shoppers Taxes and Twitter New Rules of the Road Commentary In Your Face Phones and Flash Social Studies The Agency Center Resource Center Peer-to-Peer Index of Advertisers

Promo - March 2009

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