NearbyNow unveils holiday marketing strategy

By Giselle Abramovich

August 27, 2008

Scott Dunlap, CEO of NearbyNow

Shopping search engine NearbyNow has revamped its holiday mobile marketing strategy for this year.

NearbyNow was founded to simplify shopping for today’s consumers who browse on the Web or from their mobile phones but buy in-stores. By allowing shoppers to find products, brands or sales locally, the tool provides a convenient shopping experience for the consumer and an effective marketing platform for local merchants.

Mobile Marketer associate editor Giselle Abramovich interviewed Scott Dunlap, CEO of NearbyNow, Mountain View, CA to get a better sense of what the company is planning for the upcoming holiday season. NearbyNow has a few surprises in store.

Here is what Mr. Dunlap had to say:

What is NearbyNow’s strategy for the upcoming holiday season? How is it different than last year’s?
This holiday season we will be focused on folks searching online or on their phone. We will not only show them where they can buy products, but will also allow them to check the availability of items in the stores around them.

Consumers will be sent confirmations and will have the option of putting items on hold right from their mobile phones.

Last year we had this core service in about 60 retail locations and this year it is available at 800.

Also, we are launching an iPhone application for this holiday season.

The application mimics what we see shoppers do in shopping areas.

Consumers are taking pictures of products and sending them via MMS to their friends for input on what they think.

Our application will let users snap a picture and send it to friends. In return they get a message back that gives them a synopsis of what their friends thought. All of the consumers invlived in this process will have the option of locating the item in stores nearby.

What is your advice for retailers in terms of marketing during the holiday season?
Since this time last year we have learned some things. First, mobile is personal, don’t assume the equivalent of an email blast will work with the mobile consumer.

Cater to people on mobile.

Consumers who are shopping at a mall will appreciate alerts from retailers for coupons and special sales. However, someone in a movie theatre may feel promotional items are disruptive.

Because mobile is so personal, if it is possible to turn your marketing message into a personal connection the chances are the click-through will be better.

What is the typical consumer’s mindset during the holiday season and how can marketers take advantage of it?
This year is a little different than previous years.

In general, the consumer mindset during the holidays is, “I don’t know what to buy.”

This year is different because consumers also want to buy stuff and they don’t want to spend too much on gas.

Helping them locate products in their area is a good way of addressing the increasing gas prices.

The best thing a retailer can do is advertise its availability and unique and value-oriented. We already see evidence of this in our back-to-school initiatives.

What are some holiday campaigns from last year that you feel were done really well?
Our experiment with Lindt chocolate is really interesting. We sent a text message to all users of our mall application.

The call to action was to come to the Lindt store to try the new chocolate truffle free.

This saw a 28 percent response rate. We filled the store really fast and what’s interesting is that consumers did not just come in an try the free truffle.

A lot of the visitors to the store ended up buying something else.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
We are going to expand our service. We are orienting our concierge service around the holiday season to help people find stuff during the season know for giving.

This year mobile marketing has more opportunity than challenges. There are a lot more smart phones, more people with data plans and therefore a greater reach.