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Air2Web bolsters CRM services with SAS partnership

Enterprise mobile marketing firm Air2Web is partnering with analytics software developer SAS to bolster customer relationship marketing on its AirCare platform.

The partnership will help Air2Web enterprise clients present consumers with more relevant messages by considering customer history, demographic information and a variety of other variables. The marketing firm hopes to use this partnership to improve the integration of mobile into larger multichannel campaigns.

?We chose SAS because their tools do thing things well,? said Tom Cotney, CEO of Air2Web, Atlanta. ?One is tailoring an offer that brands can send based on a consumer?s needs ? the relevancy [of SAS offers] is really high.

?The other thing is suggesting to clients, although they may use multiple channels, based on demographics and personal data, which channel you?re most responsive to,? he said. ?When they send promotions, they will be able to develop a profile that says, ?That guy is more responsive to emails or to phone calls,? or ?He?s a really big mobile user.?

?This allows [clients] to further tailor customization.?

Air2Web is a mobile technology company that creates and delivers mobile messaging campaigns to subscribers around the world.

SAS is a business analytics company whose clients include Staples, Bank of America and Verizon.

Air2Web said it is in negotiations with potential clients to take advantage of the partnership, but would not name any participants at this time.

Relevant marketing
Air2Web said its partnership with SAS will enable it to provide more relevant marketing for its clients.

?The example I give is: Comcast isn?t sending a promotion to me about broadband service if I?m already a broadband customer,? Mr. Cotney said. ?Comcast, as a client, can be assured of high conversion rates.

?Relevance means better close rates for enterprises and a better experience for the end consumer,? he said. ?We?re improving our game in the mobile marketing space with this relationship.?

The mobile marketing firm also aims to gain new business from SAS clients looking to expand into the mobile space.

?We would like to see one in five of [SAS?] customers within the next year become successful mobile users, and build their familiarity with the channel,? Mr. Cotney said. ?[SAS] is big in the financial services industry, in government, in retail ? we think here?s a lot of potential in those markets.

?We would also like to cross-pollinate some of our customer partnerships,? he said.

The company believes it is well positioned to take advantage of its existing technology partnerships to offer a more comprehensive mobile marketing package to its enterprise clients.

Mr. Cotney gave the example of Air2Web?s partnership with LivePerson, which gave the mobile marketing company the ability to integrate live mobile chat services for its enterprise partners (see story).

?This relationship gives us a great new call-to-action on promotional messaging, and if an SAS customer has determined that you?re a great target for a certain type of marketing, then when you receive it, you can say, ?Click here to chat with a live agent,?? he said.?We see mobile as the channel of immediacy.?

Mobile as classy, preferred medium
Air2Web said that the future of mobile marketing depended on the development of personalized marketing that lets consumers find the marketing messages most valuable to them without being inundated by spam.

The company believes that the future development of marketing in the medium depends on solutions that incorporate that philosophy.

?My vision of mobile is a very classy and highly preferred channel,? Mr. Cotney said. ?It?s a little bit like you?re walking down the street and someone s a little like you?re walking down the street ? when you turn around, are you going to see someone you know and you?ve done business with, and you know is going to be helpful, or are you going to see a stranger.

?Your reaction as a human being who values your privacy and who likes to use your phone as a remote control for your life is to ask if the things that are landing are relevant, personal and meaningful,? he said. ?What we think we?re positioning ourselves to offer big companies is more growth in the mobile channel, if we can all compete this way.?

Final Take
Peter Finocchiaro, editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer, New York