Knovolo Mobile Marketing Reviews
REI’s QR Code Store Locator
3 Comments
Introduction
This QR Code leads to REI's Mobile Store Locator page
Most of us in the Great Northwest have some degree of an outdoorsy spirit, and for those of us who actually get out in nature on occasion, REI is an established starting point for gear and advice.
On the back of last month’s REI magazine, we were thrilled to find – next to some “Winter Boots for Family Fun” – a QR code which was there to help you locate the REI store nearest you. I eagerly grabbed my Android, launched my barcode scanner app, and scanned the QR code to “watch the magic happen”, as they put it. I wasn’t entirely disappointed.
The Basics
| Company | REI |
| Call to Action | Scan this QR code to find the REI store nearest you (Found on the back of the 2010 REI Winter Sale Memeber Magazine) |
| Date | Winter 2010 |
| Description | This campaign uses a QR code to point mobile phone users to a REI store-locator page |
| Mobile Technologies Used | QR code, mobile web, device detection |
Mobile Technology Rating
| QR code
|
| First off, props to REI for embracing mobile technology (as they have before) – we have pretty high expectations since this isn’t REI’s first forray into the mobile arena. Initially, we weren’t disappointed! The QR code points to a mobile-optimized webpage (many campaigns forget the painfully obvious point that the webpage needs to look good on mobile devices since mobile devices will be scanning the QR code) which looked pretty good on the Android and Windows Mobile devices we tested on. |
| Device Detection
|
 Webpage without Device Detection |
| Mobile Web
|
| The sope of this review doesn’t cover the entire mobiel REI site, but the page that the QR code takes you to certainly looked good on mobile devices and functioned as it was supposed to. A search for “seattle” pulled up all of the REI stores in the Greater Seattle Area. However, who wants to type in their location into a GPS-enabled smartphone? |
| GPS
|
| This is where we started to get disappointed with the experience. The mobile webpage looked good, but the store locator required that we search by zip code or city. Why can’t I share my location so that m.rei.com can tell me that their Seattle flagship store is just three blocks away from where I’m standing? This is 2010, folks. (Almost 2011.) We shouldn’t need to type in the city or zip code of where we’re standing to search for businesses on smartphones. |
Final Rating: 3 stars
REI is definitely on the right track here, and this experience would have earned 5 stars if it happened in 2008. However, almost all smartphones now have GPS, and this is feature that searchers on mobile smartphones expect. For now, I’ll use Google to find REI from my phone.
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Calvin Klein: Knovolo Mobile Marketing Review
Comments Off on Calvin Klein: Knovolo Mobile Marketing Review
Introduction
Calvin Klein's QR Code
Calvin Klein implemented a mobile campaign this summer with QR codes on billboards in New York and Los Angeles.
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The Basics
| Company | Calvin Klein |
| Date | Summer 2010 |
| Description | This campaign used large QR codes to promote Calvin Klein jeans. |
| Mobile Services Provider | Ace Group |
| Location(s) | NY City, LA |
| Mobile Technologies Used | QR Code, Mobile Web, Mobile Video |
| Company Response | “It was very successful and you will see QR codes continue to be integrated into our upcoming campaigns,” said Jennifer Crawford, vice president of corporate communications at Calvin Klein, New York.” Jennifer Crawford: VP of corporate communications at Calvin Klein |
| More Information: | Mobile Marketer |
Mobile Technology Rating
| QR Code
|
| The QR codes points to a mobile-optimized site, which worked well on all of our testing devices. At this point, many marketers are smart to use QR codes, but they often direct mobile users to websites that aren’t mobile-optimized. On a side note, while the use of QR codes continues to grow, many mobile phone users (perhaps around 60% in America) don’t have phones capable of running the proper software, and they simply can’t interact with this ad. To be the most inclusive, there should also be an SMS call-to-action. |
| Mobile Web
|
| Although the mobile website is optimized for mobile, the content is lacking. There are simply two social icons and a video. It’d be nice to see some pictures of models wearing jeans (perhaps screenshots from video), and information about nearby Calvin Klein stores. However, the domain, ckj.mobi, is great the mobile. |
| Mobile Video
|
| This video played on most smartphones that we tested, but not on my T-Mobile MyTouch (Android 2.0). On other devices, it usually took a long time to load, and stopped often for buffering. There was no pause button, so you couldn’t stop it from playing and actually let it buffer. |
| Social Networks
|
| The inclusion of social network icons (Facebook and Twitter) is 100% amazing and definitely the way to go. However, these two icons don’t point to their respective CKJ social profiles, but rather they act as a “Like This” button and point to a page that prompts you to share the link. To share the link on either network, you have to already be logged in from your phone, and if you’re not logged in (or if you don’t have an account – gasp!) you can’t see anything. I’d rather click on the F icon and be taken to the Facebook profile (same thing for Twitter) whether or not I’m logged in. |
| Device Detection
|
| If you hit ckj.mobi from a computer, the Calvin Klein should recognize that you’re not on a mobile device and send you to the desktop website www.calvinklein.com. Similarly, if a mobile user ends up on www.calvinklein.com, that site should automatically redirect to the mobile site, which it doesn’t. |
| mCommerce
|
| There is a lot of opportunity here for CKJ to have used Mobile Commerce. From the mobile website, one should be able to – at the very minimum – locate the nearest CK store based on GPS or zip code. It also should be assumed that consumers might be interested in browsing through a mobile store after watching the video. As a bonus, the mobile user should be able to buy and order from the comfort of their mobile phone, just like they can do from a computer. |
Final Rating
Although Calvin Klein and Ace Group did a great job with the QR Code and mobile-optimized website, the mobile video and social network buttons were troublesome, while mCommerce and device detection weren’t present at all. This mobile campaign was a start in the right direction, but is still lacking.
Tags: mCommerce, Mobile Marketing, mobile video, QR Codes
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