Near Field Communications World » Dairy Queen

McDonalds, Arby’s, Qdoba, Dairy Queen and Dunkin’ Donuts testing Tetherball’s mobile loyalty system

Sarah Clark — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:41:22 +0000

"The results we've seen since launching our mobile rewards program in early July are greater than even our most optimistic projections," says Brent Higgins of Aztec Partners, one of Qdoba Mexican Grill's largest franchisees.

TETHERBALL: "Some of the biggest brands in the US have jumped on the mobile marketing bandwagon with us"

Fast food chains including McDonalds, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Arby's, Dairy Queen and Dunkin' Donuts are all now testing Tetherball's contactless sticker-based mobile marketing system.

Qdoba Mexican Grill has been using Tetherball to offer the Qdoba Mobile Rewards program over several holiday festivals. "The results we've seen since launching our mobile rewards program in early July are greater than even our most optimistic projections," says Brent Higgins, director of marketing for Aztec Partners, one of the largest Qdoba franchisees in the US.

"We're realizing a huge bang for our investment buck and our customers love how simple it is to get offers and save money during this difficult economy," he added. "The proof is in the numbers — redemption rates for our mobile loyalty program are averaging 16% and, incredibly, we've seen specific campaign redemption rates at our university locations as high as 40%! No matter how strong the offer, we've never seen these kinds of redemption rates with paper or online coupons. What's more, we're seeing explosive loyalty member growth and the cool thing is — once our customers join, they stay with us — our average opt out rate is less than 8%."

"The results we're achieving with Qdoba offer further validation of what we've been saying all along — mobile loyalty works — it's the way our on-the-go society likes to communicate," added Jay Highley, president and COO at Tetherball. "We've been at this for more than two years and have developed innovative solutions that consistently deliver outstanding results and eliminate fraud — and some of the biggest brands in the US have jumped on the mobile marketing bandwagon with us such as McDonalds, Arby's, Dairy Queen and Dunkin' Donuts."

"At the end of the day," says Highley, "it's all about brands reaching their target audiences in a relevant way and developing a trusted relationship in which there is a real value transfer — mobile loyalty programs do all this and more."

Consumers who sign up for Tetherball's service are issued with an RFID tag that they affix to their mobile phone. The tag is activated by the customer by texting the ID number on the tag to a control centre. Then, each time they make a purchase at a participating retailer or food outlet, they are uniquely identified at either a contactless point-of-sale terminal or a dedicated kiosk so that they can gain or redeem loyalty points.

Tetherball's back office system then also allows them to be sent targeted marketing and promotional offers based on their purchasing history, via either standard SMS text messages or via mobile coupons that are redeemable in-store.

Last month, Tetherball signed a collaboration agreement with Vivotech that will see the latter offering Tetherball technology to its entire installed base of contactless card accepting merchants. And, in September, the company announced an upgraded version of its Mobiquitous platform that includes a number of enhancements to the level of analytics data available and revealed that redemption rates of up to 50% were being experienced at some of its test sites.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

Related news:

The NFC Report: Retailers begin to seize the initiative with NFC coupons and loyalty programmes

Sarah Clark — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:17:56 +0000

Issues remain to be resolved for retailers in terms of the costs and benefits of equipping themselves to accept contactless cards. However, the ability of NFC to enable consumers to store discount coupons and loyalty cards on their phones, as well as to make payments, could change the proposition altogether.

THE NFC REPORT: A comprehensive, in-depth and international research report expected to weight in at more than 300 pages when it is published at the end of this year

With NFC, it's no longer just a case of simply improving checkout speed, it's also a means to improve the overall customer offering, to build customer loyalty and, of course, to increase spend.

Indeed, Juniper Research's latest NFC market forecast puts retailers at the heart of the expansion of NFC services, predicting that the application of NFC as a mobile retail marketing tool via coupons and smart posters will support the growth of NFC mobile payment transaction values from US$8bn in 2009 to $30bn within three years.

And Ergosum's newly published specifications and use cases, setting out how NFC could be smoothly introduced for payments, mobile coupons and loyalty card applications at the point-of-sale, should add momentum to this drive, too.

When retailers see a business opportunity, though, they are not generally slow to act. Once aware of the opportunity, they are unlikely to wait for NFC handsets to become widespread, as a rash of recent announcements of retailers testing and adopting NFC and RFID sticker-based solutions proves.

In just the last few weeks, Irish coffee chain Insomnia has signed up with Zapa for its new sticker-based loyalty programme, Airtag has signed up La Croissanterie, France's largest fast food chain, and SMS/sticker-based loyalty system supplier Taggo has been picked by a major loyalty systems provider based in Singapore, whose clients include Ikea.

In the US, MocaPay has completed a $3m funding round for its SMS based loyalty system, which the company plans to migrate to NFC in the future, MoLo Rewards launched its NFC solution at DemoFall and Tetherball, currently on test with Dairy Queen, is claiming coupon redemption rates of up to 50%. Meanwhile, Starbucks has taken a different route, launching a 2D barcode-based payments application for the iPhone.

With many of the world's largest retailers also operating their own banking services and their own MVNO services, meaning that they already have an installed base of SIMs under their own control, there's also the potential here for major retailers to create some seriously interesting new business models that could seize the initiative away from banks and mobile operators.

The Business Proposition for NFC in Retailing is the first in a series of sector-specific business cases for NFC that we are producing for The NFC Report. Full details on each of the products, services and applications mentioned above, plus others in Japan and elsewhere, will be posted on The NFC Report website in the next few days for purchasers of the report to read.

• The NFC Report is a comprehensive and definitive guide to the technology, applications, suppliers, business and market potential of near field communication around the world. Face to face and telephone research is now well under way and the report is scheduled for publication towards the end of 2009. Clients who order now qualify for a substantial pre-publication discount and are able to stay a step ahead of the game by accessing each section as it is completed on The NFC Report's private website.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

Related news:

Tetherball reports up to 50% redemption rates, adds detailed analytics to its RFID mobile marketing service

Sarah Clark — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:50:10 +0000

A new version of Tetherball's sticker-based mobile marketing service, currently on test at Dairy Queen in the US, has been released. The new version of the company's Mobiquitous platform includes a number of enhancements to the level of analytics data available.

“Brands continue to test the mobile marketing waters, however, in this economic climate it’s difficult to justify the marketing spend on mobile without having the ability to truly measure its effectiveness,” says Jay Highley, President and COO of Tetherball. “Many mobile marketing solutions providers tout the effectiveness of mobile marketing, however, few, if any, can actually provide the detailed analyses to determine if mobile marketing really works. We’ve developed a robust solution that gives mobile marketers what they need to measure with pinpoint accuracy the results of their mobile marketing programs.”

Mobiquitous 2.0 provides detailed reporting at specific campaign level, geographic level or even for a specific time of day and provides clients with a real time window that can be used to make adjustments in real time and, therefore, leverage the real time nature of mobile marketing.

“We don’t believe there is any other provider in the marketplace today that offers this level of reporting and program support," Highley added. "What’s more, combining the power of Mobiquitous 2.0 with our unique RFID-based technology, which provides delivery of offers via SMS and redemptions via in-store POS terminals, eliminates fraud and allows our clients to measure performance via real time validation. Our clients are recognizing phenomenal results – program redemption rates of up to 50% − versus 1%-2% with online and traditional paper coupons. And, just as important, they’re able to justify their mobile marketing spend to C-level decision makers, which, in this economy, isn’t always an easy task. Brands should be looking to mobile partners that have demonstrated the ability to deliver mobile marketing programs that can be measured and tracked in real time.”

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

Related news:

Zapa to seed NFC stickers and terminals to ‘strategic retailers’

Sarah Clark — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:10:22 +0000

More details of the services to be offered by the Irish start-up, which secured €2.5m in funding earlier this month, have now been revealed.

PAYMENTS: Zapa's retail marketing and loyalty system will expand to include a payments element

Zapa Technology has chosen Postilion to provide the core payments platform for its NFC sticker-based retail marketing and payments system and has revealed further details of the type of service it plans to offer.

Similar in concept to the Tetherball solution being tested by Dairy Queen in the US, Zapa's technology will allow consumers to attach a Zapa Tag to their phone and then use it to participate in multiple retail loyalty and other programmes such as prepaid payments, mobile gift cards and promotions. The system will be provided to retailers in Ireland, the UK and Europe as a white-label service "providing them with a fast and cost-effective alternative to in-house contactless payments development."

Each Zapa Tag will be able to work with several separately branded wallets on the customer's mobile phone display, showing loyalty points accrued from each participating retailer.

Retailers will need to install a dedicated Zapa terminal at the point-of-sale, with which customers can redeem an offer, access a service or collect loyalty points. In the future, though, there are plans for them to have the option of integrating Zapa technology into their existing POS technology.

To get the new system off the ground Zapa is to invest in seeding 'strategic retailers' in Ireland with terminals and will also provide their customers with Zapa Tags. "By initially focusing on the Irish market Zapa aims to ignite consumer demand, turning the desire for contactless convenience into tangible business value for retailers," says the official announcement. "By doing so, it will position Ireland as an early adopter of contactless and NFC, setting a positive example for the rest of Europe."

Features to be offered from launch include online and mobile alerts to advertise in-store promotions, mobile-based incentives to encourage foot traffic and interactive customer loyalty programmes tailored to individual consumer spending patterns.

"Contactless is still a relatively new concept for most retailers so it was important to provide them with the assurance that it is powered by Postilion's high performing, secure payments platform," says John Nagle, CEO at Zapa Technology.

"Postilion offers us one of the most flexible infrastructures available, enabling us to add new payment services quickly and easily," he added. "This will ensure that we can support the future demands of our retail customers, whether they adopt standalone or integrated POS systems. Postilion also offers superior reporting that delivers the type of customer intelligence that will help our retailers evolve customized services to target, attract, and retain consumers."

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

Related news:

Demand for mobile payments at the point of sale drives creative solutions to lack of NFC handsets

Sarah Clark — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:24:51 +0000

OPINION: The question of how to begin offering mass market NFC services when inexpensive NFC phones are still some time away is finally beginning to resolve itself.

The answer for organisations looking to launch NFC-like services to large numbers of customers now looks set to be a dual solution approach: Make NFC phones available to early adopters once they become widespread later this year, and employ one of several possible interim solutions to enable everyone else to participate in your service right away — albeit less elegantly but at little or no cost.

Depending on the kind of service you want to offer from launch, options could include the simple RFID stickers being tested by Dairy Queen, a standard prepaid card linked to a mobile wallet, as launched this week by Canada's top mobile operators, or a more sophisticated sticker incorporating contactless card functionality.

Alternatively — or as well — one of the NFC/Bluetooth solutions that enables any Bluetooth-equipped phone to act as an NFC device could be offered. Options here include MicroSD card based solutions, as offered by Cell Idea and Tyfone, and Twinlinx's My-Max sticker, which has caught the eye of Bouygues Telecom. Or you could offer a separate device, such as the TazCard or With Me.

Whichever option is taken, though, the important lesson to be learned from the latest mobile payment developments is that the road to NFC doesn't necessarily have to involve an NFC phone.

Sarah Clark, Editor

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

Related news:

Dairy Queen tests stickers for targeted mobile coupon campaigns

Sarah Clark — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:09:09 +0000

"Tetherball's sticker-based mobile marketing service lets us provide great offers to our customers in a fun and easy way," says the desserts and fast food restaurant chain.

STICKY TREATS: Dairy Queen is trying out a sticker-based marketing programme

Mobile loyalty and rewards specialist Tetherball has officially launched its contactless sticker-based loyalty and marketing solution with a trial at the Rochester, Indiana branch of the 5,700 strong International Dairy Queen fast food and desserts chain.

Consumers who sign up for the service are issued with a Tetherball Tag. They affix the tag to their mobile phone and then activate it by texting the ID number on the tag to a control centre. Then, each time they make a purchase at a participating retailer or food outlet, they are uniquely identified at either a contactless point-of-sale terminal supplied by Vivotech or a dedicated kiosk so that they can gain or redeem loyalty points.

Tetherball also provides customers with a real time web-based reporting system called Mobiquitous that delivers instant, detailed analysis of coupon redemption rates and the overall performance of the programme. As well as more standard coupons and discounts, this also allows short term offers to be created — such as a discount on purchases made between 4pm and 6pm that day — based on current trading conditions.

"Mobile marketers have been struggling to develop a solution that not only provides an easy method to deliver targeted offers to mobile users, but allows them to truly measure the return on their investment," says Jay Highley, president and COO of Tetherball. "Our new technology solution does just that in a radically simple way.”

"Mass adoption of mobile marketing using barcoded coupons just hasn't happened because it's far too complicated with a plethora of technical and user issues at the point of redemption," Highley added. "Our solution doesn't use mobile coupons with barcodes, or for that matter, require any type of mobile screen visuals to redeem offers. Most important, our RFID‐based solution, which works on any mobile phone, eliminates fraud and allows our clients to measure the performance of their campaigns with pinpoint accuracy via real time validation and reporting."

"We are a big believer in the future of mobile marketing and are very excited to be partnering with Tetherball," says International Dairy Queen's Jamie Guse. "Through their innovative RFID‐based Mobile Loyalty Program we are able to provide great offers to our customers in a fun and easy way while precisely measuring the effectiveness of our Dairy Queen Mobile Rewards Program.”

International Dairy Queen franchisee Dave Reasner has been working with Tetherball over the last two years to refine the concept. "Due to the success of our program, we now average over 900 members per store and continue to see solid growth in membership and redemption rates which is making a measurable difference in our year over year traffic and revenue," he explained. "Tetherball's hands‐on approach made getting started and optimising my programs really simple and affordable. Most important their programs work."

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

Related news: