Mobile Marketing

Ridgefield, N.J. –- Samsung is taking direct aim at the burgeoning market for Apple’s iBeacon in-store marketing/messaging solution with its own new beacon-based tool called Proximity. Like iBeacon, Proximity uses Bluetooth Low Energy beacons to identify and track the location of shoppers in a store by their mobile devices and send them offers and promotions based both on their purchase history and location in the store.  

Department store retailer Belk has enlisted a hot male model to serve as a non-traditional Santa Claus at the center of a multifaceted digital initiative.

Pleasant Ridge, Mich. -- Belk has teamed with HelloWorld, a provider of rich engagement solutions, to launch Santa Baby Sweepstakes, a holiday-themed multi-channel incentive program accessible across digital and mobile channels.   

Customers at Target are being given expanded opportunities to engage with the retailer this holiday season thanks to extended hours and early access to promotional offers.

Plug and Play brings together retailers and start-ups that offer specific technology and expertise that can relieve merchants’ pain points. Chain Store Age’s Customer Disruption newletter provides a Q&A with the CEO of one of those companies in each issue. This time, the spotlight is on John McIntyre of Sightly.   What does Sightly do?  

Minneapolis --The competition for the holiday shopper continues with the news that Target Corp. is kicking off the holiday season extra early this year, with plans to offer early access to Black Friday deals for one-day only on Nov. 10, a pre-sale on Nov. 26, and a 6 p.m. store opening on Thanksgiving evening.

Recently, I participated in a strategic conference that included several sessions on how to effectively use advertising and promotion to reach moms, millennials, multiculturals and other shopper segments. Not surprisingly, significant emphasis was placed on the use of emerging digital and mobile media. But each session also reinforced that traditional media including television, radio, retail feature ads, and Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupons should not be undervalued.

New York --Facebook, You Tube, Instagram and WeChat are the most important social media platforms, according to a new report by business intelligence company L2 Inc. The company's second annual Social Platforms Report, which assesses the social investment and performance of 382 brands across eight verticals and 17 platforms, finds that Facebook is the most dominant platform.