When geo-social games — those contests on mobile devices that let users check in and become “mayors” of their favorite places — first attracted notice, marketers were understandably cool. After all, a loyalty promotion that only hands out badges or a top prize to one player at a time is of limited value, worth perhaps a free order of fries or a coffee drink, but not much more.

But after years of playing for funsies, users are now starting to turn those check-ins into cash-ins. Geo-social game technology is maturing, and some marketers are feeling confident enough to offer substantial rewards not just for the top check-ins but for anyone who walks in, takes out a smartphone and raises a digital hand.

For example, 50 AT&T retail stores in four Midwestern states have been piloting a promotion with Boston-based SCVNGR that lets users come in and complete in-store challenges such as posting pictures to Facebook and scanning QR codes. Each behavior earns points, and AT&T is redeeming those points for some valuable rewards. For example, the early portion of the pilot, which launched in late August, held out a $50 rebate for Samsung’s new Captivate phone to players who accrued 15 points and unlocked that reward.

Seth Priebatsch, founder and CEO of Boston-based SCVNGR, says emphasizing challenges rather than mere check-ins makes the platform more flexible and dynamic both for players and for marketers who might want to use it. Challenges also cut down on “fake-ins,” bogus check-ins from the curb.

And rewards engage consumers more than rebates handed out, Priebatsch says. “Coupons have no value beyond the economic impact. The consumer gets a dollar of happiness, but the business loses a dollar; it’s a zero-sum game. But when you deliver an incentive through a reward won in a game, the emotional value is 5x or 10x.”

Tacos and Twofers In the same timeframe on the West Coast, Virgin America put geo-social mobile games to the test with a promotion for its new non-stop routes from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Mexico. For four midday hours on Aug. 27, the airline offered users of the Loopt Star iPhone app a chance to check in at one of four locations — airports in Los Angeles and San Francisco and at two taco trucks centrally parked in those cities — and claim two-for-one flights to Mexico, at fares starting at $129 per seat.

Virgin didn’t have complete stats at press time, but said that the San Francisco truck location saw about 1,300 check-ins and that 80% of those received an e-mail with an access code for the offer. Officially, those users have 30 days to take up the offer and book flights. But according to Jill Fletcher, social media and communications manager for Virgin America, the company is already crediting the promotion with creating the fifth highest revenue day in its history.

“Food trucks are hip right now, and a geo-location app like Loopt Star was a fun way to emphasize a new physical presence,” Fletcher says. “The Virgin brand is known for doing slightly crazy, funny things, and we like to uphold that reputation and surprise and delight people when we can.”

TIP:

REWARDS ARE GREAT, BUT DON’T SKIMP ON THE PLAY VALUE IN LOCATION-BASED SOCIAL GAMES.

While geo-demographic data can play a major role in a targeted marketing program, its misapplication can cause poor targeting decisions and a waste of financial resources.

To effectively incorporate geo-demographics into your company’s targeting, it’s important to understand what this data is, its advantages and disadvantages compared with other data, and the ways direct marketers have successfully applied it.

The Data Landscape

There are several types of data available to DMers. One is behavioral, which defines the relationships that you have with your customers and inquirers. Examples include:

• Gross demand history, such as orders and items.

• Post-demand history, including returns, exchanges and allowances.

• Promotional history, such as mail, e-mail, outbound telemarketing and personal visits by field salespeople.

• Customer service history, including complaints about delays in the resolution of back orders and damage to merchandise during shipping.

Another type of data is overlay demographics. Some examples:

• Age, measures of income and wealth, presence of children, marital status, and race and ethnicity.

• Interests, such as golfing, skiing, crafts and reading.

• Life stages, such as families with young children and empty nesters.

• Dwelling information, such as owner vs. renter, multifamily vs. single-family residences, and urban vs. suburban vs. rural.

There are two basic permutations of overlay demographics. The first is individual/household-level data. As its name suggests, this information describes individuals and households. The second is geo-demographics, or data specific to units of geography.

An important source of geo-demographic data is the several hundred elements that come directly from the 2000 U.S. census. This data is available for the 211,827 block groups and 66,438 census tracts that were defined for the census report. Also, some data-enhancement companies have taken their proprietary pools of individual/household-level data and aggregated them to block groups and census tracts.

Geo-demographic data also is available in postal units such as ZIP codes, carrier routes and ZIP+4 codes. There are about 43,000 ZIP codes and 603,000 carrier routes in the United States, as well as tens of millions of ZIP+4s. Also, some of the data-enhancement companies have translated both the census data and their own individual/household data into postal units.

It’s common to aggregate geo-demographic data into

Gone are the days when shopping malls were merely places to buy the latest CDs or trend-setting sneakers. Across the country, shopping centers are reinventing themselves as “the place to be” for teens, kids and their parents.

“Nowadays malls have almost become the new community center,” says Lynne Kadela, senior customer marketing manager, Coca-Cola North America.

Among the largest mall chain owners, the Simon Property Group, General Growth Properties, The Mills Corp. and Rouse Co. Properties held a multitude of events targeting teens, children and their parents throughout 2003, and several more are in development for 2004.

“With event marketing you get to talk to customers one-on-one and communicate with them in a way that is very different from other types of marketing,” says Howard Horowitz, president, NY-based Elite Marketing, an agency specializing in credit card event marketing. “Malls give companies the ability to produce volume with very little lead time and the ability to target specific products to specific regions of the country,” points out Simon senior VP-business development, Mikael Thygesen.

Simon is planning programs that will hit all target segments in 2004, ranging from women ages 25 to 50, to men, who make up 39% of Simon visitors. Additional programs currently in development include platforms aimed at teens, boomers, entertainment, holiday and fitness.

Mall rats

Topping Simon’s list: the Sprite-sponsored DTour Live will return in time for the back-to-school season.

The 2003 DTour was an 11-week, 13-market road show featured at 25 Simon locations across the country. Via the tour, major brands were able to reach over 19,000 teens. Attendees received “swag bags” filled with store coupons and sponsor samples from 24 youth-oriented retailers including Aeropostale, Wet Seal, Gadzooks, Finish Line, Rave, Pac Sun, Claire’s Boutique, Foot Locker and Steve Madden.

The tour showcased live performances from teen-friendly entertainers Lil’ Mo and 3LW, as well as interactive competitions, contests and challenges attracting between 1,500 to 4,000 kids per mall. Boston-based Alloy Marketing and Promotions (AMP) helped to develop the national tour. “We pride ourselves on coming up with creative events,” says Tom Schneider, CMO of AMP. “It’s all about getting people closer to the cash register by providing retailtainment, keeping people there longer by entertaining them.”

Malls have become synonymous with teenagers, as they are one of the few places that adolescents are encouraged to congregate. “Malls are such social centers for teens — they can touch and feel and experience your brand,” says Danielle Bertarelli, director of marketing and public affairs for Nickelodeon’s The N network. Simon research shows that teens visit Simon malls 325 million times a year and spend an average of $50 per visit.

A combination of factors goes into determining ROI for mall events, including positive consumer and customer feedback, added value to the consumer, media value and impressions, increased mall traffic and vending sales. “Malls are great venues for entertainment events, but they are also good for guerrilla marketing in regards to sampling, conducting market research or conducting a special promotion with coupons,” Kadela concludes.

Also targeting the teen audience, The Real Access Mall Tour kicked off in December hitting both General Growth Property and Simon malls. According to Bertarelli, “With the natural teen footfall, we are able to do an event and situate it outside of teen-targeted stores. Malls also offer a controlled environment where weather is not a deciding factor.”

The tour provided an interactive Hollywood experience promoting The N and its new series Real Access. “Event marketing does something really big to raise brand awareness,” comments Matt Britton, executive VP-sales and marketing for NY-based Mr. Youth, which handles marketing for the tour.

Brands can easily reach teens in a mall environment since “the teen market has a lot of boundaries. A marketer can’t set up a tour easily within the property of a high school,” explains Britton. “There is a need to find a venue where teens as a whole aggregate as a community — the easiest way to touch them is in a mall.”

Each day, between 1,000 and 5,000 visitors enjoyed celebrity look-a-likes, massages, hairstyling, make-up application and a trivia wheel. ROI measurement is important for The N in planning future mall events. “We measure ROI in different ways: by the number of premiums we give out and by looking at photos to see the numbers of kids and the demographic. We also train the local staff to ask kids questions and listen carefully to their responses,” says Bertarelli. “Feedback is very important; we want to know what was most popular and what worked.”

Family destinations

The Arlington, VA-based Mills Corp. has conducted onsite research with consumer focus groups in order to find out which programs add value to the shopping experience. “Nothing we do is cookie cutter,” says Petra Maruca, VP-partnership marketing.

Recently St. Louis Mills partnered up with PBS Kids to launch the first-ever PBS Kids Backyard. The 3,000 square-foot permanent playground opened in November, in a PBS-branded shopping district, dubbed the PBS Kids Neighborhood, which features child-friendly stores and restaurants.

“In creating the destination, the goal was to drive incremental traffic and convert it to sales for specific retailers in the area,” Maruca says.

The Backyard features full-sized play structures, is equipped with computer stations and includes a small theater for PBS character events. “It’s a great way to connect with the brand in a community center like The Mills,” says Judy Harris, executive VP-PBS business and development.

Over 200,000 parents and children attended the opening weekend ceremonies. Attendance was measured by vehicular and consumer traffic.

PBS and Mills plan to launch PBS Backyards in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and two other unspecified locations.

The Lego Co. joined forces with The Mills for an interactive holiday event to benefit Habitat for Humanity International. All 26 Mills malls featured “Build an Ornament” centers, strategically positioned near Santa’s Village. For a suggested donation of $1, children created ornaments out of Lego elements to be tagged with their names and ages and hung on a tree throughout the holiday season. In addition, kids received Lego coupons while sitting on Santa’s lap to use at Lego kiosks featured at 15 Mills properties.

The companies partnered to produce an integrated national sweeps featuring a grand-prize vacation including airfare to Legoland Park in Carlsbad, CA. The campaign reached more than one million households online at mall Web sites, at Mills properties and through direct mail. “We agreed with Mills to help each other out. Lego helped by supplying the Legoland Park for a sweepstakes prize and Mills got an airline to participate. This way everybody wins,” says William Higgins, spokesperson for The Lego Co.

Looking ahead, Lego plans to bring its image to malls across the country in 2004. “Once you get people on board, the next year gets better and can spin off to other events,” concludes Higgins.

Also exhibiting kid’s toys for the holiday season, Nintendo kicked off the Who are You? Mall Tour in 12 markets around the country in October showcasing new games. “It’s up to us to make sure that our footprint is spectacular,” explains Robert Matthews, director of advertising and promotions for Nintendo. “We know that there’s a lot going on during the holidays so we try to engage consumers on a one-on-one level and allow them to interact with our product and character franchises.” Interactive gaming stations were set up at Lakeside Mall in Minneapolis, and Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, both Simon and Rouse Co. properties.

“We want an ongoing relationship with consumers, an interactive experience,” explains Brad Bryen, president of New York-based US Concepts, which handles marketing for the tour. Nintendo products were not sold on site, although, the event featured giveaways and premium items.

More than 4,000 people per day passed through the malls during the tour, which lasted through December. “We weren’t relying on just ambient traffic, we were definitely driving traffic to the mall,” says Bryen. “Malls are great environments for reaching a particular target; when used correctly they can be a great partner.”

There’s an old joke in the real estate industry: The three most important elements of a property sale are location, location and location.

Panelists from three firms offered differing views on where to locate databases in a session at the National Center for Database Marketing conference in Chicago this past July.

Choosing an Outside Vendor

In 1994 General Electric Service Management Inc. (GESM) had a legacy system that couldn’t handle most analytic or data hygiene functions.

When a customer complained that he had received 40 solicitations in a single day’s mail, and the division couldn’t plumb the database to figure out why, GESM president Jill Miller-Perrin decided to outsource the file.

In addition to savings from improved deduplication, access to data for overlays, and the abilities to mine data and capitalize on discounts for large mailings, an outside vendor offered potential stability in its labor force.

That’s no small advantage.

The GESM database used software with a steep learning curve – and so, valuable knowledge was lost with every programmer turnover.

But the transition, while netting a 35% cost savings in ongoing expenses, turned out to be quite cumbersome. What at first was considered to be a 10-month process beginning in mid-1994 was not completed until more than two years later, in October 1996.

Staying In-House

In contrast, for Airtouch Cellular the flexibility of an in-house system proved the decisive element in its choice.

The company was more or less willing to accept a higher initial cost to set up its database in-house in anticipation of lower maintenance expenses over the long term.

To minimize potential conflicts with information technology and marketing departments, Airtouch united members of its IT group and business teams and placed the project’s budget and goals in the hands of one in-house project manager: Todd Forsythe, the firm’s director of corporate database marketing.

Forsythe said this move aligned two sectors that might have been working at cross purposes; helped define and manage the scope of what was expected from the project; and facilitated the decision-making process.

He also noted the lack of talent that’s available to firms such as Airtouch: Support staff for his database is at only 80% of its capability.

“In the world of real-time marketing, marketing organizations need to develop [their data tools] in-house,” he said.

Given it all to do again, he’d outsource the database, build up the systems knowledge within Airtouch and gradually move key components into the company.

Such a move would have allowed Airtouch to focus both on learning how to best take advantage of the database, and on recruiting and retaining support staff.

According to Ken Brindley, a senior associate at Acxiom Corp., up until three or four years ago any database Acxiom built for a client would have been proprietary.

Brindley indicated the company is now moving toward open systems, and can easily relocate a server to a particular firm’s headquarters.

While 90% of those expressing interest in moving their server back from Acxiom do not do so, “we are starting to hear more about people wanting to do [it],” he claimed.

Brindley also lauded Miller-Perrin’s decision to gradually implement GESM’s new capabilities, instead of setting up a system loaded with bells and whistles.

“You can’t eat the elephant in one bite,” he said.