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August 20, 2008
Lights! Camera! Vote! Polls are Open to Vote for Favorite Mario, Make Me a Model Finalist
Five beauties ruled the runway and strutted their stuff into a final spot in Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas’ “Mario, Make Me a Model” competition. Now it’s time for the public to help one of them to the top.
Voters can influence Mario’s winning choice by selecting their favorite finalist at www.mariomakemeamodel.com or through text message. From the “Mario, Make Me a Model” site, voters can learn more about the contestants, watch event videos and view photos before placing their vote. To vote by cell phone, simply text 89074 using one of the five model codes:
*Standard text messaging rates apply.
• Mario1 - Stephanie
• Mario2 - Josalyn
• Mario3 - Kelly
• Mario4 - Noelle
• Mario5 - Ursula
Voters will be rewarded with a complimentary New Impressions Makeup session at Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas and a $10 certificate towards any skincare or makeup purchase. This offer, valued at $50, expires October 31, 2008.
One of the five finalists will be selected as the winning model after the final judging on the runway Oct. 3 at Fashion Focus Chicago. The winner of “Mario, Make me a Model” will receive a five-night trip for two to Mexico’s Riviera Maya through Apple Vacations plus additional prizes from Mario Tricoci and Equinox Fitness Clubs. All of the finalists also will be considered for a modeling contract with Ford Models and a Mario Tricoci trend photo shoot.
Mario, Make Me a Model’s text to vote service is made possible by Image Architecture, an integrated mobile marketing company based in Chicago.
About Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas
Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas, voted Chicago’s best hair salon by Allure magazine and selected by Chicagoans in a FOX News poll as the number one spa in Chicago, operates 20 Mario Tricoci Hair Salon & Day Spa locations and Mario Tricoci Too Hair Salons in Illinois, Kansas and Ohio. Also named one of the top salons and spas in Columbus, Ohio, Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas have been leaders in luxury hair styling and spa services for 30 years. The company offers an extensive menu of the best in hair, skin and body care, as well as custom make-up and nail services. Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas maintains a highly-skilled team and remains the leader in personal care services and treatments. For more information please visit www.tricoci.com . Make appointments online or by calling 1-800-TRICOCI (1-800-874-2624).
July 14, 2008
Digital Upgrade: Arlington Park to Offer Text Message Updates to Customers
Arlington Park has teamed up with Chicago-based Image Architecture to begin providing its valued customers with a convenient way of informing them of news, promotions, and wagering pool carryovers via text message.
“Text messaging offers the ability for Arlington Park to communicate instantly with its customers,” said Wesley Ward, marketing and advertising manager at Arlington. “Additionally,” Wesley added, “mass messaging has proved extremely useful and effective in reaching a whole new generation of racing fans and track customers.” To subscribe, customers will simply need to respond to a text message offer by sending a notification text message to 30364 acknowledging that the service is desired.
Once a customer has subscribed, they will receive weekly text messages with the most recent information, perks, and pre-wagering money pools for the next day’s races, called “carryovers.”
When wagers are placed on a specific bet on a specific race, but no one holds a winning ticket at the conclusion of the race, the amount wagered carries over to the following day, making the next day’s possible winnings even larger! With the new $1 Super High Five wagering introduced this season, carryovers are frequent and can grow exponentially, offering players the chance at some serious bang for just a buck.
Image Architecture is a new, results-focused mobile messaging company that supplies its clients with the ability to expand their range of customers and the extent customer engagement. With results reflective of a big company and dedication and attention to clients reflective of a small company, Image Architecture truly offers a quality service. While speaking specifically of Arlington Park’s utilization of his services, Eric Lazar, Image Architecture’s founder, said, “With mobile marketing, consumers are giving permission for an advertiser to slip a hand into their pocket or purse and make it vibrate, and there isn’t a medium out there that gets any more personal than that. Arlington Park’s mobile strategy considers both the casual fan and family for the in-venue entertainment value and the Core-Better with it’s up to the minute racing alerts.” He added that, “because Arlington Park’s mobile messaging campaign is smartly focused and compelling in nature, both of the target audience segments are responding favorably by seeking out a continued mobile dialog with the Park.”
Text messaging customers has quickly become a powerful and effective tool for businesses with a virtually bottomless market of frequent users. Arlington Park is once again at the forefront of the Thoroughbred racing industry by being the first track in Illinois to provide this unique service to their customers.
June 25, 2008
ESW Partners Selects Image Architecture to Launch a Mobile Text Marketing Campaign for Taco Bell
The Chicago Taco Bell Restaurant Association has chosen Image Architecture, a local advertising and marketing agency, to launch a mobile text campaign for Taco Bell's 'Concert Series VIP Ticket Sweepstakes'. Developed by the association's Chicago based advertising agency, ESW Partners, the innovative and forward thinking account team sought to integrate a mobile component into the program. With over 150 restaurants in the greater Chicago area, the contest will encourage customers to text in for a chance to win VIP tickets to some of the most highly anticipated and premier concerts of the season. The mobile entry component will be promoted through both in-store signage and radio announcements and run through the end of October 2008.
For more information about Your Local Chicago area Taco Bell visit www.MyLocalTacoBell.com.
June 06, 2008
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June 06, 2008
CS Magazine: Shop Chicago Goes Wireless With New Mobile Text Messaging
SHOP Chicago, CS’s bi-annual guide to the city’s elite and independently owned shops and boutiques, is going wireless!
CS has teamed up with Chicago-based Image Architecture on a mobile marketing initiative, combining technology with fashion by allowing consumers to instantaneously receive offers and promotions via text message from the boutiques within the pages of SHOP Chicago.
Readers can receive these special offers and promotions from the chic boutiques within the June edition of SHOP by typing 84681 into the address line of a new text message, along with the store’s corresponding code into the body of the message. This code can be found on the bottom of the page within the SHOP Chicago guide, available in the June edition of CS. A message containing a special offer, discount, trunk show invite or other promotion will return from the store to directly to the phone, and the readers can redeem these offers by bringing their mobile phone into the store and showing the clerk the text message. Each store has a unique offer, ranging from discounts to tax-free shopping and exclusive one-on-one appointments for in-store shopping.
We hope you enjoy SHOP Chicago in this month’s June issue of CS.
June 02, 2008
Cell This House: @properties Introduces Text Messaging For Listing Info
Chicago-based real estate brokerage firm @properties has partnered with Chicago-based Image Architecture on a mobile-marketing initiative that will allow consumers to instantaneously receive information on @properties’ listings, via text messaging. @properties is utilizing technology from Cellit Mobile Marketing to provide this platform and is the first brokerage firm in the city of Chicago to do so on a company-wide scale.
With the new program, each @properties listing will be assigned a code, which will be displayed on all corresponding advertising including Web sites, signage and newspaper ads. Consumers can text message that code to @properties’ main number, 30364, and within ten seconds, receive more detailed property information, interior photos and, if applicable, a short video. Users can then scroll over the listing agent’s e-mail address or phone number to directly contact that agent to set up a showing or request more information. The Cellit platform can detect the sender’s phone type and service provider to ensure the message arrives in the proper format.
“For-sale signs are still among the top generators of property-specific inquiries, but if potential buyers forget to write down the address or are too busy to call the number on the sign, they often just forget about that home altogether,” said Thaddeus Wong, co-founder and co-principal of @properties. “Now, people will be able to get answers on the spot. Plus, they can opt to have full listing information emailed to them.”
Beginning in May, every new @properties listing will be assigned a corresponding text code. Some current listings also will be assigned a code retroactively.
Consumers will also be given the option to receive quarterly updates on the state of the market from @properties via text message.
“Text messaging has grown by more than 300 percent since 2005, and more people have cell phones than Internet access,” said Eric Lazar, partner and founder of Image Architecture. “@properties will be able to take advantage of the growing popularity of text messaging to benefit their clients.”
About @properties:
@properties is the largest, independently-owned real estate brokerage firm in Chicago, one of Chicago’s fastest-growing companies, and Chicago’s leading firm for sales and marketing of new-construction and conversion developments. The company has more than 650 agents in five offices throughout the city: Bucktown, Lincoln Park, River North, Streeterville and Lakeview. For more information, visit www.atproperties.com.
April 14, 2008
Advertisers eyeing your cell phone
With a potential audience of 255 million Americans, it's no wonder advertisers want to get their hands on your cell phone
By Wailin Wong
Tribune reporter
For many of the 255 million Americans with cell phones, the gadgets are indispensable for everything from tracking appointments to taking photographs to telling time. Now, advertisers want their piece of the mobile phone.
As consumers increasingly use their handsets to browse the Web, it's no wonder that advertisers see mobile screens as valuable turf. In the U.S., cell phones haven't yet proved to be the same kind of advertising bonanza as the Internet, mostly because of the wireless industry's more controlled nature and the slower adoption of text messaging and mobile Web services.
But momentum is gradually building, especially behind text-based marketing campaigns.
According to research firm eMarketer, worldwide spending on mobile advertising totaled $2.7 billion last year and is expected to hit $4.6 billion in 2008, rising to $19.1 billion by 2012. In contrast, eMarketer projects that Internet advertising in the U.S. alone will reach $25.9 billion this year.
"Consumers are becoming more receptive to using wireless data on their device," said Laura Marriott, president of the Mobile Marketing Association, which has rebuilt its membership in the last several years after a decline in 2002. "[But] I think there's mixed feelings in regards to receiving advertising-related messages."
Mobile advertising takes many forms. Banner ads run on the Web pages displayed in cell phone browsers, and consumers can either click on those ads or "click to call" a phone number associated with the promotion. Companies can push so-called premium content such as ring tones and wallpapers, often associated with entertainment brands.
Some industry observers credit reality television hit " American Idol" with introducing mobile interaction to a wide audience when it debuted in 2002, encouraging viewers to cast votes via text message.
There is also message-based marketing, where consumers may be strolling by a billboard or watching a television commercial that encourages them to text a code to a number to receive a coupon or enter a sweepstakes. According to eMarketer, this ad category is the largest by far for mobile phones and will reach $4.2 billion in 2008.
This month, local retailer Sam's Wine and Spirits launched a text-based campaign in which consumers can text a keyword to a number to get a store coupon. The numbers will be listed on traditional print ads as well as on the bottom of receipts and on in-store signs. The campaign also allows customers to sign up for future communication, such as wine tips, notifications for in-store tastings and more discounts.
"It's absolutely pinpoint advertising," said Brian Rosen, chief executive of Sam's Wine and Spirits, who said his stores have been getting about 10 visits a day from customers bearing the mobile coupons. "I don't know of a more direct way, unless I'm speaking right in their ear and whispering."
Texting explosion
In the U.S., wireless customers typically pay for text messages they receive. This model has made text-related promotions slower to catch on. But texting is rapidly becoming a routine part of cell phone communication, especially among younger consumers. CTIA, the wireless industry trade association, reported an average 1.6 billion messages per day in December, more than double the traffic of a year earlier.
In addition, operators are encouraging their subscribers to sign up for packages that allow a certain number of messages or unlimited texting for a flat monthly rate.
Even with texting costs falling, most advertisers recognize that cell phone users don't want to be bombarded with spam. Industry guidelines call for opt-in procedures, whereby consumers must send in their agreement via text message if they want to receive additional promotions on their phones or enroll in loyalty clubs. Other recommended practices include easy ways to opt out of promotions via text, and clearly asking for permission to send offers from affiliates.
Some large corporations are doing early experiments with mobile marketing. McDonald's Corp. is conducting a limited promotion in Utah, where through April 27 customers can get a free iced coffee with a cell phone coupon.
San Jose, Calif.-based Cellfire, which specializes in mobile coupons, is making the vouchers available via its Web site and text message. McDonald's executives said the Utah campaign is a local initiative, and it's too early to see whether such a promotion could be done nationwide.
Cellfire Chief Executive Brent Dusing was more effusive.
"We feel like the market is here," said Dusing, whose firm is doing national campaigns for Sears Portrait Studio and Hollywood Video. Cellfire started in 2005, and "when we started, we were just educating consumers. … Now that we're here in 2008, we feel pretty good about market adoption."
Fear of a backlash
For mobile advertisers, the experience of the Internet offers both promise and cautionary tales. Although cell phone users in the U.S. are starting to mimic such PC-like activities as Web browsing and media downloads, handsets are a far more sensitive issue than computers.
"It's the most personal thing: How much closer can you get to somebody's space than their phone?" said Eric Lazar, founder of Chicago-based Image Architecture, the firm that created the campaign for Sam's Wine and Spirits. "It's the last bastion of privacy."
Another key difference between the wireless industry and the Internet is the presence of the carriers. Operators are especially careful in letting advertisers on their networks because the service providers would catch much of the backlash if consumers get irritated by too many ads on their mobile browsers or confusing charges on their bills. For the carriers, the opportunities to draw in greater revenue are promising, but not at the expense of customer defections.
The aim is to maintain an "uncluttered environment," said Richard Williams, executive director of digital media operations at Verizon Wireless. "From that standpoint, we wanted to make sure we didn't interrupt the customer experience. … When you look at the mobile Web and our overall lowest churn rate in the industry, we didn't want to jeopardize that."
Thanks to faster networks and download speeds, mobile Web pages can load in a matter of seconds. This ease of use makes for better integration of banner ads, which are tailored for phone browsers.
Intrusions limited
Not all types of Internet-like advertising work on cell phones. The wireless industry avoids pop-up ads and "interstitial" ads that play before displaying content the consumer has requested. Instead, advertisers prefer to appear on the "deck," or the introductory page that subscribers see when they access their browsers.
AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said even deck ads appear on "a very limited basis."
Some industry players have experimented with subsidized service, "where in exchange for a lower rate, consumers would have to wade through some ads before making a call," Siegel said. But he was skeptical about that model gaining widespread acceptance.
Looking ahead, advertisers are eager to seize on the popularity of location-based services that allow phone subscribers to map their whereabouts and get localized content. But industry players say the focus will remain on protecting privacy. For example, customers can search for local promotions by willingly providing information on their ZIP code, rather than getting an unsolicited message from an advertiser that has managed to track a person's whereabouts via cell phone.
"Mobile marketing was born into a climate of consumer permission and consent," said Mike Baker, vice president of interactive at Finnish handset manufacturer Nokia, which launched a global mobile advertising network this year with such partners as Sprint and Hearst.
"There are strong existing incentives to police the environment, so we're not all getting mortgage refinance offers or otherwise feeling taken advantage of, as has happened time to time in the Wild West of the Internet," Baker said.