Media Converged, a division of Qwasi Inc.

Mobile Marketer: Mobile coupons are being embraced by consumers, but not all mobile offers are created equal, with 42.3 percent of consumers preferring SMS-based coupons over bar code scanning and push notifications, according to a new report from RadiumOne.

The report found that 61.9 percent of consumers are redeeming grocery and consumer retail goods-based coupons. The “Improving the Performance of Mobile Coupons” report shows that when it comes to redemption, 51.5 percent of smartphone users prefer displaying a coupon to a cashier while 23.8 percent prefer scanning-based methods.

BBC News: Keeping up to date with breaking news while you’re on the move is simple with the BBC News SMS alerts service.

All you need to do is register your mobile number with us by texting ALERTS START to 82002 and we’ll send you details of major national and international events as soon as they happen.

1. Ace Hardware Knows Which Way the Wind is Blowing
   Ace Hardware is a national brand with local or regional ownership. Westlake Ace, a franchise owning 88 stores across 7 states, allowed SMS subscribers to opt-in for weather notifications based on ZIP code. These warnings not only provided valuable weather information, but also notes about how to prepare — and what to buy at Ace Hardware — to be ready. It resulted both in higher sales as storms approached, but in a huge subscriber increase as people got friends to sign up for the weather warnings.
2. Coca-Cola Goes Mad in March
   People drink Coke while watching TV, and Coke has figured out that people drink Coke Zero while watching sports on TV. During March Madness (the NCAA Basketball championship tournament, always held in March), Coke sprang for on-air announcements during the game related to prizes and codes printed on various Coke Zero/Diet Coke products. The end result meant interacting with the brand and the game simultaneously. It’s not as though Coke really needed more brand awareness (it’s the most-recognized logo in the world), but the March Madness initiative didn’t lose them any ground.
3. Land’s End
   The clothing catalog giant went big for Mother’s Day with an SMS campaign that reads like a “Nagging Mother” joke. In the week prior to the day, they sent three different reminders to get a gift for Mom…and a note that a Land’s End gift card would be perfect for just such an occasion. This one didn’t increase subscriber lists significantly, but boosted sales of both gift cards and merchandise.           

4.      San Diego Chargers Most teams have an SMS list to let fans keep up with the team throughout the season, but the Chargers went one step further. During the off season, subscribers receive updates about star players and training regimens, alerts on local appearances, and opportunities to get involved in polls and trivia contests to win Chargers swag. If there’s a better way to keep in top-of-mind awareness when not immediately relevant, we haven’t seen it.

Read more…

• In the United States, 75% of teenagers text, sending an average of 60 texts a day. According to Pew Internet research, texting is teens’ most common form of communication, beating out phone conversations, social networks and old-fashioned face-to-face conversations.

• Women are twice as likely to use emoticons in text messages, but men use a wider variety of emoticons, according to a recent study by Rice University. :-)

• The practice of exchanging sexual messages or photos (yes, “sexting”) isn’t just for single people and politicians. It’s also popular among committed couples. According to a study by psychology professor Michelle Drouin, 80% of young adults in relationships sent or received naughty texts, and 60% upped the ante by exchanging photos or videos.

• Some emergency response call centers are beginning to accept text messages sent to 911. There are still lingering concerns about the practice, including lack of location information, confirmation that the message was received, and timeliness of messages. Verizon plans to launch limited SMS-to-911 services in early 2013.

• The world of competitive texting can be lucrative for the fastest thumbs. At this year’s fifth annual National Texting Championship in New York City, 17-year-old Austin Wierschke was crowned the winner for the second year in a row, taking home $50,000 in prize money.

• According to Guinness World Records, Melissa Thompson set the record for fastest text. In 2010, she took 25.94 seconds to type and send, “The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.”

• Text messages have a dangerous side. Texting while driving is a risky activity, and sending or reading a single text can distract a driver for approximately 4.6 seconds, according to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Thirty-nine states have banned text messaging while driving. Distracted texters have also been injured or killed while biking and walking.

• Text messaging technology has popped up in some fascinating places over the years, including cows’ reproductive organs. Swiss dairy farmers have implanted sensors in cows to detect when the cows are in heat. A second sensor with a SIM card in the cow’s neck sends a text message to the farmer, who can then inseminate the animal, according to The New York Times.

• Text messaging has been used in medical fields to improve treatment for malaria, depression, diabetes and addiction.

Source: CNN

CNN: It’s been hailed for its succinctness and blamed for everything from sore thumbs to the decline of conversation. Love it or hate it, the text message is 20 years old.

The first-ever text message was sent December 3, 1992, by software engineer Neil Papworth, to Vodafone director Richard Jarvis, who received the message on his husky Orbitel 901 cell phone. It read simply, “Merry Christmas.”

A Personal Introspection: Madyson Spano at Qwasi Technology.

Social, Local and Mobile technologies played a critical role during the recent Hurricane Sandy.  It powered the ways people communicated and sent messages to family, friends and the world beyond.

I was lucky not to lose power during the storm, however, several of my family members and friends were affected. When a friend of mine who lives in the city lost power, she could no longer charge her phone and was unable to access her email. Thankfully, she was able to find an ATM where she could charge her phone and send out some tweets, update her Facebook status and send a few text messages, letting myself, other friends, and her family know that she was okay. Had she completely lost power to her mobile device, we may not have been able to get in touch with her for several days when power (and Internet connection) were finally restored to her area.

Let’s take a further look at how SoLoMo technologies became incredibly useful resources during this state of emergency.

Social: Millions of people looked to social networks such as Twitter and Facebook for news during Hurricane Sandy. Using these and other social tools they were able to connect with loved ones to make sure they were safe, and they were also able to connect with news and government sources that could give them updates on the storm’s activity. News stations were even asking viewers to tweet in pictures of the storm to be used as part of their storm coverage. Between October 27th and November 1st, more than 20 million tweets were sent about the storm. In the days following the storm, “donate” has reached a 180-day peak on Twitter (Sources: TechCrunch, Mashable). Facebook became an easy way to share safety updates with multiple loved ones at one time. In fact, the number one shared term on Facebook on October 30th was “we are ok” (Source: TechCrunch). Instagram users posted over 1.3 million photos with the various tags of #sandy, #hurricanesandy, and others (Source: Mashable). When my friend lost power she used tweets and Facebook statuses to update her friends and family on her situation. It allowed her to save precious mobile battery power by communicating with everyone at once, rather than starting multiple SMS conversations. Social media provided her with a place to broadcast her current situation to those she needed to get in touch with quickly and easily, making it an ideal form of communication during and after the storm.

Local: Foursquare, a popular location based application that allows users to check-in to the places they visit, shared a very telling time-lapse video of check-ins throughout Manhattan from October 28th to November 5th. It is both amazing and scary to watch as lower Manhattan quickly goes dark during and after the storm. Luckily, towards the end of the video, we see the area slowly begin to light up again, a good sign of hope for the lower half of the island. (Source: Web Pro News)

Mobile: Social and Mobile converged when websites like Mashable informed users on how to enable Twitter and Facebook on their mobile phones so that they could still send messages to the networks without Internet service. Users were also encouraged to set SMS alerts for Twitter while they still had access to computers and Internet service. This would allow people to stay connected via Twitter even after they lost power or Internet connections. As long as cellphone service remained intact users would be able to receive text messages with tweets of the users they set alerts for. Text messaging “uses less bandwidth than richer media services” and can therefore be a reliable method of communication during times of emergency (Source: Dynmark white paper). When my friend lost power she did not send too many text messages, as she was trying to preserve her battery life, however the ones that she did send were a very reliable way to get in contact with myself and her family. Text messages work without a Wi-Fi connection and without electricity (as long as the phone is charged), so they were a second excellent form of communication during and after the storm.

In the days after the hurricane when my friend was still without power, Facebook and Twitter continued to be her main source of news and communication with friends and family. The social networks were the easier ways of staying connected with as many people as possible without draining her battery.

Social and Mobile are continuing their relevance by serving as excellent ways of donating to relief funds. Although not everyone has the Facebook Gifts feature yet, the social network has just introduced a way of donating through the gifting app. Users who have Facebook Gifts now have the option of “gifting” a donation to the Red Cross (or other organization) in a friend’s honor. If you have access to Facebook’s Gifts feature, but a friend doesn’t, he/she will gain access once you send a gift to them (Sources: VentureBeat, TechCrunch). Additionally, the Red Cross is accepting donations via text message. Just text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10.00 donation that gets added to your phone bill. 

Location technologies were important during and after the hurricane, however, social and mobile technologies were truly the shining stars. People like my friend were able to stay connected with the rest of the world with minimal effort through the use of social media and SMS. Even donations to relief funds can be made using social and mobile technologies. And so, with Thanksgiving only a few days away let us remember: even though Sandy passed nearly three weeks ago, there are still many people in need, so don’t forget to help in any way you can, especially with the holiday season knocking on our doors.