Carlson Marketing launches Instant Rewards on mobile devices

The patent-pending mCert™ solution leads the way.

MINNEAPOLIS, June 17, 2010 – Mobile gift certificates, or mCerts, a new innovation from Carlson Marketing’s Instant Rewards program gives loyalty marketers the ability to send digital gift certificates via mobile devices providing on-the-spot reward redemptions for their loyalty program members. mCerts can reach approximately 97 percent of all mobile device users by using text messaging, mobile catalogs and scannable barcodes to connect customers with their loyalty programs and provide access to immediate reward redemption.

mCerts mobile gift certificates is an extension of the digital certificate capability that powers email certificates, or eCerts, which provide real-time rewards and offers for loyalty program members. mCerts can provide a valuable instant redemption channel for retailers, restaurants, travel companies, financial service companies and virtually any other vertical. This unification of online and mobile communication can now provides companies with the ability to reach their most loyal customers with discounts, loyalty point credits, and monetary rewards instantly across channels.

“We have designed an approach that connects all stakeholders to loyalty programs via the mobile device,” said Jenele Grassle, vice president of Merchandise at Carlson Marketing. “We’ve done this on a platform-agnostic basis. The market is flooded with loyalty solutions that need some kind of intermediary such as a social network or special application to be effective. But mCerts work without downloading apps, and without a social network. It helps build a clear and immediate connection between the brand and some of its most valuable customers.”

Here’s how the patent-pending mCerts system works: Loyalty program members can redeem points, miles or other currencies for mCerts, eCerts or traditional plastic gift cards via a mobile eCatalog or standard browser-based eCatalog experience. When the mCert option is selected, a text message containing a link to a mobile web page is sent to the member’s mobile phone. Upon clickthrough, the member is taken to a mobile web page that displays a barcode image representing the cash equivalent reward. The barcode then is presented to a merchant scanning system to redeem the reward.

The broader combined Instant Rewards offering includes digital music, movies and books, as well as mCerts and eCerts. It gives marketers the ability to deliver innovative loyalty program rewards that stimulate redemption activity and subsequent brand engagement. In addition, Instant Rewards provides a lower cost alternative to traditional gift card and merchandise options by eliminating offline fulfillment processes. “We are giving marketers the ability to take advantage of a mobile marketing program that captures consumer impulse,” said Doug Rozen, SVP, Global Lead - Creative, Interactive, Media & Mobile. “And for consumers, we’re putting information that could influence the next purchase decision right in their hands.” mCerts as an additional reward option (alongside plastic cards) can help drive member behavior to those merchants who offer mCerts and likely will encourage incremental spend at the time of use.

mCert technology was developed in conjunction with RocketBux, a Bend, Oregon-based mobile marketing services provider. RocketBux stands apart from other providers by delivering a suite of leading edge, patent pending solutions that leverage existing technologies and protocols in the mobile device and point of sale environments. Its guiding principle, which is reflected in mCerts, is to create products that are simple to use, easy to deploy and can scale in market immediately.

About Carlson Marketing Worldwide

Carlson Marketing, the world’s leading relationship building company, designs and delivers loyalty and engagement programs for some of the world’s best known brands across several vertical markets: Airline, Hotel, Auto, Finance/Insurance, Retail, and Consumer Packaged Goods.  Carlson Marketing’s two global service offerings – Brand Loyalty and Engagement & Events – are supported by six core capabilities: Strategy & Brand Planning; Creative and Communications; Decision Sciences;  Award Services; Technology Services and Customer Service.  Carlson Marketing – owned by Groupe Aeroplan, a global leader in loyalty management – employs more than 2,200 marketing professionals across 16 countries.