Johannesburg, 14 Aug 2003
Striata, a leading provider of e-billing and multi-channel messaging software, has assisted Samsung in growing its SMS customer database. This was achieved by means of an inbound SMS campaign for the Samsung Matrix Reloaded competition whereby customers could win one of five Samsung V200 cameraphones.
Says Michael Wright, CEO of Striata: "SMS is currently the fastest growing communication medium in the world, with global estimates of between 10 billion and 12 billion messages sent each month. The predominance of mobile phones, and the fact that SMS is both cost-effective and immediate, allows companies to utilise this marketing channel to build their brand and grow a database of mobile users."
Samsung chose to build on the excitement of Matrix fans and the positioning of the Samsung Matrix Phone in the movie by running an SMS competition at movie outlets. A cellphone number was advertised on Matrix Reloaded posters, pamphlets and popcorn boxes in the foyer of movie theatres nationwide, prompting customers to send an SMS containing their answer to an easy question along with their first name and surname. On receipt of each SMS, Striata's reply acknowledgement service immediately generated an automatic response notifying the entrant that their entry had been received.
The competition ran for a full month, during which time Samsung received a phenomenal 28 000 entries.
Says Wright: "Considering the fact that Samsung printed the competition on 50 000 popcorn boxes and pamphlets, as well as on 50 posters, this translates to a return rate of over 50%. The campaign was an overwhelming success."
Striata then segmented the entries into correct and incorrect answers, before Samsung's auditors randomly selected five competition winners.
Says Wright: "On completion of the campaign, Samsung was able to upload the 28 000 unique cellphone numbers onto their system. This database of mobile users can later be used for further marketing campaigns."
"Future communication with this database will be both controlled and relevant," says Justin Hume, Mobile Product Marketing Manager of Samsung South Africa. "We are very aware that for SMS to achieve our marketing objectives, it has to be used properly."
Samsung is more than happy with the enormous response its campaign received, as well as with the cost-effective manner with which it was achieved.
"For the second year running, Samsung has been ranked by Interbrand as the fastest growing brand in the world and our association with the Matrix Reloaded was a major success, growing our brand presence and awareness to even greater levels," says Sarit Reouveni, Group Marketing Manager for Samsung South Africa.
"Effective leveraging of the product placement we had in the movie was of key importance. Utilising the SMS platform, we were able to develop an interactive marketing activity that further entrenched our brand and product within the minds of our target markets."
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