GoWallet Forgets That It’s A Mobile App

Posted on March 12, 2013 by

I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day, loyalty card in-hand, when I saw an image of a mobile phone on a nearby display. On it was printed, “Access Your Gift Cards – anytime, anywhere” (I’m really tired of companies who have anything at all to do with mobile using ‘anytime, anywhere’. In this case, there’s a picture of a mobile phone. I get it.) Then there was a picture of a phone with a few logos on the screen such as Best Buy and Safeway (the store in which I was standing). At first I thought it was suggesting I could load my Safeway card onto the phone, probably because I was actually holding my card.

image: MobileMarketingFail.com GoWallet Display

I was going to try it (or at least get the app – I didn’t have any gift cards at the time) and impulsively reached for my phone to scan the QR code. But in a brief moment of disbelief that quickly turned into disappointment I found no code to scan.  There was a URL for gowallet.com but it was my turn in line and I had to pay for my things.  I had enough time to scan a code and that was it.

FAIL

After checking out I looked for an empty check-out isle and found the same sign. I opened the browser on my phone and tapped in gowallet.com. After several seconds and a bit of forced patience (is it that hard to make a mobile site that loads fast?) I was offered the following on my screen:

image: mobilemarketingfail.com GoWallet site

 

Eh? This can’t be happening. This is a full web site! What am I supposed to do with this? Arrrgh..

FAIL

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What could have saved this experience/campaign?

This multi-level fail needs a lot of work to make it a good mobile experience. It’s surprising that a service that has mobile at its heart is so un-friendly to the mobile user. Let’s start at the top.

1) Call-to-Action – Even with the questions about the long-term viability of QR codes this would have been the place to have one.  For those who know what to do with a QR code it is simply the fastest way to create a connection with the mobile user.  Just putting the URL is not enough. Opening a browser and tapping in URL - even a relatively simple one - is not as fast as scanning a 2D barcode.

2) Mobile Web – The GoWallet web site, whether someone tapped or scanned to get there,  MUST be made mobile-friendly. If for some reason the site can’t be made friendly at least create a landing page that briefly describes the service and allows the mobile user to easily show some initial interest (no-one will complete registration from their phone) by entering their email address or linking to a download of the mobile app.

3) Promote the App – Using basic device detection it is relatively simple to re-direct mobile phones to the mobile app in the appropriate app store. Then, tell them more about the app and the overall service once they are there and only one tap away from a download. Don’t make mobile users read a detailed web site and then hunt around for the link to get the app. Take them to the app, get them to download and walk them through the process.

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Posted in Applications, barcodes, Forgot Mobile, Mobile Context, Mobile Web, QR Codes, User Experience | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brain Quest Should Think Smarter About Using QR Codes

Posted on October 22, 2012 by

I have a 3yr old who loves the Brain Quest flash cards. For those not familiar, these are cards with questions that teach things like counting and spelling but also interesting stuff like the order of things (for example setting up a fish tank starts with putting in the plants, then adding water and finally adding the fish) where the cards ask you to put things in the right order.  They’re great.

image: Brain Quest Box

So when it came time to get a present for my son’s friend’s birthday I thought these would be great and headed down to Costco to get the same set my son has. After much rifling through the stacks of card decks I couldn’t find the ones I wanted. Looking at the box of a more advanced set, however, I noticed a QR code. With a small bit of hope I thought perhaps they have a site that can tell me where else I might buy these. Though, it does mention something about an app right above the code (Would the code lead to an app download?). Well, it was worth a shot at least.

image: Brain Quest QR code

I noticed the the designers at Workman Publishing – the creators of Brain Quest products – added their own design touches to the usually plain QR code. I’d recently done a webinar on 2D barcodes, which covers how and how not to add design to a QR code, so I was particularly interested in this code, which included a small cartoon and some colorful swirls.

So out came my Nexus S and with a swype and a tap I had i-Nigma running and I was ready to scan.

Scanning, scanning, scanning… Nothing! i-Nigma couldn’t read the code! Hmm. Rotating the box into better lighting didn’t seem to help, either. I tried another barcode scanner, Red Laser. Nope, didn’t work. Then I tried Scanlife, QuickMark and QR Droid. None of them worked. (Try it yourself and let me know if you are able to get a good scan.)

Disappointed in the failed code, I opened a browser on my phone and just went to the URL printed just under the code. Not surprisingly, it was not a mobile-friendly site but I was determined. After a very slow loading time and much panning and zooming – a painful experience to say the least – I was able to learn that the flash cards were also available down the street at Barnes and Noble. Sheesh.

Fail.

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What could have saved this campaign?

In many ways this is like so many other failed QR efforts. But the fact that they used a custom designed code sets it apart and the campaign finds itself here on http://www.mobilemarketingfail.com.

Designer QR Code – Generally, I don’t recommend brands do much if any design alterations to QR codes. Only a minority of mobile phone users know what they are and what to do and the less they look like a QR code the less likely people are to engage. That said, QR codes come with a certain amount of error correction that allows the code to work even if parts of the all-important pixels are obscured. Unfortunately in this case the combination of the cartoon and the swirls rendered it unreadable. Had they simply done one or the other the code would work (I tested this by removing the swirls using an image editor).

Testing – I say this so often my eyes roll involuntarily when I do. So, once again, had this QR been tested prior to a full production run of packaging (by scanning the print proof) this could have been caught and fixed.

Instructions – QR codes in general are still not mainstream. Only smartphones are capable of it and less than 25% of smartphone holders scan codes. If you want to create engagement with the code you need to add instructions (learn more on how to use QR codes).

A Mobile-Friendly Experience – If a 2D barcode is directing to a web site, it had better be designed for mobile. If not, the scan will be the end of the engagement.

Posted in barcodes, QR Codes, User Experience | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shameful Mobile Fail by the American Marketing Association

Posted on August 30, 2012 by

Not long ago I did a mobile marketing workshop for the local chapter of the American Marketing Association. It was well attended and they didn’t hiss at me or continually clear their throats so I think it we well. Fast forward to July and I figured I’d actually join the AMA and look for more ways to participate with the membership. So I signed up online at http://www.marketingpower.com and created my member profile.

About two weeks later I get a small package in the mail from the AMA. I figured it was just a Welcome packet – and it was – but I wasn’t expecting a membership card (Seems kind of old-school; am I supposed to flash this at the Maitre De for special restaurant seating privileges? Probably not.).

Image: AMA Member Card

I also wasn’t expecting to see a QR code on the back of the card. And wisely, they put some instructions next to the QR for those members of the marketing world who don’t know what to do with a QR code.

Image

But wait. Reading the instructions, I see it says to get a QR reader. Ok, fine. I already have one. Then it says, “Then take a picture of this code to go directly to your personalized web page.” What? Take a picture? I’ve seen, “scan this code” and even “snap this code” but never “take a picture”. That doesn’t even make sense. You take a picture with a camera app and you scan with a scanner app. Fail.

With a sigh and a sense of rising disappointment with my fellow marketers I pull out my phone and scan the code, almost afraid of what will happen. And, I got what I expected…and then some.

Image

This is, of course, a non-mobile web site. Fail.

After my eyes roll back down into position I look closer at the page by zooming in.

Image

That’s right. It’s a page that uses Flash and apparently is also needs the latest Flash player because I need to download a new version to see the content. This is painful from a user’s perspective and embarrassing from a marketer’s perspective. Fail. I have to stop now.

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What could have saved this campaign?

I’m really struggling to figure out what happened here. The issues with the whole execution are pretty obvious – I’ll go over those in a sec – but what I can’t figure out is how this could happen at an association of marketers? Of all business professionals I’d expect marketers to ‘get’ mobile.

  1. Call-To-Action – It was great that they tell you to get a scanner app. Not everyone has one. But to say, “..take a picture..” implies that they don’t actually know how smartphones, applications and QR codes work. It is pretty standard to say ‘scan’ though there is some debate about ‘snap’
  2. QR Formation – This QR code was created by directly encoding the url rather than creating a short url using bit.ly or some other service and encoding the short url. By encoding the main url into the QR you lose the ability to track how many people scan the code and you can never change the destination url without having to create a new QR code. You’re locked in with no visibility.
  3. Destination Website – I won’t belabor this point. This site needs to be designed for mobile. Period.
  4. Non-supported content – Even if a site isn’t designed for mobile specifically it may still be useful to the most dedicated smartphone user. However, this site has flash components that are dicey on Android devices and not supported at all on iPhones. Do NOT use Flash on mobile sites!

This was/is a fail straight out of 2009 and I’m amazed.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the AMA and how this profound a fail can still be happening.

Posted in barcodes, Mobile Web, QR Codes | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Ron and Don Show’s On-Air SMS Fail

Posted on July 3, 2012 by

As I was driving home from work last Friday I tuned the radio in my car to 97.3FM, a News/Talk station here in Seattle. Not sure if it’s a sign of my age or an indication of the state of radio broadcasting in this area but I recently replaced 103.7FM, which used to have great contemporary rock programming, with a talk radio station.

On 97.3FM it was time for the Ron and Don show and they had started talking about the Colorado fires when I tuned in. The worst wildfire in Colorado history has destroyed nearly 350 homes and killed two people. When you look at the images and video it’s simultaneously amazing and troubling.  One of the radio hosts was beginning a call-to-action. He wanted us to donate to the Red Cross in order to help those affected by the fires. But I was a bit confused by what he was saying.

Listen to the audio here.

He says,

“Text the word redcross…Text redcross, and then what you want to do is text #90999″

Then, after some words about how awesome the Red Cross is he goes on,

“…after the bottom of the hour news updates I’m gonna jump on my phone, type RedCross and then #90999, that’s 90999, send that to the Red Cross… “

Huh? What am I supposed to do? Text what? Redcross or #90999? Do I put #90999 in the message along with the word ‘redcross’? Is ‘redcross’ one word or two? Where do I send the message? Is there a number for the Red Cross? Should I know it? It seems like he’s saying to send a text to a short code, similar to the efforts to raise money to support relief efforts in Haiti and Japan, but I’d never heard the use of a pound sign (#).

I’ll give Ron and Don credit for trying to rally the support of the Great Northwest but this was a disaster of its own.

FAIL.

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 What could have saved this campaign?

Here’s what I think happened. Ron and/or Don or perhaps their producer did a little research about how they could promote mobile donations to the Red Cross.  They found the information on the Red Cross web site and wrote it down. Then when the time came the show’s host just grabbed the paper and tried to give the instructions.

Here’s what didn’t happen: Testing. The radio host clearly is not very familiar with mobile donations and doesn’t appear to do too much texting, otherwise he would have known how confusing he was being. He needed to try the donation process before delivering his call-to-action.  Had he done that, his instructions might have been something clearer like, “Text the word ‘redcross’ (one word) to the number 90999. Text REDCROSS to 90999″ or “Send a text message with the word REDCROSS to the number 90999.”

Posted in Donations, SMS | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jack in the Box Serves Up Some Mobile Fails

Posted on June 25, 2012 by

For awhile now, I’ve been receiving messages on my phone from Jack in the Box. To be honest, they are probably my favorite of all the fast food burger shops – in spite of the fact that I worked there as a kid in high school (Anyone remember when they blew up  clown and changed to Monterey Jack?).

I was mildly excited when I learned that I could join their Secret Society of Cool People where I’d be “privy to top-secret stuff like coupons, new products, and [Jack's] favorite color (Kelly green).” Plus, I like the playful non-corporate language.

Disappointment came a month later.
And again the next month.
And pretty much every time therafter.

Here’s the most recent message, in two parts.

image: Jack In The Box MMS Msg part1image: Jack In The Box MMS Msg part2

The cool thing is they are sending pictures. The not so cool thing is that the pictures look like mini versions of a tray liner.

Here are the last 4 pictures they’ve sent:

(yes, they sent the Chipotle one twice)

My biggest disappointment is that there is never an offer (no coupon). What is the point of these? They are just ads. So after 3 months there has been no real benefit to being in Jack’s Secret Society.

FAIL.

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What could have saved this campaign?

There are a few places to focus to see where the problems lie.

1) Strategy. It’s hard to tell what sort of experience Jack wants us mobile users to have. They appear to be simply using mobile as an advertising media, implying that they only want to put their name and products in front of people. A really, really, bad strategy when using MMS or SMS, which are the most personal of mobile media. Rather, Jack should be true to their original promise of delivering coupons and other Secret Society stuff and providing a special VIP-like experience.

2) Execution. On the heels of a good strategy is the ability to track success. With Jack’s current approach there is little to track other than, perhaps, whether the messages are being delivered but not all mobile operators provide consistent delivery reports. If Jack can start driving store traffic by turning these ads into coupons then the ability to track will require an in-store process and potentially integration with their point-of-sale system; a worthwhile effort IMHO.

 

Posted in MMS, Mobile Advertising, Strategy | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments