Optism™

We all live in a world ruled by data. People are creating large amounts of data and how companies are analyzing all the “big data” has become a hotly debated issue from a privacy and permission perspective. In an interesting viewpoint, Carl Kalapesi analyzes where the privacy lines are being drawn. He focuses not on one side of the debate or another, but instead tries to find the elusive middle ground.

He begins by explaining the numerous benefits of the Big Data which is achieved when one combines data from different sources to deliver insights and development, both socially and economically. However, public opinion is still focused on the negative aspects of big data, and considers things like security breaches and privacy abuse.

Big companies, like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, are natural targets of the privacy debate as holders of large amounts of personally identifiable data. These companies in an attempt to monetize their free services are lambasted every time they change their privacy policy — no matter how egregious the transgression. Facebook, especially seems to find itself at the center of the privacy debate often, as we profiled earlier this fall in our blog post, Facebook Violates Privacy and Permission.

Mr. Kalapesi says Big Data and Personal Data are not so different. In fact, big data is essentially just a large gathering of personal data that is used for insights and ideas that will better the future, if used correctly. Data itself is neither good nor bad, it is simply whether or not it is being used or abused by those who obtain it. As the organization #WeTheData says “how can we get data to work for us, and not against us?” Kalapesi offers three ways to do just that.

1. Mr. Kalapesi says we must stop the notion that data belongs to anyone, it has multiple creators and therefore multiple owners. It is key that we stop thinking about exclusive ownership, and start caring more about the usage of the data itself. We cannot shut down the flow of data, we just have to make sure it is a safe and trusted stream.
2. He says that in any debate, public opinion is paramount. With so much talk about the negative things that Big Data causes, public opinion has swayed to assume that it’s all against them. Kalapesi mentions the Wall Street Journal, and questions why they never print a positive word about the benefits of Big Data, and instead have seemingly heightened the fear almost like propaganda to start a war on data. There needs to be equal representation on both sides of the debate.
3. Mr. Kalapesi takes issue with the way websites ask for “consent.” The idea that we each essentially lie when asked if we’ve read the 70+ page terms of agreement because we just want to continue the process and can’t be bothered with the terms. While it is each of our responsibilities to know what we’re agreeing to, companies have the obligation to present this information in a clear and concise way. Sites have been making some strides in this area. Kalapesi cites British Telecom (BT) and their “cookie slider” that allows users to know exactly what they are agreeing to and how much access BT will have.

The privacy issue is not going away. Companies who meet this issue head on, with clear privacy statements, will benefit. Companies need to highlight not just the policies, but also give consumers the benefits that big data can deliver now and in the future.

Right now this issue is not black and white, as there are no two clear sides, just a muddy mass of grey. We hope that changes for the better.

We are very happy to announce our partnership with Etisalat Nigeria and the official launch of our Optism-enabled permission-based mobile advertising service. During a limited initial launch in the beginning of 2012, more than 800,000 subscribers opted in to participate in the mobile advertising service known as EasyAdz. Now agencies and brands can use the EasyAdz service powered by Optism to engage with all of Etisalat’s 13 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria.

Through Optism, Etisalat Nigeria will enable advertisers to interact with this highly engaged mobile population, with dialogue messages that can be tailored to the recipients’ known preferences. This provides advertisers with two compelling advantages. One, they know that the people they reach want to hear from them — so their messages will not be perceived as spam. Second, because subscribers share a bit about themselves through the opt-in process, advertisers can direct their messages to those people who are interested in their type of product or service.

Amr El-Leithy, head of Alcatel-Lucent's business in the Middle East & Africa: “We are very enthusiastic to again be working with the Etisalat group to bring a more personalized and compelling experience to their customers. After a successful launch of Optism in the UAE it is extremely gratifying to have another member of the group choose our solution for permission-based mobile marketing. We see this as a solid endorsement of the way we are meeting expectations.”

Etisalat Nigeria has seen very impressive results from all of the Optism-supported campaigns including these three success stories.

• Nigerian Breweries promoted their “Star” beer brand by inviting a well-targeted audience of males between 18 and 25 years old to be part of a series of music
   concerts – called “Star Trek”. With a response rate of more than 30%, and a click-through rate of almost 9%, the campaign created an avenue to reinforce the brand's spirit of fun.

• For Coca-Cola, the campaign offered an ‘Open and Win’ opportunity  which encouraged people to look under bottle caps for a code which they would then text to see if they had won free airtime. Participants were also encouraged to forward the campaign link to friends – adding a viral, social media element. The campaign had an almost 35% response rate among the 18-25 age group and 6.5% click-thru-rate.

• Beverage supplier Sprite offered a ’Triple Slam’ campaign focused on basketball, dance and music – key interests for young people. The focus of the campaign was not to win a prize but to get people to show the world their talents and to ‘like’ Sprite on Facebook. In this campaign, there was a 22% response rate and an 18% click-through rate to the Sprite Facebook page

Read the entire press release and visit our solution page for advertisers or mobile operators to see how Optism can deliver mobile campaign results for you.

Starbucks has been one of the most innovative companies when it comes to mobile and permission marketing with their use of SMS, mobile apps and mobile commerce. Last year, I featured their innovations in mobile payments. Now we have an opportunity to add another example of how the company is meeting the permission expectations of consumers with an excellent multi-channel campaign.

Over at Business2Community, Joe Ruiz puts together a Starbucks Case Study on how the company succeeded with a multi-channel offer. Mr. Ruiz had a birthday recently and Starbucks sent him an email telling him that he would be getting a postcard in the mail with a coupon for a free drink. While the offer is fairly straightforward, Mr. Ruiz outlines a number of points on how Starbucks builds trust and maximizes the campaigns’ effect. We have boiled these points down to what we deem as the most important.

Permission

Mr. Ruiz trusts Starbucks and has already given the company his address and birthday. Starbucks asks him to confirm his mailing address, which is an opportunity to build additional trust by asking for his permission. Starbucks gets to keep its database accurate which saves on postage and allows the company to add new stores where its top customers are located.

Thinking Human

Optism has coined the term “Thinking Human” to promote brand communication without “marketing speak”. The entire postcard is written in very plain language, “We’d like to celebrate your big day…” that isn’t trying to sell you something. Starbucks provides a simple offer with a clear message

Social Media

Starbucks includes a suggestion to “brag” about your birthday by sharing the news about your free drink on your birthday on Facebook and Twitter. They encourage you to take a picture and post it to Instagram. This encourages others to sign up with Starbucks so they can receive the birthday offer.

Account Access

Starbucks provides a number of links at the top and the bottom of the offer including account balance, customer service and shop online. Most importantly, they provide an unsubscribe link and the email address they have on file.

Conclusion

Starbucks continues to nail it and the financial results speak for themselves. While other retailers are faltering, Starbucks had their 11th straight quarter of record results and US same-store sales were up 7%. Starbucks keeps innovating with new mobile solutions while continuing to ask its customers for permission in an effort to maintain their trust. I’ve been extremely impressed with their marketing efforts as they have only collected the information they need from me and have not abused it. I don’t get annoying daily emails, SMSs or frequent postal mail from them. They reach out to me when it’s relevant and I appreciate it. Not every company can balance innovation and permission at the same time; Starbucks seems to do it effortlessly.