- Timothy Fields

At Ikea's Seattle location, consumers will not only find low cost Swedish furniture, they will also find a text message redeeming coupon machine into its store. Customers can join "Ikea Mobile" by texting the keyword "IKEA1." They then receive mobile coupons that can be redeemed and scanned at the stores using bCode MediaPlane technology.

bCode, San Francisco, is a text message that works with 99.7% of the 3 billion existing mobile phones in the world. bCode's can be scanned on to bCode machines, triggering a variety of functions including offer redemption, access control, digital content downloads, and other mobile marketing interactions through the touch screen interface.

After Ikea, based in Conshohocken, Pa., successfully tested a pilot program from November to January, it officially incorporated it into the Seattle Ikea Mobile program.

"Our customers seem to enjoy using it for discounts," said Ikea Seattle rep Casey Crook. "They like interacting with the technology and haven't seen it any where before."

bCode technology launched in Australia and then moved into Europe where it was mainly used for mobile ticketing, said CMO of bCode Art Wagner. In the U.S. though, Wagner sees opportunity with mobile coupons.


While brands are generally happy with the 1% to 2% response rate for offers, bCode coupons have had 10 to 45% of its text messages redeemed at the Ikea location, per the company.

Harrah's casino in Las Vegas has also added the new technology. The property is sending discount coupons to potential customers which are redeemable at the venue. Harrah's has seen a 10 to 25% response rate, per bCode.

Through redeemed texts, bCode is also able to "customize offers at specific time and a specific place," said Wagner. According to bCode, CRM data is collected to build a behavioral database that will create coupons to a customers liking.

Such texts will eventually become a nuisance to customers, said Bruce Temkin, principal analyst, customer experience, Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass. "The e-world is filled with these can't miss [marketing technologies] that everyone falls in love because they are new," he said. "Am I really going to go out of my way for what is essentially spam? Just because you put a discount on spam, doesn't mean you are going to act on it."

Still, companies are interested. Alloy, New York City, and Real Content Group, New York City, have also looked to use the technology in urban settings where consumers are much more involved with their cell phones. A study performed by Alloy Access reveals that 20% of urban consumers use their cell phones or PDA's to contact at least 50 people per day, compared 1% of nonurban users.

Wagner is currently working to implement the system with a dozen different brands as well as a variety of agencies. He said, "We are getting a lot of attraction with digital and media agencies."