All you needed this summer was a little bit of sunshine and the Budweiser Ice Cold Index App.

This week marks the end of the Budweiser Ice Cold Index promotion which has been rolled out across Ireland since April. No one has escaped the TV, print, radio, outdoor, and digital Irish commercials that ironically involved no Irish people, was shot on a beach location in Cape Town, South Africa and is fronted by US bearded ‘weather man’ Scott Campbell! 

So what was all the fuss about?

It was called a “groundbreaking idea that links daily real world temperatures with offers on Budweiser Ice Cold draught”. In a nutshell, Budweiser launched a mobile e-voucher application that offered Irish consumers vouchers based on the temperature in their location to redeem at participating on-trade premises across Ireland.

If the temperature went above 20°C consumers got offered a free pint. The application also offered €2 off when the temperature reached 18 - 20°C, €1 off if the temperature was 16 or 17°C and some additional free bonus pints thrown in for good measure. On the designated "Index day", consumers could redeem their free or money-off voucher between 1pm and 11.59pm or until the premises closed (whichever was earlier). Once consumers downloaded the voucher, the participating Index bar provided them with a pub code and they then had two minutes to redeem their voucher before it expires.

 

All sounds very simple, so what where the catches?

You had to download the “Budweiser Ice Cold Index” mobile application to begin receiving the vouchers and if you did not have an iPhone or an Android phone the text system was tricky to manoeuvre with a basic requirement of IOS 4.3 or later.

The temperature was recorded at 12pm daily no earlier or later than.

You could redeem one voucher per day on a maximum of four days during a seven day period. This restriction was put in place on the grounds it is not advisable to consume alcoholic beverages every day.

The mobile application was dependent on mobile phone reception so you could not download the mobile voucher without a clear signal.

The vouchers could only be redeemed in participating outlets and you had to check the pub locator in the Budweiser Ice Cold Index Application to review where you could redeem the voucher in your area.

You had to ask the bar staff for the pub code to validate your voucher

Once you entered the pub code and it was validated, you had to show the bar staff the redemption screen within 120 seconds. After this time it self deleted and you would not be able to use another voucher until the following day.

The vouchers where just for Budweiser Ice Cold draught and could not be redeemed for other Diageo beverages. 

At the beginning there where some teething problems the general public accepted the restrictions set in place however the technological supports let the applications potential down. The application sometimes failed to validate ages, the pub finder crashed, the temperature gauge was argued to be recording temperatures at one to two degrees lower than other weather specific applications, it was also slow and had a tendency to crash. Evidently the application scored low on the apple store with an average review of two out of five.  Some people have even gone as far as blaming all the Budweiser Ice Cold “The Hotter the Day the Less You Pay” advertising for this summer's poor weather, that the television advertisements have put the jinx on the country ever seeing a heatwave again.

 

However the current version, updated the end of July, seems to have had a more positive response of four and a half out of five rating from customers. The technological difficulties have seemed to be overcome and if successful upon final review the concept may even be rolled out to other markets in the UK. Already the “Bud Ice Index” has been nominated by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)for the 2011 MIXX Awards for numerous categories including: Mobile Platform or App – Single, Direct Response and Lead Generation – Campaign, and Mobile Platforms and Apps – Campaign. One thing is already for sure; although this campaign would cause Budweiser to lose money in predominantly warm-weathered climates, the mobile application works well in Ireland where plus 20 does not occur every day – or hardly ever during our short summers. The Budweiser Ice Cold Index linked to the weather was also a great way to combine the refreshing ice cold nature of the beverage with clever marketing and generated a lot of interest even from those who did not drink it beforehand. In terms of mobile phone applications and developments the campaign was a prime example of truly engaging and interacting with your customers through this medium. But I might have a tendency to agree that it may have jinxed our short lived summer! 

Through Edel's Eyes: Do Irish Businesses really Understand the Uses of City Deals?

Through Edel's Eyes: Do Irish Businesses really Understand the Uses of City Deals?

http://www.citydeal.ie/sites/www.citydeal.ie/lp/lp/006/index.php?CID=IE_SEM_1_1_0_0&keyw=groupon%20ireland&matc=e&crea=7131707734

http://partners.livingsocial.com/cities/68-dublin/confirm?hdnv=true&ref=google_search5_68_dublin&ver=972

http://www.dealrush.ie/

Do Irish Businesses really Understand the Uses of City Deals?

Since the launch of Groupon (citydeals) onto the Irish market, an explosion of copy cats have followed suit. These include Livingsocial, dealrush and boardsdeals to name but a few, with Google soon expected to follow suit. I have been taking advantage of these to explore new places to eat out in and try new beauty treatments.  But the levels of service and value for money I have received from has been not been consistent to say the least.  


Out of the two restaurants I have gone to, both offered terrible customer service. One also offered us the smallest table in the empty restaurant  and the other placed more menu restrictions on our coupon offering when we arrived without prior noticed. So I certainly did not go and review my experiences with my friends and family positively, nor did I fell like I got great value for money while being treated as a "voucher holder". I understand that there is not a lot of money to be made by businesses using these "deal" sites, but are they not using them as good opportunities to get new customers?  

On the other hand, I also bought a voucher for a course of new expensive beauty treatments and the customer service, value and results from the treatments I received were excellent throughout. I sang my praises high from the hill tops; but when my peers said they would wait for a similar deal to appear and where not fussed about going back to the same beauty clinic, this begs the question, for exclusive businesses are these "deal" sites the places to reach your target market?

Instead of jumping on the bandwagon businesses must individually evaluate their business offering, not only looking  at their ability to maintain customer service but also if these are the areas to reach their potentially reoccurring customers. 

Ambient Marketing- Bus Stops are the New Pick Up's

On the way home one evening I noticed a 3D Harry the 3 Mobile data character and a range of colourful 3D bubbles on top of a bus stop on Upper  Leeson Street, Dublin. This was incorporated in with the brands bus stop shelter advertising and meant that particular bus stop shelter was dedicated to 3 Mobile. This immediately reduced the amount of clutter from competitors, clarified the brands image and slogan for passers by, and offered a fresh new visual visual approach to support the other efforts of the campaign showing the benefits of the 3 Flex Max plans.

Since then a new 3D  tub of Philadelphia cheese has replaced the 3 character at the bus stop. This again was incorporated in with the brands bus stop shelter advertising and supported the TV ad campaign to encourage people to create new easy snacks and recipes with Philadelphia. Overall these campaigns offer something different for the everyday commuter, and are very effective at attracting attention when they are part of integrated marketing campaign but are at a risk of looking too abstract and random if not supported fully by other marketing coverage. 


Can you imagine how confused you would be passing the 3 Mobile character without it being supported with additional advertising? 

FOUND RED SETTER

Hi All,

I found red setter in the Crumlin/ Kimmage/ Harold's Cross Area this morning (28/04/2011). She is a female, wearing a multi pink collar (no name tag). I own a dog myself and know by looking at her condition she is very well looked after and sociable. I would like to try return her to her family as soon as possible. I have notified the local garda office and given my details, I have made posts up on facebook, gumtree and twitter about her. I will also print out posters and out them up in the area I found her in. At the moment I do not have a picture of her- but will try get one of her later on which I will forward on.

What is worrying me though is the amount of people who just went past her not looking back. There is no way I could not have that on my conscience I could only imagine how my family would be if we lost our beloved pug. Has society become that heartless? Or am I just a big softy... it seems I hear of selfless good deeds been done fewer these days.  

Through Edel's Eyes: "Hong Dong” Indeed!

Through Edel's Eyes: "Hong Dong” Indeed!

"Hong Dong” Indeed!

This month has seen the sale of the most expensive dog ever sold!  Big Splash, or "Hong Dong" in Chinese sold for an incredible 10 million Yuan which is about 1.5 million US Dollars.  At only 11 months old the red Tibetan Mastiff  is nearly three-feet-high at the shoulder and weighs more than 180lbs.  Originally used as guard dogs, the breed is regarded as the oldest and fiercest of domesticated dogs. So certainly not the typical small toy companion dog which celebrities would seem to popularize. 

So what made Hong Dong's new  chinese multi-millionaire owner splash out on so much cash? I think I have found some of the answers.... The Tibetan Mastiff is one of the rarest dog breed in the world (€€), with very few pure breeds left their scarcity and reputation has increased (€€€), this has now transformed them  into latest must - have accessory for China's wealthy elite (€€€€, cue million mark). In the case of Hong Dong he is a perfect specimen and his red coat was also rarer again which reflected in his larger than life price tag. It is a case of simple economics really for poor Hong Dong- supply goes down, demand increases and so does the price. 

But I do hope his new owners have considered that a dog is not a status symbol fade but a lifelong commitment. And considering Hong Dong's size the food bill will also be one to consider.