Meijer Wins Award for Mobile Marketing
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - An innovative text messaging service to customers has earned Meijer Inc. here a top prize, for Best Use of Mobile Marketing, Relationship-Building, from the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).
Meijer picked up the award for a pilot gasoline text messaging program, which alerts customers in advance when the retailer's gasoline prices are going to go up, so they can fill up before the hikes actually hit the pump.
During the awards ceremony which took place earlier this week, Meijer's vendor partner, SmartReply, a voice and mobile messaging solutions provider, was also lauded for the initiative.
"Meijer and SmartReply deployed a campaign that appealed to consumer interests and drove customer engagement and loyalty with the brand," said Laura Marriott, MMA's executive director. "By using opt-in, is a great example of how mobile marketing can be used to drive interactions with your target consumers. Congratulations on your win."
"Text messaging our customers about gas prices creates loyalty by sharing relevant information in an easy-to-use format," said Jeff Handler, Meijer's s.v.p./marketing and advertising. "Using a mobile channel to communicate is one way we will continue to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers."
Meijer's program was one of many entries MMA evaluated for award consideration across eleven categories.
The chain operates 176 supercenters featuring over 40 departments throughout Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. The family held chain will be nationally recognized in Progressive Grocer's December 2006 issue as its Retailer of the Year.
Meijer picked up the award for a pilot gasoline text messaging program, which alerts customers in advance when the retailer's gasoline prices are going to go up, so they can fill up before the hikes actually hit the pump.
During the awards ceremony which took place earlier this week, Meijer's vendor partner, SmartReply, a voice and mobile messaging solutions provider, was also lauded for the initiative.
"Meijer and SmartReply deployed a campaign that appealed to consumer interests and drove customer engagement and loyalty with the brand," said Laura Marriott, MMA's executive director. "By using opt-in, is a great example of how mobile marketing can be used to drive interactions with your target consumers. Congratulations on your win."
"Text messaging our customers about gas prices creates loyalty by sharing relevant information in an easy-to-use format," said Jeff Handler, Meijer's s.v.p./marketing and advertising. "Using a mobile channel to communicate is one way we will continue to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers."
Meijer's program was one of many entries MMA evaluated for award consideration across eleven categories.
The chain operates 176 supercenters featuring over 40 departments throughout Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. The family held chain will be nationally recognized in Progressive Grocer's December 2006 issue as its Retailer of the Year.