1020 Placecast Releases Free “Retail Goes Mobile” Report

Report focuses on transformation of trends in mobile marketing, how retailers are using mobile to drive consumers into physical stores

San Francisco, CA – April 14, 2010 – National Retail Federation RACie Award-winning firm Placecast today announces the release of a report titled “Retail Goes Mobile: Finding New Consumer Connections Through Mobile Devices” by Kathryn Koegel, President of Primary Impact Research. The report focuses on the latest research on mobile marketing within the retail sector.

With 224 million mobile users engaged in texting, SMS has emerged as “the only form of mobile marketing to reach the entire mobile universe.” According to a Harris Poll consumer survey conducted on behalf of Placecast, 45% of 18-34 year-olds and 35% of 35-44 year olds were interested in receiving opt-in mobile alerts.

“Mobile phones now have consumer penetration rates that surpass the Internet, and marketers need to grasp the implications of ‘go-anywhere media,’ which is what mobile phones represent,” says Koegel. “Consumers use their phones to do everything from research products to check competitor retail pricing – even from within store locations,” she continues.

Key questions addressed in the “Retail Goes Mobile” research:

· Media Consumption Changes: The growing shift from print to digital media with wireless access

· Consumer media preferences: More promotionally focused?

· The Mobile Device Revolution: Is it a smartphone or a multi-media device?

· Retail and mobile marketing: The pros and cons of different options, and why it makes sense

· The texting phenomenon: Not just for teens?

· Mobile and the always-on phenomenon: Can it effectively drive retail results through location-based mobile tactics?

As an independent resource for developers and consumers, 1020 Placecast provides location-based services which mark a turning point in location-based advertising. “Research and insights are a great way of accelerating the attraction of marketing spend to mobile and location-based offerings. We are excited about the findings in this report, and committed to working with the entire ecosystem to attract more marketing spend to the space,” says Alistair Goodman, CEO of Placecast.

Earlier this year, the company announced the launch of ShopAlerts, an opt-in program which delivers messages about sales to consumers as they enter a “geo-fence” surrounding a physical location. Key findings from the Placecast ShopAlerts case study (included in the “Retail Goes Mobile” report) show that 75% of users found messages somewhat to very useful, and 73% would definitely or probably use ShopAlerts in the future.

Most recently, Placecast announced their Match API, a free tool that enables location content providers and location-based application developers to refer to a location in any number of ways, and validate that those references resolve to one true location on the planet. The implications that ShopAlerts and Match have for the retail ecosystem are numerous, including an increased focus on improving LBS services and attracting marketing spend.

Kathryn Koegel is a noted expert in digital marketing, and has created work accepted and published by The ARF and ESOMAR. Her company, Primary Impact Research, focuses on data insight development for agencies and marketers. She is currently at work on a report called The State of Mobile Marketing: Benchmarks & Best Practices, which will be published in May.


For free download of “Retail Goes Mobile”: http://placecast.net/press_publications.html

For more about ShopAlerts: http://ShopAlerts.com

For companies interested in learning more about Placecast Match API: http://placecast.net/placecastmatch.html



About 1020 Placecast

Placecast is the first location-based platform specifically designed to use digital marketing on mobile to drive consumers into physical environments.

Placecast’s ShopAlerts service has transformed the location-based industry, taking home the top prize for innovation given by the National Retail Federation knows as the 2010 RACie award, and demonstrating that mainstream brands like the North Face, Sonic and American Eagle are embracing location-based mobile marketing. Placecast recently launched Match API, a tool that enables providers and developers to refer to a location in any number of ways, and validate that those references resolve to one true location on the planet. The company recently raised $8 million in Series B funding from Quatrex Capital and existing investors ONSET Ventures, and Voyager Capital.

Contact Information

Rachael HImsel

Publicist

VSC Consulting

Contact via E-mail