Tag Archive for 'iPhone'

Enhanced Walgreens iPhone App and Prescription Text Alerts Give Customers Real-Time Convenience

Published
by
3Cinteractive
on June 25, 2010
in mHealth
. 0 Comments

More and more people are using text messaging and smart phones as primary forms of communications in their everyday lives. Walgreens is advancing the use of this technology with the launch of several new features including Prescription Text Alerts (powered by 3Cinteractive), a real-time service which notifies customers via text message when their prescriptions are ready. Walgreens has also re-launched its ground-breaking iPhone® application and mobile site, m.walgreens.com (information on all Walgreens mobile features and applications can be found at www.walgreens.com/gomobile).

Mark Wagner, Walgreens executive vice president of operations and community management, said, “Text alerts are a valuable time-saving tool, and [are] the latest example of how our mobile applications are further connecting the Web to Walgreens stores and pharmacies, giving customers on-the-go convenience wherever they are.”

New Walgreens mobile features include:

    Prescription Text Alerts: Receive a text message from a Walgreens pharmacy when prescriptions are ready or if there are any status changes. Customers can sign up for text alerts at any Walgreens pharmacy or online at www.walgreens.com/gomobile. Text alerts are also available in Spanish
  • Special Offer Texts: Customers can get information about exclusive Walgreens deals and coupons via text message. Messages also provide important information and the latest services available both in-store and online. Customers can sign up through the Walgreens mobile site or by texting Walgreens to 21525 (message and data rates may apply)
  • iPhone Application: iPhone users can take advantage of new features and functionality in the iPhone application available through iTunes® in the iPhone App Store
  • Android™ / BlackBerry® Mobile Website Application: BlackBerry and Android users can download the Walgreens mobile site application from their respective marketplaces (Android App Market™) and BlackBerry App World™, providing quick and easy access to the Walgreens mobile site features

What Mobile Marketers Can Learn from The Newton

Published
by
3Cinteractive
on January 2, 2009
in Trends & Research
. 0 Comments

In 1989, Apple Computer started developing the Newton platform.  Complete with state-of-the-art handwriting recognition software, the platform was brilliant.  As amazing as the platform was, the world wasn’t ready for the Newton.  Steve Jobs and others have looked back on the Newton and speculated its inability to capture a large audience.  The booming success of the iPhone—inspired by the Newton and iPod—has only made people look harder.

Jobs thought the Newton was too focused on input when it should have been focused on consumption. The technology was sound, but consumers shied away from another input device. Jobs had the same feeling about Palms, and other PDA’s: they wouldn’t become mainstream because of their design.

The iPhone’s design made it easier for users to adapt. The device allowed the user to spend more time consuming information and not inputting information.

The same is true for traditional cell phones. No one likes creating a new address book contact. You’re lucky if a person types a first and last name, let alone a full address. Consumers want to spend a few seconds entering a phone number, or pushing a few buttons, and the rest talking or reading.

SMS is the same way. A lot of companies want to use mobile to capture e-mail addresses, or full responses from end-users. My response is always the same, “Yes it will work, but there are much more effective ways to use mobile.”

The biggest, relative hump in a mobile marketing program is the initial opt-in. This is usually the largest input from the end-user (i.e. keyword & short code), and it must be initiated by the user. After the initial opt-in, the best mobile programs minimize input, at most, asking for number, letter, or keyword replies.

I’m a junkie for companies that have mobile alerts or services. Right now my favorites are Mint, Twitter, and Jott. Mint and Jott are used more frequently than Twitter. Why? Jott and Mint send me alerts that I consume to stay on track. Even on an iPhone, I rarely use Twitter to Tweet; instead I use mobile alerts to know when I receive a direct message.

For the most effective mobile program, capture your consumers and PUSH them alerts or actions.

Buried in 10,000 iPhone Apps

Published
by
3Cinteractive
on December 5, 2008
in Marketing
. 0 Comments

In June, I wrote an article, .  Now that Apple’s AppStore is just shy of 10,000 applications, what are you doing to differentiate your application?  Most app developers are doing nothing, waiting for Apple’s Push Notification Service.

While I am sure Apple’s service won’t disappoint, it’s does little for differentiating new applications.  I’ve gone through several applications, that have tried using alert messages for launching new applications and they are more bothersome than effective.

With 10,000 applications in the Appstore, unless you’re in the top 25, it’s very difficult for new consumers to find your application.  Developers need to be including a mobile opt-in on their website so consumers can sign up for text alerts.  This way, an AppStore link can be delivered right to their iPhone when you’re ready to download.  The massive turn-around will differentiate the app and—if your crowd is sizable—push you into the 25 most popular.

- Ainsworth

 

Can Facebook Save Microsoft?

Published
by
3Cinteractive
on July 28, 2008
in Trends & Research
. 0 Comments

Steve Ballmer is in an interesting situation. This past week he’s had to address tough challenges with two of Microsoft’s biggest competitors: Apple and Google. Translation: mobile, search, and advertising.

In his most recent letter to employees, Ballmer specifically addressed Apple, Yahoo!, and Google. As many know, Ballmer has pretty much called it quits on their bid for Yahoo!. In the meantime, Apple has continued to grab chunks of the PC market, and the iPhone is dominating the smartphone world.

Ballmer has announced Microsoft’s intent to spend a lot of money acquiring companies to heal their search engine wounds several times. So far they’ve acted, investing $240 million into Facebook (Oct. 2007), and there are reports that the relationship is becoming even closer. This isn’t a bad move from Microsoft. They can’t seem to buy their way back into the search engine ranks just yet, and they need to find exposure for their ad network.

But I wonder: is Microsoft really getting the most out of their relationship with Facebook? Most of what Ballmer has talked about has been purchasing to compete with Google, instead of researching and redesigning. It reminds me of the Intuit vs. Microsoft story (see: Inside Intuit). Back when Intuit was first designing Quicken, they beat Microsoft by effectively researching the target demographic and designing a product to meet their needs. In contrast, Microsoft approached the issue by designing Microsoft Money the way they felt software should work. In the end, Microsoft’s extremely high marketing budget would fail to get Money to consumers, and Intuit’s better designed product won out. For me, that story has been a big lesson: understand who you are designing your product for.

Apple and Google have succeeded by understanding the needs of their audience. The iPhone OS is more intuitive and stable than Windows Mobile, and Google search actually pulls up legitimate results. Microsoft needs to spend more time looking at their audience and designing their product appropriately. They actually did very well with the XBox; it’s not a surprise this was designed through a separate product development process.

Facebook can be a saving grace for Microsoft, but not in the way they seem to be working right now. Instead, Microsoft needs to take full advantage of its exposure to 70+ million web consumers and allow them to influence their next product. The information age has changed, no longer can Microsoft be the second or third mover and expect to succeed by throwing more money at the problem.

- Ainsworth

MobileMe: Re-Launching the iPhone vs. BlackBerry Debate

Published
by
3Cinteractive
on July 16, 2008
in Industry News
. 1 Comment

When Phil Schiller first introduced MobileMe at WWDC he likened it to “push for the rest of us.” Now that the iPhone supports Exchange, and MobileMe offers a consumer-level solution, the debate of iPhone vs. BlackBerry is back. Many of the complaints I had heard were related to the lackluster e-mail service always loading, and the inability to easily manage junk mail.

MobileMe, the 3G service, and the iPhone 2.0 OS resolves these issues and more. During the first introductory days of the MobileMe service, “Push” was choppy and delayed by several minutes. By the end of the weekend, I was able to erase and re-sync/Push my contacts, calendar, e-mail, and bookmarks. Monday morning, I made a couple of changes using iCal and Address Book and the changes were at my iPhone just a minute later.

But, even before this feature, the largest complaint was not calendar or contact syncing; it was e-mail. If you’re wondering if Apple resolved the junk filter issue, you’ll still be disappointed. They have, however, made a small step by allowing users to easily delete multiple e-mails. The 3G network and Push e-mail have made e-mail faster, with no “loading…” screen, which was an irritating feature of Apple’s “fetch” solution. It’s not perfect yet; I hit a terminal “loading…” screen when I dropped service while opening an e-mail. Compared to iPhone 1.x, it’s night and day.

With Apple on the path to creating a MobileMe service that ousts BlackBerry’s Push service, what more is there left to compare? Keyboard? OS?

With the rumors of BlackBerry’s touch screen Thunder device, it’s even more of a debate of operating systems, and I don’t think BlackBerry is suited for an OS war.

- Ainsworth

See Also:
MobileMe on Wikipedia

My Experience at the 3G iPhone Launch

Published
by
3Cinteractive
on July 11, 2008
in Industry News
. 0 Comments

Last year I made it to the initial iPhone launch. I arrived at a small AT&T store, on Linton Blvd, in Boca Raton, FL, six hours early. I was one of the first 20 people in line and just after 7:30PM I walked out of the store with one of the first iPhones.

This week, I’m on vacation in New York City. Late last night I debated making the trip over to the legendary 5th Avenue Store - I was at that store’s grand opening - but I decided a local AT&T store might be the better bet - I should have remembered AT&T stores sold out last year and Apple stores did not.

This years launch was 8:00AM; I strolled up to AT&T 86th and 3rd street store in New York City at ~8:30. I was about 150 people deep, give or take the handful of people that “ran into friends who happened to be standing in line.”

As many of you know, the activation process was now set to be done on sight. That only worked for the first customer as both AT&T and iTunes (Apple) would crash by 8:15.

As I got to the front of the store, the countdown began: “We have no more 16GBs and only 10 8GBs. We are accepting direct fulfillment.”

At this point, I began running the number of line cutters through my head, realizing I was 11 from the front. No more announcements would come, yet I was invited into the store with the chain closing behind me.

5 minutes later my AT&T salesman was handed an iPhone 3G and told, “That’s the last one.” Alas, I was handed my new iPhone 3G and told that the remaining activation process would have to be done at home using iTunes.

Needless to say, the new phone is sexy… however, iTunes is still struggling through the activation process. Once I’m able to get through the set-up process I’ll be sure to add updates on the MobileMe experience; I know there are a few debates about it’s ability to dethrone BlackBerry.

- Ainsworth

The Gateway to Generation-Y

Published
by
3Cinteractive
on June 12, 2008
in Trends & Research
. 0 Comments

I had been spending the past several weeks without an iPhone, and yesterday I felt a bit “out-of-touch.” I thought to myself: no one else was affected by my phone being stolen, and I’ve replaced it with a temporary standard-issue phone, so why the big deal? Then… my 3 year-old phone lit-up with my morning text message from IWantSandy. After painfully navigating through the interface I found my text message and wrote down my to-do list. That’s when I realized my phone wasn’t meant for email or text messaging.
Continue reading ‘The Gateway to Generation-Y’