O2 is expanding its location-based marketing programme for brand owners, with a new scheme called ‘O2 Moments’, which combines a number of existing services into a single mobile application.
Launching next week, it will link O2 Media, O2 Money and O2 Priority, and is expected to be available on a number of smartphone operating systems including iOS, BlackBerry and Android.
The operator will use its data network – including its WiFi hot-spot service which it announced in January – to feed promotional messages directly to customers from its retail and business partners, including WHSmith, French Connection and Harvey Nichols.
The Moments app will flag up offers nearby which consumers can redeem by showing sales staff the voucher on the screen of their handsets. The service spans 3,500 high street outlets.
Customers who download the application will be targeted with promotions based on their O2 More profile which details their interests. More than 4 million O2 customers have opted in to O2 More via the operator’s website since the service was launched in December 2009.
The O2 More website currently displays exclusive O2 offers, such as discount vouchers, based on the details. Customers also typically receive one promotional text message per day.
But O2 Moments will provide retail and business partners with the ability to send customers details of their offers and promotions based on their current location. Customers will be alerted to any offers through the O2 Moments application on their device, similar to the way Facebook users receive message alerts on their mobile.
The O2 Wi-Fi service offers customers on any network access to free Wi-Fi within its 450 retail stores via their enabled and registered mobile device.
O2 said at the launch it would partner with other retailers to offer free WiFi for their customers and also the ability to send them in store promotions. Details of partners are expected to be announced next week.
O2 has partnered with cinema chain Odeon to provide a similar deal to Orange Wednesdays, which gives Orange customers a buy-one-get-one-free offer on cinema tickets.
The launch will be backed by a £6m ad campaign by VCCP.
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