At Retail’s Big Show 2010, presented by the National Retail Federation in New York City earlier this week, one booth that drew attention belonged to a company called Swagg. Swagg, owned by Qualcomm, wasn’t trying to attract people with its offerings, solutions, or technology. It drew them with an open bar and lounge. What the company actually does remained a mystery. Something with mobile?

One of Swagg’s booth attendants told us they were “trying to get the name out.” Presumably, the idea is to pique people’s interest in the brand before revealing a much-anticipated product or service.  

On its website, the company’s entire “About” story says: “Swagg is brilliant, ingenious, revolutionary, and awesome. It lives on your phone and acts like your best friend. Trade gift cards, share points and get hooked-up everywhere you go.” That’s it. The only tangible takeaway is that somehow it helps you trade gift cards and share (loyalty) points. 

Some companies hesitate to say what it is they do in a clear way. They fear that if they do, they will box themselves in and lose potential customers. In actuality, a company loses potential customers when its offerings are not clear. If customers don’t know how you can help them, they won’t ask you for help.

Today, people are more discerning with how and where they spend their money. Most customers are not going to spend on sheer hype. People are distrustful of advertising, no matter how much a product “acts like your best friend.”

As a new company, Swagg is presented with an opportunity. The brand has a lot of energy and drive. But, it is easier starting with a clearly defined idea, rather than reverse-engineering one further down the road.

The risk of not defining yourself is that someone else might provide a definition for you.

According to The San Diego Union-Tribune: “Qualcomm’s Swagg is a software application. It allows the bar code for a gift card to pop up on a cell phone screen so it can be scanned by retailers.” Maybe Swagg doesn’t think that’s “brilliant, ingenious, revolutionary, and awesome” enough.

The North Face company wanted to promote its brand and increase foot traffic in its Manchester UK store. They knew a tried and true way of getting attention was to give potential shoppers something fun to do, so The North Face created an interactive snowboarding game.

The game, called “The North Face race,” appeared outside a busy train station on a nine-story high digital billboard. A message on the screen encouraged passersby to dial a local-rate number from their mobile phones. Once connected, a recording asked that they use their keypads to select one of three characters. The race then started and characters sped down a digital slope.

After the race, players received a congratulatory SMS-text message containing a gift voucher code that was redeemable at The North Face store. Even though the store was a fifteen-minute walk from the screen, a healthy 88% of those that played redeemed the voucher.

The game ran in October for two consecutive Saturdays. Each day it appeared on the billboard for four hours. During the first Saturday, people engaged with the screen for 10% of the total run time. During the second Saturday, the rate increased to 26%. This increase was accomplished without any marketing beyond word of mouth.

Some brands try so hard to broadcast at potential customers that they forget to think about what people want. In this case, The North Face successfully engaged people and influenced their behavior by focusing on the basics. What do people like? Fun, games, and prizes. Sometimes, it’s just that simple.

(Thanks, Rob Edwards of Canditv)

Mumbai residents paddle Aircel raft through Monsoon-flooded street.

In mid July, a monsoon flooded the area around the Milan subway station in Mumbai, India, stranding commuters. Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait for the water to subside or for a government agency to airlift them to safety. Instead, they were rescued by a billboard.

The billboard, created for the mobile service company Aircel, read “in case of emergency, cut the rope.” Attached to the rope was a full-size inflatable raft. When the company installed the sign before monsoon season, it didn’t make much sense. But as soon as citizens were rowing the raft to safety, the message was clear: Aircel’s customer support had gone beyond cell phone reception.  

The story is an excellent example of using cause marketing to build customer loyalty. Rather than selling a service, Aircel’s marketing provided real value when it mattered most, not just for their customers, but for all customers. The goodwill effort brought in new customers and built a deeper emotional connection between the brand and its existing customers. Not to mention, the unpaid media coverage the initiative received.

Aircel went above and beyond peoples’ expectations. They created, what we call, “meaningful wow.”

(via Springwise)

SET Japan's branded QR code for Coke.

QR (“Quick Response”) Codes are those boxy barcodes that have become more and more prevalent on t-shirts, magazines, stickers, fliers, and pretty much everything else. When scanned with a camera phone equipped with the proper reader software, the code brings up a URL in the phone’s browser. 

Though these codes create a valuable hardlink between the physical world and the web, from a design perspective their boxy look may not be an aesthetic fit for your brand. But, a post on PSFK points to SET Japan, a company that may give brands their cake and let them eat it too. (‘Their cake’ being the hardlink, and ‘eating it too’ being an on-brand, aesthetically appropriate QR Code).