House of Blues -- Using Mobile Marketing to Effectively Target the Youth Market

The House of Blues really hit it this time! Not only are they an excellent nightlife and music venue, but they are forward-thinking, leading-edge direct marketers. Recently, a case study was published by Mobile Marketing in the News outlining what the House of Blues (in partnership with Motorola) accomplished with the help of Soapbox Anywhere.

Here's what they did: "House of Blues, presently using the Web for consumer interactivity in addition to other more traditional means of marketing, decided to leverage the mobile channel to deepen its relationship with its existing and new customers. Recognizing mobile as a personal, one-to-one mass market medium that is 'always on', House of Blues tapped Soapbox Mobile to create its mobile campaigns. The Soapbox Anywhere platform provided personalized mobile interaction in addition to a valuable database of mobile users. The House of Blues mobile trivia campaign placed a 'call-to-action' across in-house TV screens and person-to-person street team interaction by means of unique short codes assigned to House of Blues venues across the U.S. The Soapbox Mobile solution empowered House of Blues to track and report, in real-time, the effectiveness of its mobile campaigns for each of its nationwide locations."

So, here's a case where a company, i.e., House of Blues, used emerging technology to accomplish a lot of things. First, they have built a unique way to acquire new customers and build loyalty (and stronger relationships) with their existing customers. Second, they have definitely figured out a nifty way to build brand awareness. Third, they were able to use their creativity to bring value to their partner, Motorola, in a way that most certainly makes their hearts sing: new revenue streams. Finally, and near and dear to us, they were able to create a program that was easily trackable so that they could see the effectiveness of the campaign in real-time. That's smart direct marketing for sure!

We are advocates of using technology in creative ways to effectively build profitable customer relationships. Kudos to House of Blues, Motorola and Soapbox Mobile for leading the way!