There are plenty of people who are using scanners, QR codes and various apps to price shop at different retailers.  They go to a store, find the price and then the app or website will give them competitors rate all over town.  Food and medicine are two categories that have seen the least amount of smartphone usage (researching) for coupons and discounts.

But these categories won’t be left alone for long.  In fact, “Catalina, the company that powers loyalty programs for 30,000 stores nationwide (including those coupons at checkout), acquired mobile commerce company Modiv Mobile.”  Modiv, now Catalina Mobile’s app will work like this:  “A shopper walks into the store, opens the store-branded app and receives offers based on their shopping history. To skip the line at checkout, shoppers can scan barcodes of items they put into the cart to buy the haul right on the phone. Catalina says the app will be available in 200 more Stop & Shops this summer.”  The company knows that people are not going to scan a box of Cheerios and run across town if it’s a few cents or a dollar cheaper elsewhere, what people will do though is redeem food coupons through the app and either print them at home, or sync and load them onto their supermarket loyalty cards.

Additionally, a new app that has hit the market is SnipSnap.  This app simplifies the couponing process by allowing users to snap pictures of all of your coupons, save them to your iPhone and redeem them from your device, without having to carry around all those bits of paper.  The app also provides you with in-store reminders for when to use your coupons, expiration date alerts, uses for your “any” coupons and the ability to share with friends.

For more information on both products, check out the articles, here and here

Punchcard is a digital version of paper loyalty cards, which have been less popular over the years due to the easy ability for people to take advantage of the cards.  The Punchcard app allows customers to take photos of their receipts in order to get their loyalty “points,” which then equates to cash payouts or other rewards directly from the merchants.  Though this app is not the only one on the market, their marketing is a bit different.  They’ve “turned on” loyalty programs for millions of locations across the US, even if the merchant hasn’t requested it.  The company believes that this seeding technique will build their business faster than their competitors (Facebook just acquired loyalty play Tagtile, Google acquired Punchd, Perka and Perkville).

Currently the app works at 15 million locations in the US.  As users snap photos of their receipts and input them into the Punchcard system, they earn cash, freebies and rewards (usually on the 10th purchase).  The company currently offers two tiers of service “(one for $29/month, another for $99/month), which provides businesses with access to an analytics view into who their customers are, and an automated re-marketing program that pushes offers back to customers to incent them to buy again. The solution works best for retailers, restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, and other local businesses that want to increase the frequency of their customers’ purchases.”  The company boasts “huge conversion rates” from the app download to usage and repeat usage.

For more information, check out: http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/27/barely-3-months-post-launch-loyalty-app-punchcard-live-in-15m-locations-nears-profitability/

Chipotle is somewhat of an enigma.  How does a now household restaurant chain name with more than 1,200 stores, 1.7 million social media fans create so much buzz without an onslaught of traditional marketing?

It’s something that Chipotle prides itself on, keeping loyal to its simple goal of “changing the way people think about their food,” while not spending millions on traditional advertising and channeling their energy and resources into grassroots initiatives.  Here is a sneak peek into Chipotle’s social media efforts, with a few highlights from Mashable’s interview with Chipotle’s New Media Manager, Joe Stupp:

1. One-on-One Conversation – Chipotle is very loyal to its one-on-one engagement model for its social media platforms, in fact the company responds to 83% of its Facebook posts and about 90% of its Twitter activity.  The 3-person response team makes it a point to get to know their customers, by having genuine conversations with them and not simply chasing metrics.
2. Creative Content – The company does not like producing boring content, so if you are looking for dry press releases, you may be out of luck.  The company made a bit of a splash during the Grammy Awards when they launched their first (and only) tv ad, an animated film called “Back to the Start,” which reinforces the company’s core philosophy of getting people to think about where their food comes from.  Additionally, the company launched a YouTube video “Abandoned,” in which they “spotlight on the impact of industrialization on family farms and, again, initiated public conversation on a relevant issue.”  Keeping content creative is a key to engaging with their community.
3. Community-Driven Initiatives - Chipotle is very passionate about creating tangible online and offline promotions that “reinforce its commitment to supporting family farmers and educating people about food.”  This is done through their Halloween “Boo-rito” contest and subsequently the newest dress up as a family farm animal and you can buy a burrito for $2, where the $2 actually goes towards FarmAid.  Also through the new Chipotle Cultivate Music Festival in Chicago, where food, farmers, chefs and musicians are all together to feature responsibly-grown dishes and educational opportunities about sustainable farming and treatment of animals.  Lastly, the company recently launched “Farm Team,” which is an online initiative that rewards people for exploring the website, watching videos, taking polls and sharing their farming practice knowledge with others in their social network.  Participants are rewarded with food, t-shirts and other prizes.

So, what’s next for the company? Honestly, Stupp says more of the same.  The focus on individual conversations and community education initiatives are core to the company and will not waiver as the brand grows.

For the full article, go to: http://mashable.com/2012/03/21/chipotle-social-media/

The idea of farming usually connotes living in the country, working with the land and getting your hands dirty, but new ways of “urban farming,” are bringing the farming lifestyle to cities, high-rises and other urban environments.

The UK, Japan and America have come up with some truly innovative ways for technology and farming to work together which will benefit everything from personal projects to multimillion-dollar innovations.

UK

• Postcardens is a tiny garden made out of recycled greeting cards.  Each “desk spaced” size Postcarden comes with cress seeds that grow in a few days and last about 2 weeks.
• MyFarm is a real farm in Cambridgeshire, England that allows digital crowds to help decide how the farm runs its day -to-day operations.  “A group of 10,000 online “farmers” will then get to work with the farm manager and vote on the farm’s major decisions, all for an annual fee of $47.”  This is a way to blend education and the Internet.
• Farm:Shop is creating a community of urban farmers who provide their own personal grown goods to the central Farm: Shop and then sell them.  The cool part of this project is the use of “aquaponics, ” which is hooking up a fish tank as the watering system.

Japan

• Merry Project is a rooftop garden project for smaller herbs and produce.  This tiny gardens are housed in bottle caps and only $2.
• Green Potato is a project that seeks out abandoned or wasted spaces and grows sweet potatoes on the roof.  The organization chose this crop because it is able to grow in harsher conditions (aka on a roof).
• Pasona 02 is a project that converts old underground vaults into valuable green space.  Using light-emitting diodes, metal halide lamps and sodium vapor lamps, these vaults are now spaces that can grow rice, fruits and vegetables.

If you’re interested in what we are doing in the US and if there are any ideas that you can use, check out the full article and project descriptions here: http://mashable.com/2012/02/01/urban-farming-technology/

There’s a new app that’s making it fun to go to lunch, even if you don’t have anyone to go with.  GrubWithUs already has 30,000 people that have signed up to dine with strangers.  This website (and now app) hosts dining experiences in seven cities (including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC), with a theme and negotiated fixed menu.  Anyone is able to attend and people can sign up and pay through the GrubWithUs website or app, so there is no awkwardness when it comes time to pay the check.

The addition of the GrubWithUs mobile site makes the experience more well rounded for the guest.  Users can pull their reservation up on the can and also chat with fellow diners, a function that is available but somewhat hidden on the website.  The app also keeps track of favorite diners’ meal plans, which means users can star other’s profiles and when they sign up for an experience, the other users will get an alert.

Check out the website here: http://www.grubwithus.com/ or download the app here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id492155022

Never eat lunch alone again.  A new application called LunchMeet, works with LinkedIn to find professional contacts in your network and area who are available and wanting to meet up for lunch, dinner or drinks.  This free app aims at helping business professionals strengthen and expand their professional network by optimizing their free time.

“The new application, available for iPhone devices, is easy to use”:

1. Log in to the app using your LinkedInTM account
2. Enter the timeslots and location of your availability
3. Search for other professionals who are also available in the same area during the same timeslot
4. Call them or use the in-app messaging to arrange a LunchMeet

Several additional features of this app include, posting your meeting availability on your LinkedIn status and automatically adding meeting details to your iPhone calendar.

The app takes privacy very seriously, which is why only your contacts will be able to see and access your personal information, all other searching contacts will only be able to see your name and title.

For more information about this unique and savvy application, go to: http://mashable.com/2011/11/08/lunchmeet/

Starbucks has created a new QR code campaign to teach consumers about their coffee.  These QR code ads are featured in Starbucks stores, ads in magazines like People and on billboard advertisements.  Although these QR codes will be used across several mediums, all of the videos will not be the same.  These ads will include content that provide consumers with videos about the current in-store featured coffee, music examples from the region where the coffee was picked, expert testimonials about the uniqueness of the coffee, as well as some ads that promote their mobile payment app.  Starbucks really wants to “interact” with the customer and provide them with information about their products and brand that increase loyalty.

This QR code program is not a first for Starbucks, who utilized them back in May for a scavenger hunt promo with Lady Gaga.  For more information on this QR code promo, go to: http://mashable.com/2011/10/26/starbucks-qr-codes/

Here at Rox we love wine.  So when we found out about this Australian wine company, Between Five Bells, debuting  new labels, we were intrigued.  The new labels feature an infograph about the wine-making process, including all of  ”all the data of the various grape varieties as they entered the winery and went through primary fermentation. There are eight axis at play, including the heat of the ferments, the time on skins and the ripeness of the grapes.”  The labels are meant to inspire the casual wine drinker by providing some background information about the flavors you can expect from the wine and the wine makers hope is that drinkers will want to do more research.

For more information, go to: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/australian-wine-uses-infographics-its-bottle-labels-135674

Here are a few examples of the labels below.