Creaking video chain Blockbuster has dragged some of its hulk into the 21st century with a mobile promotional voucher.
The solution produced by Commidea and Eagle Eye Solutions allows the video rental company to send text messages to its customers containing unique codes and information about its Night In promotional offer. Customers on T-Mobile can text the words ‘Night In’ to 3000, and get a voucher code sent to their mobile phone.
The voucher allows customers to choose two movies for two nights, and throws in some sickly fizzy pop, some sweets and a bag of popcorn, all for £5 from Monday to Friday.
“It makes better business sense to use mobile phones as the medium to issue promotional vouchers, rather than the paper alternative,” said Bryn Owen, head of marketing at Blockbuster UK.
“Our staff don’t feel the pressure of checking the validity of vouchers. The chip and PIN machine does it all for them, meaning the risk of mal-redemption (Is that a word? – Ed) is removed. It is fantastic that we can use this technology through our existing infrastructure with minimal cost and effort.”
The voucher is nothing new for Commidea and Eagle Eye Solutions as they launched a similar solution back in November 2008 with Coors and the Pitcher & Piano bar chain (http://www.commidea.com/pages/index.asp?content_id=264).
Unfortunately, the voucher scheme is only available for T-Mobile users, and if our local Blockbuster is anything to go by, and the stories of impending bankruptcy (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/17/blockbuster-dvd-chain-chapter-11) are right, then it’s probably going to be too little, too late. Blockbusted?