Holiday prep 2004: Musicland gives real-time marketing a spin

This is the second in a series of stories about retailers bolstering their Web sites in time for 2004 holiday sales. Read about how Wine.com revamped its Web search capabilities, and stay tuned for more retailers' stories.

When your target audience is teenagers, the same old boring marketing techniques just aren't going to cut it. So Musicland Group decided to try something different to attract the coveted teen demographic. This holiday season it began piloting a real-time alerting service from MessageCast. The service lets subscribers receive instant messages on their cell phones, PDAs and desktops, depending on their preferences.

The MessageCast alerts combine product news, such as the availability of a new CD or DVD, with content such as the latest scoop on celebrities and entertainers, says Brian Miller, vice president of marketing at Musicland. The Minneapolis retailer sells music, movies and entertainment-related products through 900 retail stores and online, under the names Sam Goody, Suncoast and Media Play.

"We've looked at consumer research and found our target demographic, which is teens, prefers instant messaging over e-mail," Miller says. "This is a less intrusive way to offer them information using a channel that they interact with daily."

To continue reading, register here to become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

This is the second in a series of stories about retailers bolstering their Web sites in time for 2004 holiday sales. Read about how Wine.com revamped its Web search capabilities, and stay tuned for more retailers' stories.

When your target audience is teenagers, the same old boring marketing techniques just aren't going to cut it. So Musicland Group decided to try something different to attract the coveted teen demographic. This holiday season it began piloting a real-time alerting service from MessageCast. The service lets subscribers receive instant messages on their cell phones, PDAs and desktops, depending on their preferences.

The MessageCast alerts combine product news, such as the availability of a new CD or DVD, with content such as the latest scoop on celebrities and entertainers, says Brian Miller, vice president of marketing at Musicland. The Minneapolis retailer sells music, movies and entertainment-related products through 900 retail stores and online, under the names Sam Goody, Suncoast and Media Play.

"We've looked at consumer research and found our target demographic, which is teens, prefers instant messaging over e-mail," Miller says. "This is a less intrusive way to offer them information using a channel that they interact with daily."

MessageCast broadcasts its LiveMessage alerts over Microsoft's MSN Alerts Network. Subscribers need to have a Microsoft .Net Passport - if consumers have an account with Microsoft's MoneyCentral, Hotmail, or MSN, then they use that login.

Consumers are in control of how messages get delivered, says Royal Farros, CEO of MessageCast. A subscriber can opt to have alerts sent to the desktop if the subscriber is online or to an e-mail account or a mobile phone when offline. With presence-detection features that reveal a subscriber's online status, MessageCast can determine where each particular alert should be sent, Farror says.

Since launching the services in October, Musicland has seen much higher response rates to its alerts than are typical of simple e-mail marketing blasts. One reason is that customers opt-in for the alerts, Miller says. "People are more likely to interact with us when they have to raise their hand and do something. Permission on the front end definitely helps us. Also, it's something new and different," Miller says.

Because the MessageCast service is built atop Microsoft's messaging infrastructure, Microsoft maintains control of each subscriber's personal information. As the broadcast engine, all MessageCast sees is encrypted subscriber codes, Farros says. "Microsoft has the subscribers' information - not us, and not even Musicland," Farros says.

That's something that appeals to privacy-cautious subscribers, Miller says. "Consumers are getting more savvy about with whom and how they share their information," Miller says. "This is a way to reach some people who are skeptical about the whole thing."

To keep subscribers interested in the alerts, Musicland works to maintain a balance between promotional offers and content. "We don't want to abuse the channel. We think instant messaging is used more for relaying information than for commerce, and we don't want to be batting customers over the head with offers," Miller says.