SOCIAL MEDIA ASIA PODCAST: Toys “R” Us Reveals Mobile Shopping & Barcode Asia Strategy » mobilegroove

In brief: MSG is proud to be a media partner and launch a series of podcasts in the run up to Social Media World Forum Asia (September 22-23, Singapore), an event organized by Six Degrees bringing together major global brands (Facebook, Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, BMW, OgilvyOne, Freemantle Asia) to discuss how they are using social media in their marketing and public relations strategies.  Today we speak with Argha Sen, Toys “R” Us head of Marketing & CRM.

Asia is fast becoming a major focus for social media giants. Indonesia and Japan have risen to become the second and the third largest Tweeting countries; Facebook has opened offices in Asia and forged a partnership with Malaysian based MOL; and a recent milestone report from Nielsen confirms that social media usage has seen unprecedented growth in Asia Pacific in the past year and is now “one of the most critical trends” – period.

Against this backdrop, the region is a perfect test bed for mobile social marketing approaches (what I call the combination of mobile, social media and marketing). Little wonder that major global brands have quietly and cleverly harnessed social media to raise brand awareness and – ultimately – generate sales.

A textbook example of this is Toys “R” Us, one of the companies presenting at Social Media World Forum Asia (September 22-23, Singapore). It has placed social media at the center of a retail strategy sharply aimed at results. Specifically, the company integrates social media with other efforts (loyalty programs and barcode schemes, for example) to make and maintain contact with customers before, during and after their in-store visit.

PODCAST WITH ARGHA SENN

I caught up with Argha Sen, head of marketing and CRM of Toys “R” Us, where he is responsible for managing company programs across 8 countries in the region. He also directs the company’s multi-country loyalty program. We discussed the details of his strategy, the results of his barcode/iPhone launch in Taiwan, and the topics he will discuss during the conference.

The podcast with Argha – chock-filled with fascinating observations and figures – is one of my personal favorites, which is why I couldn’t edit it down beyond 15:45 minutes. I urge you to listen in and hear his pragmatic views on social media, personal mobility and how this all comes together in a shopping experience aimed to blur the boundaries between physical retail (in-store shopping) and virtual interaction (scan a barcode to engage via social media). Very progressive and extremely impressive! I greatly look forward to a follow-up interview when Argha can return to discuss some hard numbers and real results.

Among the highlights:

LOYALTY & RETAIL: As Argha sees it, the number one priority of all his programs is to drive people into the stores to buy toys. The linchpin of this advanced CRM (Customer Relationship Management) strategy is the Star Card program, the Toys “R” Us loyalty program that runs across six markets in Asia and counts some 2.3 million members. This program drives “about 50-60, sometimes even 70 percent of sales,” which is why it is crucial to make sure all social media efforts support it. How? Integration. As Argha puts it: “Ultimately, they are connected to each other….The Facebook page takes you to our YouTube channel, or the Facebook page takes you to our store or takes you to our website; the website takes you to our Facebook page and all of them drive you to the store.”

MOBILE: Mobile penetration in Hong Kong (where Argha is based) rates among the highest in the world, so mobile is a big part of the company’s strategy. “There are three things that a consumer in Hong Kong does not leave home without: one is the Hong Kong ID card, which you need to carry around with you all the time; the second is what we call the Octopus card, which is really a transport card that allows you to get onto the subway, the bus, the ferries; and the third thing that a Hong Kong person is never without is his or her mobile phone…. So, that obviously presents huge, huge marketing opportunities provided of course that it is done the right way.”

BARCODES: Unlike the U.S., barcode scanning in Asia is about information first and price comparison second. Apps such as Red Laser have not gained traction – yet. Instead, barcodes are the way to “link the customer to videos and other kinds of elements that we can’t always display in the store.” Barcodes also fill the information gap. “You can’t always get all that information from the store staff, so one of the things we are moving towards is [displaying] a QR code next to the product. The customer simply scans that and it takes him or her to a website or to a landing page or to a video explaining the features of the product.” The barcodes were also featured in the company’s summer catalog, allowing customers to scan the printed page and land at the website (where they can also see the video). “We see a lot of opportunities for us to continuously experiment with the QR codes and build this in-store engagement, and take the customer to information and offers that we normally can’t give in the store.”

POINTS & PAYMENTS: Argha is also interested in exploring CRM and developing more holistic programs incorporating coupons and loyalty cards that can be completely executed on the mobile. “Ultimately, there may even be a situation where the customer also pays with their mobile, like they do in Japan or in Korea.” Until then Argha shares his insights around a new service (available in Taiwan) that allows people with smartphones and to swipe a barcode and collect points. “In the future, instead of swiping the [loyalty] card, the customer will swipe the mobile phone and we’ve already launched this in all our stores in Taiwan. There you can actually scan your iPhone. We give you a barcode, the Star Card is digitized and turned into a barcode, and that barcode is stored in the customer’s iPhone. The cashier simply scans the customer’s iPhone instead of scanning the card, and that links to the database and that gives the customer the points and the rewards and the coupons and all of that.”

MY TAKE:

Toys “R” Us understands the fit between mobile, the fiercely personal devices we carry with us at all times, and CRM, the programs and approaches that treat us as a valued customer and individual. Argha tells me the complete CRM program will be executed over the mobile phone in the next two years. But it’s not just about the mobile; it’s about linking CRM with social media (YouTube videos and the company Facebook page) at the all-important point of purchase. Connect the dots, and the power of mobile in retail is proportionate to the level of integration at the POS (point of sales). Barcodes, coupons, mobile payments – these are all elements of an exceptional shopping experience, but it’s the integration that makes them truly effective. I’ll have more on this in Real Goods, Real Commerce & Real Results: The positive future for mobile operator billing platforms, a soon-to-be released white paper MSG has produced on behalf of Tego Interactive.

In the meantime, allow me to leave you with Argha’s key message to his peers: “Instead of treating this as a completely separate channel and a separate thing that only the marketing guys are involved in, we tend to integrate this with all our other marketing channels and all our other business channels. Now, if we do things here which are not integrated with the business, however cool they are and however award winning they might be, they really have no place here. We’re not here to win awards, we’re not here to get plaudits for our social media work, we are here to run a toy business and to get the customer to the store and to get them to buy toys.”

REGISTER FOR SOCIALMEDIA WORLDFORUM ASIA

You can register for the event here and receive a 15 percent discount – just quote that you’re a reader of MSearchGroove.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE. [15:45]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 2:37 pm and is filed under Barcodes, Events, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Social Media, Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.