The concept of digital loyalty and connected rewards gained popularity nearly a decade ago, but companies like Mobivity are still finding ways to innovate. The company recently released a “zero-cost” media exchange of in-brand and in-game advertising for restaurants. The company’s new Connected Rewards Marketplace links restaurants and other brands to game developers, so they can reach larger audiences in a more affordable way.
Mobivity’s concept is a fairly straightforward one. Game developers can join the Connected Rewards Marketplace to promote downloads of specific games in one of their owned channels, using rewards from partner restaurant groups as the incentive for users to complete certain actions. For every media impression offered in the brand’s channels, the Connected Rewards Marketplace matches the same number of media impressions to mobile game publishers, developers, and ad networks. They says this helps deliver branded rewards to gamers by promoting more downloads and plays, and it helps restaurants stretch their marketing budgets so they can affordably reach larger, newer audiences.
The debut of Mobivity’s enhanced Connected Rewards Marketplace comes at a time when both restaurant brands and game developers are dealing with tighter budgets and rising competition. By giving gamers a way to earn rewards from their favorite restaurant chains, Mobivity is driving customer acquisition and encouraging additional spend.
“With more than half of mobile gamers eating fast food at least once per week, gamers want brand rewards, and brands want to get in front of more gamers. Using the Connected Rewards Marketplace to connect audiences through rewards is proving to be the fastest way to drive customer and user acquisition,” explains Mobivity CEO Dennis Becker. “The mobile gamer audience rivals the size of traditional media channels and is highly engaged with brand ads and rewards. It’s a win-win-win for brands, game developers, and the gamer turned brand customer.”
In an interview with Street Fight last year, Becker said he sees gaming as an area of growing opportunity for Mobivity.
“While some experiments may seem like moonshots, mobile gaming presents a valuable co-marketing opportunity for brands with a local retail presence,” he said at the time.
Now with the Connected Rewards Marketplace, which debuted at the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Phoenix earlier this month, Becker is getting the opportunity to test his theory.
This debut also comes just months after Mobivity appointed Kim Carlson chief revenue officer in a bid to accelerate market adoption of the company’s rewards-based user acquisition channel for mobile games and apps. At the time of her hiring, Carlson said she planned to use her mobile gaming and ad expertise to drive the company’s revenue operations, particularly among gaming publishers and major restaurant, convenience, and retail brands.
Her efforts appear to be working. In the short time since its debut, Mobivity says its Connected Rewards program has “quadrupled” the number of game developers and brands participating, helping some of the industry’s biggest restaurant groups achieve “acquisition and performance at scale that exceeds market KPIs.”
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