Impulse and Barry M’s Treasure Hunt hits the spot

Brands are becoming increasingly adventurous in their use of mobile applications and location-based marketing technologies. Last week, Barry M and Impulse followed trend with the announcement of a location-based marketing campaign, which take advantage of the social networking site Facebook and the Barry M mobile application.

Under the campaign, co-branded handbags containing both Impulse and Barry M products will be placed at different locations across the UK. The target audience (16-24 year old women) will then be encouraged to engage in a kind of “treasure hunt”; using GPS technology, social networking sites and the Barry M app to locate the handbags. Since the number of goodie bags is limited, this treasure hunt has a competitive edge as well and we look forward to checking out the photos of young women fiercely fighting their way to get their hands on these cherished prizes (I personally have a bit of a Lynx-ad image in mind, but let’s see what happens!)

This campaign is a great example of using – and in this case merging – social networking sites, mobile marketing and location-based marketing techniques. Whilst many companies now have an app of some sort, too many of these are of little use and benefit to the customer, discouraging them from engaging with the brand in this potentially powerful way.

But now Barry M is ensuring that its mobile application offers a tangible benefit to customers, thus strengthening the role of this particular channel in the customer relationship.

Mobile marketing is not the only sphere of digital that often falls short on engaging customers. Facebook pages with hundreds of thousands of fans have often been seen as proof of consumer brand engagement and a successful end in itself, rather than as a springboard and opportunity to reach out to this keen audience.

Impulse and Barry M are making the most of their online presence and encouraging their customers to use the digital relationship to receive a fun and rewarding off-line experience. In doing so, they are creating a powerful multi-channel brand experience – precisely what brands should seek to do in this day and age.