Mobile marketing platform Placecast<\/strong> and At&T<\/strong> partnered to test location-specific retail messages (ShopAlerts), including coupons, offers, and promotional content in four cities for one month earlier this year. The opt-in study included four major retailers, all Draftfcb<\/a><\/strong> clients, with specific challenges and goals. Customers received a relevant message when they were within a “geo-fence,” the set perimeter around any participating store or brand. The finding: Geo-targeted messages resulted in immediate action and significant conversion rates. The study also revealed that consumers are looking for more than traditional advertising and deals from brands:\u00a0\u201c[Brands] may not be able to offer a coupon or a deal, but consumers still want to learn more about products and that supports an awareness goal,\u201d as Draftfcb’s CEO, Patrick Moorhead, explained. I don’t think it’s a stretch to connect that idea to our basic approach to content merchandising.<\/p>\n Read more about the study at emarketer.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n New Step in F-Commerce Development?<\/span><\/p>\n The news on the (virtual) street is that Facebook<\/strong> will release four new buttons–“Read,” “Watched,” “Listened,” and “Want”–in the very near future, which will generate more specific information under the soon-to-be-umbrella “Like” button and provide new ways to track and sort content. Following recent changes<\/a> to how users can share information and organize friends, no one can question Facebook’s goal of keeping up with–excuse me, surpassing–the functionality of its new competitor, Google+. Needless to say, this change is loaded with potential for advertisers and retailers using Facebook, too. Facebook users are, of course, engaged in a lively discussion about the change.<\/p>\n