LSN Mobile, First Data Partner to Deliver First- of-Its-Kind Mobile Offer Program

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LSN Mobile, who owns and operates the nation's largest local mobile news network, and First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, have together unveiled a new mobile offer program that gives both advertisers and retailers an efficient, cost-effective and trackable mobile marketing solution to boost store traffic. The companies announced the news today at the 2011 MMA Forum New York.

“With My Mobile Offer, First Data is working with LSN to connect consumers and merchants together in more ways and to create simple and seamless interactions between them.”

Branded as “My Mobile Offer,” this first-of-its-kind solution leverages the combined characteristics of Short Message Service (SMS), mobile advertising and traditional marketing and capitalizes on the popularity and increasing usage of personalized offers and discounts. The program allows brands to take full advantage of the power of mobile marketing.

Here’s how it works: Once consumers opt-in to redeem an offer, My Mobile Offer sends a unique code to their mobile device on SMS. The consumer then visits the retailer’s store or restaurant and redeems the code at checkout. On the back end, My Mobile Offer provides rich demographic information that retailers and advertisers can use to hone and personalize future marketing campaigns.

The simplicity of the solution is one of its strongest attributes: The codes are simple for both customers and retailers, requiring no additional technology for in-store redemption, and because customers must opt-in to participate, the mobile offers aren’t an intrusion. Retailers and advertisers simply pick the type of offer they want to provide, choose how they want to promote it (through LSN Mobile’s mobile ad network or through their own marketing efforts, or both) and work with LSN Mobile and First Data to design their mobile campaign. My Mobile Offer uses First Data’s Mobile Voucher (mVoucher) solution for redemption, enabling a retailer’s existing point-of-sale infrastructure to handle the redemption of the unique codes with no hardware to install or technology to download.

“We wanted to accomplish several key things with My Mobile Offer. First, it needed to be a simple, seamless program that consumers will readily engage with,” said Lee Durham, co-founder and CEO of LSN Mobile. “Second, it needs to drives retail sales, and finally it needs to provide retailers with some additional insights on their mobile customer base. This program delivers all three in a turnkey manner.”

”Consumers are increasingly turning to text messaging as a fast and mobile means for managing their busy lives, and that includes staying on top of the best offers and discounts from their favorite retailers,” said Sarah Owen, vice president, Personalized Marketing and Loyalty at First Data. “With My Mobile Offer, First Data is working with LSN to connect consumers and merchants together in more ways and to create simple and seamless interactions between them.”

The back-end consumer segmentations give merchants an understanding not only of who is engaging with their offers, but more importantly, who is converting—and how to reach those buyers with future, highly targeted messaging.

My Mobile Offer takes advantage of the combined market strengths of LSN Mobile and First Data. LSN Mobile operates the largest local ad network in the U.S., utilizing all mobile platforms (mobile web, mobile apps, mobile video and SMS/text) to reach mobile consumers. The company also has a proven track record of developing and managing mobile marketing campaigns for national brands and advertisers and maintains strong ties to mobile carriers and major media companies.

First Data serves more than 4 million local merchant locations and is the largest acquirer processor in the U.S. The company processes a broad range of payment solutions globally and has a wealth of experience developing mobile commerce technologies that are simple and accessible for both merchants and consumers.

About First Data

Around the world, every second of every day, First Data makes payment transactions secure, fast and easy for merchants, financial institutions and their customers. First Data leverages its vast product portfolio and expertise to drive customer revenue and profitability. Whether the choice of payment is by debit or credit card, gift card, check or mobile phone, online or at the checkout counter, First Data takes every opportunity to go beyond the transaction.

About LSN Mobile, Inc.

LSN Mobile, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a mobile media and marketing company that enables local media and brand advertisers to extend their reach to the mobile consumer market via their handset. LSN Mobile has the nation's largest network of local television news content, in both English and Spanish, currently offering news, weather, sports and more to more than 30 million unique mobile users per month. LSN Mobile also enables companies to rapidly deploy direct mobile marketing campaigns to mobile users via text messaging, rich media content, and interactive mobile marketing campaigns across all wireless carriers and handsets. LSN Mobile's "Local News, Weather and More" mobile apps for Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry platforms are among the top ten free downloadable local news applications. To learn more, please visit www.lsnmobile.com.