Miller Lite, Amex Use Mobile As Window Dressing. This Is A Bad Sign
Written by Evan SchumanMarch 14th, 2011
There's no question that mobile payment has got the buzz these days, and the seemingly endless list of trials is one big indication. But the other heads up is major companies seemingly throwing in references to mobile as window-dressing for efforts that have little to do with it. The latest faux mobile efforts come from American Express and Miller Lite.
Both debuted at this week's South by Southwest Interactive show in Austin, Texas. The Amex trial was with Foursquare, and it let consumers associate their American Express card with Foursquare and then use that check-in service to get automatic discounts through mobile devices. Sounds good and mobile, no? Not at all. Turns out that the program requires consumers to use their rectangular mag-striped plastic for each purchase. In short, both Foursquare and mobile were solely decorative. Amex could have accomplished the same thing by issuing a news release and putting up posters announcing that its card users could get instant rebates at select retailers.
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We're at a nexus in the evolution of customer reward and incentives and the tools that are being used are based on 1980's batch processing technology. 
-Thad Peterson
