We have decided to start an interesting series of posts on how our clients are using Stun! to build their database and drive more revenue. Our first story comes from straight out of Vegas, and it involves the number one casino in Las Vegas, MGM Mirage. Their largest property, MGM Grand, recently retained a moving billboard company called Big Traffic to drive up and down the Strip promoting their award-winning nightlife properties Studio54 and Tabu.

MGM Grand wanted to add an interactive component to the campaign, so they turned to us for help. While they knew the basics of mobile marketing, with short codes and keywords, they didn’t realize the full extent of what they could do with our Stun! SMS platform. Combining an offline marketing channel, an outdoor billboard, with an SMS campaign gives MGM immediate trackable results of its effectiveness.

Picture of one of the mobile billboard trucks promoting ROK BOX on Monday Nights

After our first meeting, it was apparent that MGM needed three things to make this campaign a success:

• They had to create a good enough incentive so that pedestrians would want to text in to get on the list.
• They needed quantifiable results that this campaign was going to make them money.
• They wanted an easy way to grow their database quickly.

We discussed what would drive a consumer to text in and it soon become clear that the killer app was to “Become a VIP, and get on list”. MGM Grand loved the idea that people could quickly add themselves to the guest list simply by texting the event keyword (as seen in pictures here ROK or DUB), to their short code 646629. A message immediately pops back asking someone to rvsp by responding with the event keyword, their full name, + number of guests (example: DUB Jared Reitzin 3).

This actually killed three birds with one stone:

• It gave someone a really good incentive to want to text the short code (everyone wants to be a VIP)
• It provided MGM with the ability to track who was coming their events, what clubs they were attending, and any guests they were bringing (quantifiable results)
• It created a new subscriber record in Stun! along with their cell phone number, and first/last name so they could market to them in the future (building up their database).

I am sure MGM Grand knows, as most clubs, what each person will spend if they walk in the door. With our latest upgrade to the RSVP Manager they can mark off who actually attended, which in turn helps them determine the ROI of the digital marketing efforts expended.

Picture of one of the mobile billboard trucks promoting Dub Mechanics on Tuesday May 19th

The RSVP Manager also allows them to regulate how many people can attend by limiting the guest list capacity. If the event gets too full and someone tries to rsvp over the phone, they will receive a message back politely letting them know the situation. Also, after the guest list closes, an hour before the event begins, MGM’s managers will receive a text messaging letting them know that an email has been sent to them with the guest list attached as an Excel file. All they have to do is print it out, bring it to the door and wait for people to show up. The clubber gives the door person their phone number or last name, who then checks their name off the list and lets them into the club.

The great thing about having a mobile guest list is that anyone can join it simply by texting in the event name to a short code. If you are a promoter, you don’t have to remember to write someone’s name on a list, you simply give them the short code and keyword. We even have some great features in the works that will allow someone to be more selective about who attends an event by asking for a pin number that expires when used.

The RSVP Manager upgrade is available now to all mobileStorm customers using Stun!. All you need is an SMS plan and the RSVP Manager. Sign up today!

Jared Reitzin
CEO
mobileStorm Inc.
Technology Entrepreneurship