Today we hear over at the Indianalopis Star that Hardee's has been experimenting with a new kind of coupon:

Hardee's customers in Indianapolis and St. Louis can download coupons to their cell phone for free and then show the phone to a cashier for a discount.

There are a lot of important things going on here, the first of which is, that the decision to roll out this new promotion was predicated on who Hardee's hoped to reach, and how they hoped to appeal to those customers:

   

There's something that just seems wrong about a 45-year-old woman clipping coupons so she can inhale two 1,410- calorie Monster Thickburgers for the price of one.

At least that's what the executives at Hardee's thought.

So the fast-food chain turned to technology to get its coupons into the hands of its core customers -- young men who aren't exactly watching their weight.

It's too early to draw conclusions, but "We've gotten some positive feedback from a couple of restaurants. It's too early to talk about redemption," said Steve Lemley, vice president of marketing for St. Louis-based Hardee's. The whole idea of electronic couponing was new to us."

Indeed, it's still new to many companies. However, the more that companies like Hardee's dabble, the more the cell phone is becoming a popular tool for marketing and advertising.
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Currently, the most popular methods of engaging customers involve text messaging, to enter a sweepstakes, to get alerts about products or to vote for something, like your favorite American Idol.

The most important gem is buried at the bottom of the article:

Overall, about 42 percent of cell-phone users are open to advertising if it's relevant, if they asked for it or if they will get coupons or free services, according to the market research firm Yankee Group.

Put that figure in context--email inboxes are overrun with spam, more and more people are using their Tivos and DVRs to fast forward through commercials, newspaper circulation is declining, and savvy web surfers are blocking pop-ups and ignoring banner ads in greater numbers every day.

Source : IndyStar