Services That Help Clients Monetize Digital Product Marketing Strategy | Neurotic Media

JC Penney: Music Gamification

A social network campaign that integrated MP3 and ringtone giveaways into a Facebook game.

Opportunity: JC Penney wanted to increase brand awareness during the Back-to-School timeframe and incentivize consumers to become JC Penney Facebook Fans.

Solution: JC Penney created a Facebook scavenger hunt game with rewards including both a ringtone and an MP3 download from a major record company. Neurotic Media then provided the API tools for online AND mobile delivery in order to invoke prize delivery from within the game on Facebook. Neurotic Media also provided reporting services to ensure the record company could track download activity properly.

Result: The campaign was a resounding success with thousands of consumers becoming Followers of JC Penney and playing the game, winning prizes and obtaining the ringtone or MP3 from within the game, all without having to leave JC Penney’s Facebook page. Neurotic Media’s multi-channel delivery platform delivered the ringtone as a standard SMS delivery using our short code (31313), and delivered the MP3 online – both in real time upon the consumer winning the prize.

CD Universe: Music Retailing

Elegant API integration allows for seamless cross-merchandising of CDs and MP3s

Opportunity: National retailer CD Universe has been selling physical entertainment good successfully since 1996 (!). They decided to add MP3s to the mix. In doing so, they sought a reliable, stable API service that will allow them to weave a digital catalog into their site’s search engine, as well as cross-merchandise MP3s near ach CD, where applicable, to provide their shoppers with both options.

Solution: CD Universe chose Neurotic Media as their MP3 partner, opting to use Neurotic Media’s Neurolinq Product™ API as their source for MP3s. The Neurolinq™ Product API is integrated into the CDuniverse.com site in a seamless manner, delivering MP3s to shoppers without the shoppers ever seeing Neurotic Media’s presence. CD Universe collects consumer payments within that site’s own shopping cart and then invokes the API service for MP3 fulfillment from Neurotic Media, all from “behind the scenes.”

Results: Neurotic Media has simplified the content delivery process for CD Universe through a normalized, unified XML feed, while handling all of the royalty reporting and payment reconciliations with various record companies on the back end. CD Universe’ technical team was able to quickly integrate with one unified API service which serves as a mediation level between their systems and millions of MP3s from various labels, all powered by Neurotic Media’s cloud-based media platform.

Kaiser Permanente: Registration Incentives

KP is using music download incentives via a branded rewards site to drive registration at their website

Opportunity: Kaiser Permanente sought to incentivize current and prospect members to register at kp.org as part of their customer relationship management outreach. Having decided to leverage popular music as the motivating reward in the program, KP needed a solutions provider that could deliver the needed licensed catalog, technology, and services to support the initiative, while aligning with KP’s rigorous brand standards.

Solution: Neurotic Media was selected as the digital expert to support the campaign. Neurotic Media worked with KP Brand to design a fully-branded store, source the content catalogs, and merchandise the store according to Brand guidelines. Moreover, Neurotic Media created “Digital Compilations” with themes that relate to KP’s brand personality. With each consumer receiving 5 Credits per PIN code, Neurotic Media provided digital compilations with five songs per – as “Quick Picks”. Neurotic Media also provided a custom integration layer for KP’s mass email system specifications.

Result: Strong conversion from emails and mail-outs has turned the short-term campaign into an ongoing multi-year engagement platform for the brand.

Heineken: In-pack Gift with Purchase

Heineken’s Plug Into Summer campaign is an example of an in-pack promotion supported by multi-channel execution

Opportunity: Heineken sought to increase sales of 12-count bottle packs at retail, nationwide.

Solution: The Plug Into Summer campaign was created to motivate customers to buy more Heineken in the hopes of winning MP3 downloads, along with limited edition merchandise and tickets to music events. PIN codes for the MP3s were placed under bottle caps with 1-in-9 caps as winners. On-pack messaging was printed on the 12-pack bottle packs, and winners were able to text their winning code to a shortcode or go to www.heineken.com to redeem it for music. A Heineken Plug Into Summer branded MP3 store was designed on Neurotic Media’s platform, which hosted the download solution, facilitated PIN code redemption and handled the MP3 delivery. Neurotic Media also managed all reporting on the back-end for the brand and the content owners.

Result: Excitement at the consumer level for a great music promotion – and increased sales of Heineken.

Curb Records: Content Owner Services

Curb uses our platform for its own direct-to-consumer (D2C) and partner-facing (B2B) initiatives.

Opportunity: As one of the leading independent music companies in the USA, Curb Records is home to some of the biggest names in Country, Christian and Pop music. Outback Steakhouses felt that one specific Curb artist, Tim McGraw, would be a stellar artist to associate with their brand in a focused promotion. Outback created the “Outback Adventure” campaign to reward consumers who signed up for the “My Outback Rewards” loyalty program. New members of the loyalty program were automatically enrolled to win a trip to Australia to see Tim McGraw perform live, as well as became eligible to earn points toward Tim’s merchandise – AND receive MP3 downloads from Tim McGraw. Curb Records needed a solution that can provision the MP3 giveaway for the program securely and reliably while capturing measurable data.

Solution: Tim McGraw’s music downloads were delivered through a branded mini-site produced on the Neurotic Media cloud-based media platform, where valuable consumer data was captured securely for the brand. Neurotic Media also provided the PIN codes redemption support for the campaign, including both unique code generation and code redemption services.

Result: The Outback Adventure promotion drove significant registrations for the My Outback Rewards program. Additionally, the consumer registration data captured on the MP3 redemption mini-site by Curb Records was delivered to Outback for future promotional use, providing the brand with valuable consumer demographics and insights.

Inland Cellular: Unlimited Music Subscription Bundle

Inland launched “Infusion” – its own branded music subscription, bundled onto subscribers’ phone bill with data plan charges

Opportunity: Like many mobile carriers, Inland experiences rapid growth of LTE and 4G smart phone users on its network. As a regional carrier, it must always innovate and find aggressive marketing ideas that keep it competitive in today’s hot mobile market. With the constant growth in smart phone users and data plan subscriptions, there was a specific opportunity to market value-add services to this constituency of subscribers, which also represent the most coveted younger demographics for the company.

Solution: Neurotic Media’s “Amplified Unlimited” music subscription service. Neurotic Media provided its native Android app, re-branded “Infusion” and re-designed for Inland’s needs. Inland both pre-loads the app on new phones, as well as offers it as a free download to existing subscribers. Subscribers may opt-in for the monthly fee and receive the bill as a bundled part of their monthly Inland bill – i.e. no credit card is necessary. The program provide subscribers in good standing with unlimited access to hot music on their smart phone – search, preview, discover, and download at will, and share your own playlists and discoveries with your friends on social networks.

Result: While this program is new, the expected path is to increase ARPU for Inland and reduce its CHURN over time. We will report specifics here in upcoming months as numbers start accumulating.

Bank of America: Affinity program and data collection

Bank of America and the University of Georgia rewarded Bulldogs fans with music

Opportunity: Bank of America was looking for a way to promote their UGA affinity credit card program to UGA football fans. They sought a platform that can provide popular value that drives engagement and leads to healthy conversion.

Solution: Neurotic Media empowered and curated a fully branded music download store for BofA and UGA, featuring music that is used before, during, and after UGA football games (i.e. fight songs and other in-game fun music played at the stadium). Knowing SEC Football fans are passionate about football and music, Bank of America gave away five free songs from high-profile artists such as Guns & Roses, James Brown, Sugarland, Zac Brown Band, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, etc. as a compelling activation incentive.

Result: Neurotic Media provides BofA and UGA with redemption reports containing priceless demographic information about participating consumers, including segmentation by alumni, student, and fan. The site drove hundreds of social shares on Facebook and other social networks, with impact as far as “reach” going into the thousands of users.

Qwyrk: Streaming services for a start-up

Customizing API services, reporting services, and trans-coding services in support of an innovative new business model

Opportunity: Qwyrk is a social media service that provides audio emoticons for consumers, through interaction with Email, FaceBook, and Twitter. At time of this writing, consumers interact with Qwyrk via the Qwyrk website (www.qwyrk.com), or the soon to be released iPhone and iPad applications. As a start-up company, Qwyrk needed a music platform that can quickly and economically support their need to access licensed music catalogs and support their unique user experience and business model.

Solution: Neurotic Media designed a new API service for Qwyrk, tapping into Neurotic Media’s catalogs, trans-coding them on the fly as needed in some cases into AAC and Ogg Vorbis streams, and rendering the results as streams – all via its cloud-based media applications. Qwyrk was able to focus on its front-end application development and user experience. Due to its unique business model, Qwyrk licensed direct usage rights from labels and publishers. Here, Neurotic Media also helps operationally by handling all necessary custom reports and clearinghouse functions.

Result: Qwyrk was able to reach Beta deployment within a handful of months, and at a fraction of the price that it would have incurred if it decided to build its own platform from scratch.
Neurotic Media offered Qwyrk a strong economy of scale, the ability to create customized solutions on top of a mature and stable platform, and the expertise needed to meet all content owner requirements.

Free All Media: Social Engagement

Advertiser-Supported download store embedded into Facebook allow advertisers to drive deep engagement with music incentives

Opportunity: FAM created an advertising-based web site, where consumers can earn Points towards MP3 downloads by engaging a brand on Facebook and other social sites. FAM is focused on the administration of its unique user interface, its points system, and its advertising sales. It needed a partner that can provide an aggregation entry point to record company MP3 catalogs, while also supporting all back-end royalty reporting and payment functions.

Solution: By choosing NeuroLinq Product API, FAM was able to use one normalized XML feed to source multiple indie and major label catalogs into its service, all in DRM-free MP3s. Neurotic Media addresses all back-office services including data center management, content ingestion, and reporting – allowing the FAM team to remain focused on their core business.

Result: A growing business, where consumer demand outpaces inventory most days. Music fans love the experience!

PunchCard: Mobile Rewards

Shopper incentives application PunchCard rewards shoppers for their participation with music downloads which can be delivered directly to the smart phone

Opportunity: PunchCard is a great way to get rewarded for shopping at the places you already love to shop. Consumers can install the app on their smart phone and use it to track purchase receipts at select merchant locations, earn points, and be rewarded with giveaways. Music, as a small-increment asset that can be instantly delivered to one’s phone, is a popular reward category.

Solution: Using Neurotic Media’s Amplified Rewards mobile HTML5 site, PunchCard emails PIN codes to shoppers to allow them to redeem their favorite music at Amplified Rewards at will. The app instigates the mobile HTML5 version of Amplified Rewards, which supports the ability for the shopper to enjoy instant gratification.

Result: Conversion is high and steady as a growing number of shoppers every month opts to get music downloads from PunchCard’s rewards program.