8 Pieces of the Isis Marketing Machine
May 23, 2014 1:57 PM
Since its formal launch, Isis has very aggressively marketed its mobile wallet. The venture of AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile has offered numerous freebies and statement credits to anyone willing to try it out, and recent figures show that these efforts may be paying off.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Free Drinks
Any Isis user can take the app to a Jamba Juice store or a Coca Cola vending machine to get a free drink by paying with Isis. According to Jamba Juice, Isis users have claimed more than 270,000 smoothies so far. With Isis use growing 50% each month at its stores, Jamba Juice expects to give away a million smoothies by the fall. (Image: Bloomberg News)
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Social Network
Isis' new refer-a-friend promotion offers a $10 Amazon.com gift code to Isis users who convince their friends to sign up for the mobile wallet. The friend gets the same reward. Unlike most Isis promotions, this one focuses on enrollment, not ongoing use. (Image: Bloomberg News)
Wolfe, Daniel
Super-Sized Marketing
What's In Store
Isis' secret weapon is the combined strength of the AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile sales force. Any time consumers buy a new phone from an Isis carrier, the salesperson offers to sign them up for Isis when activating the phone. This model has helped Isis reach a rate of 20,000 mobile wallet activations a day. (Image: Verizon Wireless)
Habit Forming
Isis has thrown a lot of money at consumers to get them to use its wallet regularly. When Wells Fargo signed on with Isis, the bank's customers were offered up to $100 a month in statement credits for using their credit card with Isis . A similar promotion for American Express Serve cardholders offered up to $200 in credit. (Image: ShutterStock )
Taxi!
Another hefty promotion targets taxi riders in New York . Isis offers to refund half the cost of taxi fare, capped at $100, to consumers who link an Amex card to Isis and then use the mobile wallet to pay for a ride. (Image: ShutterStock )
Wolfe, Daniel
#paywithisis
Isis has also been extremely active on social media, and used its Twitter account to respond quickly to user concerns from the very first day of its 2012 tests in Salt Lake City and Austin.
Map It Out
The list of in-app offers is far from overwhelming, but Isis provides several ways to narrow it down, such as by letting users pick their favorite merchants or see a map showing the nearest discount.
