REI: Delivering information
REI isn't only a retail giant in its own sphere of the world; it has also worked to gain the respect and admiration of outdoor enthusiasts and conservationists for its work outside of the for-profit world. Part of that comes from delivering information that's important to its customers who make it their goal to spend more time off the beaten path than on it.
In that vein, REI developed the REI Snow Report for the iPhone to give users a free way to check ski and snowboarding conditions throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and parts of the Southern Hemisphere. The application also makes use of the iPhone's internal GPS to find resorts closest to the user at any given time.
"At REI we pride ourselves in providing friendly expertise as well as the tools and gear that outdoor enthusiasts need to get outside," says Natalie Crain, REI's online marketing manager. "The REI Snow Report application is an extension of our brand in that we are providing a tool for snow lovers to get mobile accessible updates on snow conditions to fully enjoy their outdoor experience."
As for the marketing value, she said "the benefit of providing this tool is increasing our brand engagement in the time that users are spending with the application."
To date, the free application has been downloaded at least 54,000 times. "Over time this has translated into 750,000 minutes spent using the application and with the REI brand top of mind," Crain says.
As with many marketing pushes, measuring success can be a slippery slope. For its part, REI is sticking to basic metrics and social media buzz. "We are gauging success through the number of downloads, monthly unique visitors, referral traffic to the REI.com website, and viral discussion of the application," Crain says.
The REI Snow Report is also available on Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices. "We chose these three platforms, as they are the most highly adopted smartphone platforms on the market," Crain says.
