Guess Watches took its first foray into mobile marketing today by launching a new iPhone app in the UK.
The app allows users to access details of the latest collections, promotions, news and exclusive special offers. It also includes a store finder and both QR and augmented reality (AR) scanners.
Mobile apps are becoming an extremely popular marketing tool for lifestyle brands, with L'Oreal and P&G both launching new promotional apps in recent months.
As with the L'Oreal app, Guess is using mobile to try and drive shoppers in-store rather than giving them a new way to purchase goods on their smartphone.
Though some of the features aren't yet live, I tried it out to see how it stacks up...
Functionality
As mentioned, the idea is obviously to help drive footfall into stores. One of the options on the homepage is a store finder tool, which shows you all the Guess Watches stockists in your area using GPS.
Also, though you can browse the latest range of watches within the app, including images and basic product information, it doesn't actually include the price or link to an online store. Instead you are directed to the store finder function if you want to find out more.
This is a fairly useful tool if you're in the market for a Guess watch and need it there and then, but I suspect that a lot people will just use their browser to check for pricing information online rather than making the effort of going to a shop.
'Experience' tab
The 'Experience' tab gives access to the competitions, promotions and videos, as well as the AR feature that goes live as part of a promotional event in the Regent Street store on Saturday 6 October.
The AR allows users to access video footage of the new AW12 watches that results in a free gift of either a new watch or shopping vouchers that are only valid on the day.
I was shown a demo of the AR this morning and it is very easy to use, and although the functionality is quite limited it should work well as a promotional tool at the in-store events.
Guess said that it intends to update the AR tool with new content a couple of times each year so the app can be re-used in future marketing campaigns.
And as well as including AR, the app has a QR code reader that allows users to enter the 'Great Guess Giveaway' in Guess stores from mid-October giving the chance to win a range of spa breaks and fashion prizes.
Conclusion
Overall Guess has created a sleek but simple app that should work well as a promotional tool.
By incorporating AR and QR it ticks all the boxes for the current 'must-have' marketing tech, and by employing the scanners as a method to enter competitions Guess has given consumers a decent motivation to actually make use of them.
However that's not to say the app doesn't have any faults. The 'Collection' tab only shows one image of each watch and the product descriptions are very basic, although this may be part of the ploy to drive people in-store to find out more information. Also the 'News' section is just a place to publish Guess press releases.
But if the primary motivation is to promote the new Guess Watches ranges and drive people in-store, then the simplicity of this app and the use of AR and QR means that it should be a fairly effective marketing tool.
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