In addition to the value-added services they can provide, smart cards provide many marketing opportunities to network operators.

Brand Recognition

Smart cards provide a means for greater brand exposure and reinforcement. The cards can be considered mini-billboards, providing frequent opportunities for the customer to be exposed to a brand name. Compared to other advertising media, they provide a cost-effective vehicle for achieving a high number of brand exposures to a targeted audience. Network operators with limited brand recognition can co-brand their cards with companies with greater brand equity to strengthen their market positions.

Customer Loyalty Programs

Smart cards can play an extremely valuable role in a carrier’s customer retention efforts. The data on a smart card is a digital representation of the customer’s habits; i.e., number of calls, services accessed, merchandise purchases, etc. This rich database of customer information makes it possible for network operators to develop highly targeted or one-to-one marketing. Carriers are then able to provide services and offerings particularly suited to their customers, increasing customer loyalty to the carrier.

Direct Marketing

With their convenient form factor, smart cards can be used in direct-mail campaigns to sell wireless subscriptions, both for prospecting and subscription renewal. Using temporary or prepaid smart cards, network operators have a low-cost channel for selling their services. In addition, subscription changes, renewals, and upgrades are easily handled by sending new cards in the mail (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. A Direct Marketing Scenario

Advertising

Two services, used in conjunction with smart cards, provide network operators with possibilities for highly targeted advertising. Short message service (SMS) and cell broadcast leverage smart cards to send advertising or informational messages that appear on the handset display to wireless users.

Trial Subscriptions

Smart cards are an ideal vehicle for trial subscriptions. Programmed as prepaid cards, they can attract new customers to try wireless services with limited, defined financial risk for both the network operator and the consumer.

Incidental Revenues

Network operators issuing smart cards can generate additional revenue by selling memory space on the card to other companies. For example, available space can be sold to gas stations so that the smart card can also be used as a debit card for gas purchases. The card’s surface can also be used for imprinting the participating company’s brand, for which the carrier can receive fees for space advertising.