A new marketing firm is setting its roots down in Grand Ledge and is
making a successful, innovative go at it through . . . text messaging.
Frank Cugini, owner of
Reddawg Mobile Marketing Solutions
and creator of Michigan’s first website in 1991, thinks text message
marketing will take off just like the website model, now a business
essential.
It’s a brand new concept that is catching on quickly. In Reddawg's
first month, they have established 12 clients. Cugini’s original goal
was four.
“It is taking some time for businesses to get their head around what we
do, but I am pleasantly surprised by the response,” says Cugini, who
has lived in Lansing for more than 20 years. “Like the early Internet
days, I get the feeling it will be like that.”
For example, a restaurant may hire Reddawg to text promotions to
customers who sign up to receive updates on daily specials. The
business sends a message to Reddawg via computer and the servers resend
the message to subscribers via text message. Some of Reddawg’s clients
include
Jersey Giant Subs,
Reno’s Sports Bar & Grill and State Representative (Eaton County) candidate
Britt Slocum.
Text message marketing is highly effective because people “opt-in” to
receive news, updates and offers from their favorite businesses,
generating a 95 percent to 98 percent read-rate—an unimaginable
number for e-mail or postal campaigns.
Reddawg’s messages are carried
through all major cell phone providers across the U.S. and Canada,
Cugini says.
Reddawg currently employs six people in Grand Ledge and Grand Rapids
and is adding two more jobs in Detroit soon. Cugini also owns
Synergy Soup in Grand Ledge, a web development business started in 1994.
Source: Frank Cugini, Reddawg Mobile Marketing Solutions
Writer: Andy Balaskovitz
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