Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

For consumers who don’t have a smartphone, JCPenney also has a number to call to record and, presumably, a number to call to help the recipient hear the message.

The messages can be as long as one minute and that leads to one of the program’s initial shortcomings. Kudos to JCPenney for allowing 60-second messages, as some chains would have limited it to perhaps 10 seconds, enough time to barely wish the recipient happiness. A full minute gives plenty of room for creativity, with some gift-givers potentially wanting to include music or brief dialogue from a favorite film or a segment from a song or even sound effects. All any of that would have required would be a way for consumers to send a homemade audio file to JCPenney for integration. Alas, JCPenney has forbidden this, limiting the audio to whatever consumers can speak into a relatively low-quality mobile device microphone.

Coultas didn’t fully explain why the chain is blocking such homegrown efforts, beyond saying: “Rather than asking customers to send us a .wav or .mp3 file. they can simply use their phone to make the recording.” No argument that it’s easier but if customers want to really make a memorable one-minute message, why not let them?

The only option is to create it anyway and then simply play it back into the phone or find a way to transmit the audio file into the phoneline. For someone wanting to craft a custom edited message, JCPenney certainly didn’t make it easy.

That nitpick aside, this program is indeed quite clever. The procedure is straight-forward. The tag (not an RFID tag, but an old-fashioned gift tag) has two adhesive peel-off labels. By peeling off the front label, a QR code is revealed. A scan of that code with the phone reveals a prompt for the mobile phone number. Once received, the system calls that number to record the message. For non-smartphone customers, they’ll be given a prompt to use the keypad to type in the digits below the QR code.

Once the message is recorded and approved, the gift-giver peels off the back adhesive and attaches the card to the gift. When the recipient scans the QR code on his/her smartphone, the message will play through the phone.

The message can be replayed as often as the recipients want, but only until Jan. 31. It’s not clear what will happen to the messages after that date.

The tags are being given away only in-store and the chain stressed that “tags will not be shipped with online or mobile purchases” presumably because of supply limits. But the site did give one possible out for E-Commerce and mobile customers: “If you bring a gift purchased on or after Nov. 15 from jcp.com or jcp.mobi into a JCPenney store with your receipt, you may receive a JCP Santa Tag.”

The Santa Tag program works well on so many levels. From the consumer’s perspective, it’s a free gift tag that allows for a personalized message. The consumer sees it as a pleasant way to enrich the holiday gift-giving experience. The chain gets the warm feelings benefit, plus a multitude of CRM and mobile information benefits, all at a very minimal cost. In terms of a clever mobile marketing program, this is one IT effort that is unlikely to get returned.