Procter & Gamble is drilling the benefits of mobile coupons into consumers’ minds through a new ad that leverages the brand’s massive newspaper efforts.

The mobile call-to-action appears on page two of P&G’s January brandSaver booklet. With the number of mobile wallets and coupons growing for consumers, the print promotion also highlights Samsung’s goal in owning the mobile couponing space.

“P&G probably views this as a good test example for digital couponing,” said Ritesh Bhavnani, chairman of Snipp Interactive, Washington.

“It’s unlikely they’re going to see much usage since its only operational on one phone, but there will be learnings from the campaign,” he said.

Mr. Bhavnani is not affiliated with P&G. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

P&G did not respond to press enquiries.

Clip on mobile
BrandSaver is P&G’s monthly insert that runs within the Sunday editions of major newspapers.

Copy on the ad reads, “There’s a new way to save on P&G brands!”

Underneath, a call-to-action prompts consumers to download the Samsung Wallet app for free from Google Play.

Additionally, a picture of a Samsung phone loaded with P&G coupons shows consumers how the CPG giant’s offers pop up within the app.

Once consumers download the Samsung Wallet app, they can search for P&G brandSaver coupons, which include coupons from brands such as Bounty, Charmin and Pantene.

Consumers can then pick the offers that they want to add to their digital wallet and store them to be used at the point-of-sale inside stores.

The Samsung Wallet app is only available on the manufacturer’s Galaxy line of devices. However, it is clear that Samsung is aiming to differentiate itself from Apple’s Passbook and Google Wallet with brand partnerships.

Part of the reason that Samsung is likely touting the Galaxy line of devices is because of the technology’s ubiquity for in-store coupon redemptions.

“The Samsung Galaxy S4 is unique in that its the only phone that allows for digital coupons to be scanned by the vast majority of supermarket checkout scanners using technology by a company called MoBeam, which is one of the reasons why P&G is probably partnering with them for coupons,” Mr. Bhavnani said.

The print ad

Educating consumers
As more marketers look to mobile to streamline the coupon redemption process, promoting initiatives through multiple mediums is a must.

In particular, P&G’s print promotion is interesting since many of the readers are likely used to clipping print coupons from the circular and bringing them in-store.

For mobile coupon adoption to scale, there has to be an added value for consumers, and a mobile wallet that lets consumers stack up digital coupons to eventually be used in-store is a smart route for P&G.

However, the ad lacks a print-to-mobile activation in getting consumers to actually download the Samsung Wallet app.

To increase downloads, P&G could benefit from adding a QR code, augmented reality, digital watermark or other type of technology to its print ad to acquire new users.

However, Samsung has already rolled out the update including the app to its users and is therefore leveraging the print ad to keep the app top-of-mind for consumers.

“Samsung has already pushed the Samsung Wallet app out to all eligible phones in an update – much the way Apple’s Passbook appeared on iOS6,” Mr. Bhavnani said.

“As a result, all phones that can use the wallet have the wallet already – and don’t need to download it from the app store,” he said. “In essence, you don’t really need a print-to-mobile activation of any kind on this ad.”

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York