will follow the mobile app model of a one-time payment.
Micronotes has a slightly different model for its KulaMula app. It will charge the brands a fixed amount for each survey that consumers complete. A quarter of that will go to the consumer that he can cash in as a check payment, another chunk will go to Yodlee or the banking site hosting the survey, and Micronotes will take another cut. The company is still working out the exact breakdown. It is also considering adding an auction model like Google has, where marketers can bid to get their content in front of desirable consumers.
Micronotes, which formed in 2008, has brought on half a dozen retailer partners to market through its app. The startup’s big focus has been on getting the app on financial institutions’ sites, but now that the Yodlee FinApp Store is being rolled out, Micronotes is working on its push to marketing customers. The startup has raised about $2.5 million in funding, with $1.6 million from institutions, including Harbor Light Capital Partners.
So what happens if consumers don’t end up using the offer e-mailed to them as a result of the survey? It won’t count against them—right away that is. Over time, Micronotes’ platform will build a rating for the consumer, and offers that go unredeemed will detract from a consumer’s rating and make him look less attractive to marketers who have to pay for each completed survey, Klacko says.
In some ways, it sounds like a lot of work for individual customers—they have to opt in for the app, decide which brands they want to hear from, and decide which surveys they want to take. But in a way, that’s exactly how Micronotes is trying to change the marketing game. “It’s the social contract of marketing we want to change,” Klacko says. “We want marketers to say, ‘I’m aware of your time, I only want to engage with you if you want to engage with me.'”
