• by Ray Schultz , September 23, 2021

Alaska Airlines has signed on for a new service from Airship that helps marketers drive and automate opt-ins on mobile after Apple’s rollout of iOS !5 and Android 12 and the Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) on Monday.    

The new phones provide consumers with more control over when and how they get notifications and alerts from apps.

Airship’s marketer-friendly Preference Center enables users to create and manage customers’ opt-in choices without ongoing developer support or app updates to the App Store or Google Play, the company claims.

Integrated within Airship’s SaaS Customer Engagement Platform, the Preference Center allows marketers to guide consumers to their preference center through contextually triggered in-app messages or cross-channel journeys for onboarding, loyalty enrollment and opting in for new subscription content, the company says. 

In addition, marketers can automatically combine opt-in selections with customers’ mobile behaviors for hyper-personalized messaging, it adds.

They also can track list opt-ins, review analytics reports and create multiple subscription lists spanning popular topics, all without developer support.  

While not a first for email or SMS, the service is a new one for app messaging, the company says. 

Alaska Airlines reportedly is one of several name brands on board with the service.  

“As pandemic restrictions lift and broad-scale travel resumes it’s absolutely vital that we connect our customers to the best values and broader inspiration to satisfy pent-up wanderlust,” says Dave McCormick, managing director, product & design for Alaska Airlines. 

McCormick adds: “Airship’s Preference Center will provide an easy and efficient way to ensure marketing messages do not diminish the role our mobile app plays as a real-time travel companion, notifying customers of when they can check-in or if there happens to be a gate change.”

Apple’s new MPP will prevent marketers from using invisible pixels to collect open-rate and geographical-location information about their recipients.

It is not known how many consumers will opt in to this service. Roughly 35% to 40% of email subscribers open their mail through Apple clients.