Human Rights Campaign recently launched a great mData campaign that allows users to learn about their favorite companies’ LGBT-inclusiveness policies via text message. Users text in the word “shop” and then the name of a company to receive a text message rating of that company’s LGBT-friendliness. (Give the service a whirl: text SHOP and then the name of a company – SHOP KELLOGG, for example – to 30644.)
HRC’s mData program allows consumers concerned with companies’ LGBT policies to get specific information about those companies anytime, anywhere. Most importantly, it allows users to get that information right when they’re considering making a purchase – at a store, while browsing the web, or even when they’re making investment choices.
mData also allows HRC to track all of their users’ incoming queries and learn which companies (and industries) users are most curious about. If HRC chooses, it could even publicize these statistics to put additional pressure on companies that aren’t particularly LGBT-friendly.
Creating this program took just a few minutes – HRC uploaded a spreadsheet of data (in this case, more than 1500 company-specific ratings), chose their SHOP keyword, and off they went!