Tag: travel apps

Proxama has launched the first of its mobile proximity ad campaigns on London buses.

This move, which has equipped 500 of London’s famous double-decker buses with Proxama’s Bluetooth-powered beacon technology, marks a key milestone in the industry. The buses will deliver real-time travel updates as well as relevant in-app ads to travelers who have signed up for the service.

Half a million travelers have already signed up for the service.

The project was developed by advertising giant Exterion Media and app developer Mapway. Proxoma’s beacon Mobile SDK was integrated into its Bus Times London mobile app, which deploys in-app ads to the mobile devices of passengers with the application. This allows marketers to capitalize on what is known as “dwell time”; the 17 minutes of idle activity that occurs during the average London bus journey.

More specifically, the half a million (and counting) users of the app receive contextually aware ads that “capitalize on the consumer’s exact physical context,” reported The Verge. Android users of the app started receiving the apps earlier this year and now they have also rolled out on iOS as well.

Location-based advertising using beacon technology drives higher consumer engagement levels.

According to a recent press release announcing the launch of the UK’s largest iBeacon consumer transport experience on London buses, brands that use beacon-triggered enhanced advertising have discovered that delivering contextually-relevant experiences boosts consumer engagement levels.

For instance, Sticky9 is seeing a 14.5% click-through rate average, which is much higher than the usually 1% or 2% of advertising that isn’t beacon-triggered.

What makes the particular enhanced Bus Times London app a particular hit with users is that aside from being sent relevant in-app ads that allow brands to capitalize on the consumer’s precise physical context and dwell time to deliver the best ads at the right time to increase click-through rates, it also provides users with real-time travel updates for the exact route on which they’re travelling.

Commenting on the partnership with Mapway and Exterion Media, Proxama’s marketing division CEO Jon Worley stated in the press release that “This collaboration is a huge milestone for the proximity marketing industry. App owners are looking for ways to increase active user numbers and establish new sources of revenue, and beacons can deliver on both objectives.” Worley added that the partnership is just one more indication “that 2016 is the year that beacon technology for marketing gains significant traction.”

A recent report has revealed that the tech just isn’t meeting the needs of this important demographic.

According to a report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), called “Meeting the Needs of Older and Disabled Travellers,” over 80 percent of people who are over the age of 60 are not using websites, apps, or other online informational services through mobile technology that would assist them in getting from point A to point B.

It is the IET’s hope that the trend will be able to change and that and that these resources will be widely used.

The IET is now encouraging mobile app developers and providers to encourage disabled and older consumers to use mobile technology. The report underscored the fact that there was nearly no awareness among older people when it came to what smartphones and tablets could offer them in terms of travel resources such as for journey planning and booking. Some didn’t know that these options existed, at all. This left them without the knowledge of the types of benefits that they could receive by having travel information delivered to their mobile devices.

The IET has called for a brand new approach to marketing these services over mobile technology to these demographics.

The report also pointed out that the quality of the travel services and resources available over mobile devices has undergone some tremendous improvements over the last few years. With 4G networks becoming much more commonplace, it has become quite fast and easy for device users to be able to obtain responsive transportation information, as well as to obtain connecting data from different types of public transportation nodes so that people can receive a much more complete plan for their journey, no matter how far they might be traveling.

As a result of the ongoing uncertainty that has occurred when it comes to possible problems that are associated with using public transportation – for example, changes in service or timetable – older people and disabled individuals are greatly missing out when they don’t use their mobile technology devices to keep themselves abreast of these alterations. The experience of public transportation can be considerably enhanced when the right information is quickly and readily available.