One firm is now providing what it calls a first of its kind in terms of advertising service to smartphone users.
A mobile marketing firm called Smart Communications has announced that it will be beginning a first of its kind form of advertising service, called Smart Ads, which use geolocation technology in real time.
This ad service is meant to give brands the opportunity to target consumers using their smartphones through geo-fencing.
Geo-fencing is a type of location based mobile marketing strategy that defines a physical boundary in a real world space – such as a shop location – allowing that space to be programmed to complete various types of actions. For example, when a consumer that has opted in enters the space with his or her smartphone, he or she may automatically be sent a promotional coupon that they can redeem with a purchase, or they may receive an ad of the latest contest that is currently running. The specific command is triggered for the device as the consumer enters the applicable area.
The company claims that this is the first and only mobile marketing service of its nature.
According to the media convergence group head at Smart Communications, “Unlike other mobile ads solutions in the market, Smart Ads is the first and only service capable of determining the real-time location of subscribers who have opted-in or signified interest to accept mobile ads. A subscriber’s location in real time is our main differentiator. Brand offers delivered while they are still within the specified location.”
What this means is that consumers who opt in will be able to obtain offers and deals for products that are the most relevant to those specific individuals, while they are located near a branch or a shop location. At the same time, this is very appealing to advertisers, as it will give them the opportunity to target promotions based not only on the actual real time location of a user, but they will also be able to add filters based on network usage profiles, individual demographic, and various forms of audience segmentation.
Smart Communications underscored the fact that this mobile marketing program is an opt-in only, in order to respect the privacy of the smartphone users.
Hong Kong movie patrons unknowingly participated in a unique ad experiment.
A shocking car safety advertisement from Volkswagen (VW) realistically demonstrated the hazard of texting while driving at the MCL Cinema in Hong Kong, thanks to location based marketing technology.
The ad demonstrated to viewers just how dangerous texting and driving can be.
Prior to showing the feature film, the cinema showed the movie theater audience an advertisement that began with someone starting their car, listening to some peppy music and driving along a road densely populated with trees. The ad was shot in a first-person perspective, creating the atmosphere that the viewer was the one behind the wheel operating the vehicle.
The scenic drive continued for a little while until suddenly all of the moviegoers with mobile phones in the theater simultaneously received a text. When they took out their handsets to check the message, the car on the cinema screen careened off the road and crashed into a tree. The stunned moviegoers looked up from their phones to see the smashed windshield of the car. This image faded to a white screen and was followed by this message from the German automobile manufacturer: “Mobile use is now the leading cause of death behind the wheel. A reminder to keep your eyes on the road.”
This location based marketing strategy proved a powerful point.
The people in the move theater who received the text could not resist taking their eyes off of the screen to read the message on their phone. This is exactly when the crash occurred. The people who checked their mobile devices did not see the accident coming and that is precisely the point. All it takes is a moment or two of distraction with eyes off the road for an accident to happen.
This ad stunt, created by Ad Agency Ogilvy Beijing, was made possible at the Hong Kong cinema because the theater featured a location-based broadcaster. This technology enabled those behind the scenes to send a group text to all the patrons in the room at the same time.
So far, Volkswagen and Ogilvy Beijing’s location based marketing “Eyes on the Road” demonstration has generated a positive response. A video that captured the audience’s reactions, which has been uploaded to YouTube, has received over 12,000,000 views and counting.
