Clever high-tech advertising
Vitaminwater is highlighting its “energy-boosting” properties with bus shelters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston with a 5-volt battery-powered USB port. Using the port, consumers can charge their phones, iPods and gaming devices.
The effort is the first from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which won the account in May and is part of Vitaminwater’s “You’re Up” positioning.
Offering a charge to consumers isn’t new. Samsung has been running charging stations in airports for years. But bus stations are new territory — although they’ve been used in experiments before, most notably by the Got Milk? people, who rigged bus stations in 2009 in San Francisco to smell like cookies.
Another innovation is the new mobile phone service which sends instant targeted messages to consumers via Bluetooth is being rolled out nationally.
The technology was trialled by Merseyside police in the Rhys Jones murder inquiry, transmitting requests to nearby phones for information on the murder.
And the Find Madeleine campaign used the messaging service to drum up Government support for a review of the case of the missing youngster Madeleine McCann.
Now the Bolton entrepreneur who played a part in those campaigns hopes to use the same technology to help businesses.
Complete Mobile Marketing (CMM), which has offices in Chorley New Road, Bolton, and Salford Quays, was set up by Bolton entrepreneur Martin Halsall. His company designed the system which transmits messages to consenting owners’ mobile phones while they are in and around shopping centres, high streets, businesses and industrial parks.
Once the mobile user accepts, he or she will receive images and text in a Bluetooth message, which they can then forward to friends and family.
Mr Halsall, aged 44, who lives in Markland Hill, said: “We are rolling out these servers nationally and the plan is that users, such as stores, football stadia, shopping centres and so on rent these antennae from us and we handle the messaging from our Salford Quays office.
“There is huge potential with mobile technology to help organisations communicate with their audiences directly and instantly.
“For the consumer, it is about the usefulness of the content and with geographic relevance comes a new level of compelling and useful, even critical content. At the sports stadium it might be an action replay, or at a festival or concert it might be the schedule.”
Really great for instant up to date info-advertising.