Friday, August 29, 2008

Smithsonian Gets in the Bluetooth Advertising Game - Bluetooth Advertising and Proximity Marketing Blog

Today I unearthed this quick article on the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Gallery's Bluetooth marketing to art lovers. As I read the post from ArtDaily.org, I realized that I've failed to write about the great opportunities for museums to educate guests and build long-term connections through Bluetooth advertising.

Imagine walking through an exhibit and receiving info not only on that exhibit, but the opportunity to receive text or email alerts on future exhibits. The beauty of Bluetooth marketing is that if it's done right, it can help you connect with your target audience at the exact time of their interaction with your brand, with zero cost to send and receive.

Here in the States, Coca Cola has utilized Bluetooth advertising at their World of Coca Cola museum in Atlanta, proving that you can execute a fun, brand-building Bluetooth campaign regardless of whether you're a for-profit or non-profit venue. Just be sure that the content is uber cool, tailored to your target demo and includes an element for future follow-up.

As a former event planner and national project director, I know just how critical it is to ensure that first contact is truly just the beginning of a mutually-beneficial relationship with folks interested in your brand, organization, etc. Smart Bluetooth advertising can be a tremendous core element of such long-term friendship-building.

If you're ready to get started with Bluetooth advertising, contact Lucky Rock Consulting.

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Bluetooth Advertising Guidelines En Route - Bluetooth Advertising and Proximity Marketing Blog

As this column reports, it looks like Europe will finally get a standard set of dos and don'ts for Bluetooth advertising and proximity marketing. Of course, these best practices are likely to spill over into the States and other emerging Bluetooth markets.

Click through to the actual MMA Proximity Marketing Guidelines to get a snapshot of how Bluetooth works and best practices for Bluetooth advertising. Especially noteworthy are their recommendations to tailor content to recipient demos and locations, make communications permission-based and ensure that mobile users--especially those that have rejected content--are not repeatedly pinged during the same campaign.

If you're ready to start Bluetooth marketing as an agency or end-marketer, contact Lucky Rock Consulting.

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Monday, August 25, 2008

Mall Advertising Going Interactive - Bluetooth Advertising and Proximity Marketing Blog

Check out this great article on the recent leaps in mall advertising. Especially notice the following...

"Mobile devices, such as Bluetooth, also present opportunities. Bluetooth 'lends itself to a mall environment, it’s easy to deploy and it’s not that expensive,' says Alan High, general manager for Clear Channel Malls. 'Our advertising is being used for applications in the mall environment that didn’t exist a year or two ago.'"

Indeed, Bluetooth and WiFi mobile marketing are revolutionizing the mall space, not with annoying cell phone alerts, but with hyper-targeted offers. Imagine walking into a mall and receiving a map, sale alerts, coupons and more. Of course, if you work with the right software, all of these messages will require users to opt-in and could include a text-to-receive element to help you gather the contact info from interested consumers for future campaigns.

And as the above column reports, retailers--especially mall operators--must be careful to limit the quantity and ensure the quality of mobile campaigns. Specifically, a little test marketing will reveal how many advertisers per day/week are just right. With the right equipment setup you can also offer store messages only within close proximity to the subject store. Hence, Gap sales alerts will be offered within sight of the store, rather than down in the dungeon of the mall near Radio Shack.

You could use also Bluetooth to run ticket giveaways for the movies advertised via mall spectaculars and you could offer a bonus track download for the latest Jonas Brothers or Coldplay CD. These kinds of promotions have worked tremendously at U.K. malls and elsewhere.

If you're ready to get started with Bluetooth advertising, contact Lucky Rock Consulting.

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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Amstel Russian Bluetooth Campaign a Hit - Bluetooth Advertising and Proximity Marketing Blog

On the heels of our report earlier this week about Coca Cola's somewhat misguided Bluetoothing efforts at the Beijing Olympics, check out this post on Amstel's successful Bluetooth marketing in Russia this past May-July. Especially notice the 400,000+ acceptances of content and the 23-39% conversion rates.

Though the Amstel campaign was a hit, as we mentioned in our Coca Cola article, Amstel likely could’ve achieved even greater results if it had better targeted the venue & consumer base and ramped up the content quality. Honestly, I'm amazed that any mobile users download the lame commercials that they simply Tivo around when they're at home. In fact, I'd venture that such inane Bluetoothing will eventually bring a big backlash against the companies that foist such annoying media on unsuspecting consumers.

Rather than settle for mass market, barely considered campaigns that yield perhaps 10-30% less prospects than targeted, why not offer high quality Bluetooth advertising with true viral marketing potential? Which will spread further, a boring 30-second commercial or a valuable coupon/contest entry? The only exception to this rule is to make the ad extremely funny or memorable a la Bud Light.

As you consider Bluetooth advertising, be sure to put as much thought into it as you would an expensive TV or radio spot. After all, your brand is on the line.

If you are ready to start Bluetooth marketing, contact Lucky Rock Consulting.

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Monday, August 11, 2008

Olympics and Daytona Bluetooth Advertising - Bluetooth Advertising and Proximity Marketing Blog

You may have heard about the Bluetooth advertising by Coca Cola at the Olympics and the recent Bluetooth campaign at the Daytona International Speedway. Of course, the Bluetooth providers behind these broadcasts are boasting of great success or at least anticipating the same. However, the content being sent and the chosen venues will likely severely limit the effectiveness of these campaigns.

As the above articles relate, the current Coca Cola Olympic push and the recent Daytona Speedway offerings feature lame advertiser videos aimed at perhaps too broad a swath of people. How many people do you know that will download a Coke or Chevy commercial? No thank you. Those commercials ushered in the DVR and I have no intention of clogging my phone's memory with such schlock.

In fact, such unoriginal content is one of the reasons that Pioco, the firm behind the Coke's Olympics campaign, confessed an acceptance rate of just 35% for previous Coke Bluetooth pushes. What do you mean just 35%? That's way better than print, TV and radio advertisements!

True, 35% conversion is still pretty snazzy. But it's well below typical Bluetooth response rates in the 40-60% range and far less than the admittedly spectacular 80% acceptance rate of a recent Shanghai Adidas campaign.

Rather than simple mobile-friendly commercials, why not send out athlete and driver profiles with opportunities to text to receive further content? Better yet, why not broadcast sports stories with a text to receive product coupons and event discounts? Such content might actually be considered valuable by recipients.

Especially in the States, the Bluetooth marketing reality is that unthinking Bluetooth advertisements will eventually fail miserably, even if the curiosity factor boosts initial results.
What's more, the venue for Bluetoothing will also greatly impact conversion rates and sales. In the case of the Coke Olympic campaign, Bluetooth advertisements are being sent through Blue zones set up at bus stops and other commuter hot spots.

Stateside Bluetooth advertisers would do well to avoid such untargeted marketing venues, unless location-specific, value-added content is broadcast. A coupon for the Subway restaurant across the street from a certain bus stop might work well. A simple commercial for Subway will likely fail spectacularly, anger recipients, damage the Subway brand and guarantee the ineffectiveness of future Bluetooth campaigns.

As you consider Bluetooth marketing, do your best to create consumer-friendly media that's location-specific. Examples include pro shop coupons at golf courses, maps and sales updates at malls and property fliers & video tours sent to prospective real estate buyers.

If you're ready to get started with Bluetooth advertising, contact Lucky Rock Consulting.

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