We’ve covered bluetooth proximity marketing before, that usually consist of a small module or something based on a PC or laptop, but I found a new app today that turns your cell phone into your very own mobile proximity marketing system.

ProxiBlaster offers several proximity marketing solutions in both software-only versions, and software and hardware combinations. The most notable solution is their Mobile ProxiBlaster software, that’s available for download directly to your cell phone. it then allows you to run your own mobile marketing campaign just like a normal push-bluetooth marketing campaign. According their website;

“…This is the first proximity marketing software specifically written to operate on a cell phone or PDA ! Mobile BlueCast turns your cell phone into a mobile proximity marketing machine ! When running this software on your cell phone you are literally a walking digital billboard broadcasting your message or advertisment to every cell phone you walk near!…”

It looks like it’s only available on a select number of phones, and has only been tested on the Nokia N95 and M93 successfully so far. It’s intended mostly for Java-based devices, but you can download a demo here, or download the app directly by going to “http://proxiblaster.com/mobile/mobilebcast.jar” on your device.

I think it’s a great idea, despite the privacy concerns surrounding the push-marketing aspects. It’s a free way of advertising your message and people can simply reject the invitation if they choose.

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Mobile coupons are gaining acceptance more than ever, and it’s due in large part to companies like CellFire that manage large-scale deployment of digital coupons to the masses.  CellFire in particular is setting the standard with it’s mobile application that gives the user an endless variety of savings that can be redeemed instantly, and are always available.

A user can simply access the cellfire app and search an ever-changing inventory of available coupons.  No need to clip coupons, or remember to check a website or an email before you go.  Since the coupons are updated and accessed in real-time, there’s no need for text messages as well.

CellFire is close to introducing a brand new service called Mobile Grocery Coupons, which will be a service that’s integrated with major grocery store chains to offer special discounts and content to customers in real-time.  According to their website…

“…Cellfire’s mobile grocery coupon service will provide shoppers at major grocery chains with exciting exclusive discounts directly using their mobile phones and grocery savings cards. Many consumer brands are already on board, including General Mills, Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark. We will be announcing the program launch very soon…”

The app runs on almost every phone made, and with several carriers.  It looks like they’re trying to incorporate their technology into other uses like the grocery store example which should prove to be interesting.  As customers become used to the savings and ease of use of the loyalty programs and other features the cellfire system provides, they’ll be more apt to continue shopping at that particular chain.  The marketing potential is huge on several levels.

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TellMyCell, a provider of mobile content distribution services, announced recently that it has consistently been serving more than 20 million monthly text messages since January of 2007 for it’s client’s mobile marketing efforts.  Hey, they might just be on to something here don’t you think?

The company offers a “complete turnkey mobile marketing solution” that features the normal direct-to-consumer campaign approach with things like MMS, SMS, Voice, and WAP, but takes it a step further by offering a suite of tools to manage, track and evaluate all delivery methods, and outcomes.  Through the use of an API, the company can integrate with it’s partners ad systems to “lower the barriers for both publishers and marketers to distribute content to cell phone users.”

TellMyCell sits on the same SS7 network as all the major phone carriers, and operates an independent SMS, MMS and VOIP gateway.  By not being just an aggregator, TellMyCell can offer the best pricing for all their client’s mobile content delivery and are able to reach all cell phones in the USA and Canada.  According to TellMyCell’s founder and CEO, Moe Green,

“…No other company lives and works in the space between technology and creativity. Agencies don’t have the required mobile technology credentials and technology enablers are out of their depth on consumer marketing.If companies want to produce brilliant, relevant and rewarding mobile marketing, we believe that’s where the company has to be…”

The company has also made strides in the areas of mobile coupons and gift cards with their CouponTxT and GiftCardTxT services.  The coupons can be delivered directly to the consumer’s phone with either a text message or as a full color coupon with a barcode ready to use.  CouponTxT has the fulfillment built-in on the backend, so it redeems right at the POP (point of purchase), which means an easier time for the retailer, and bypasses the problem many mobile coupon technologies have faced, which is how to redeem barcodes directly from user’s cell phone screens.

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We’ve seen some pretty creative ways to fit advertising into the mobile landscape.  From making your friends listen to advertisements before being connected to you, to agreeing to receive several SMS messages per day for a small commission.  What about listening to a short advertisement every time you make a call on your cell phone, why hasn’t this been done before?  Is it worth it?

A company called AirVoice Infocom has applied for patents for a technology they’ve developed that inserts ads before a call is connected via cell phone networks.  The 15-20 second ads are played after dialing the number, and play until your call is answered.  It seems like this would have been the first obvious location to place ads in the “calling process” but seems to have never been done before.

The service is subscription based and will offer several options to subscribers in terms of the type of advertisements they wish to hear, when they would want to hear the ads, and also the option to skip an advertisement if they choose.  AirVoice says that since the subscription is at the user’s will, the model is “non-intrusive.”

The system works by “…integrating the mobile switching centers of Telecom service providers with the high-end technology created by Airvoice, thereby allowing a smooth transition between the advertisement and the call…”  Since the technology is pending a patent, the company hopes to corner the market and secure deals with the major networks.  The company is currently focusing on the estimated 250 million mobile users in India at the moment, but has plans to grow quickly worldwide.  They cite several reasons for choosing to go with advertisements played over the phone itself, instead of the more traditional SMS marketing models.  Things like low interactivity, and high bandwidth usage were the main reasons.

The service is set to launch in Q2 2008, and there’s been no mention of the revenue-share figures, but what do you think?  Would you put up with listening to ads before your calls are connected?  For me, it would depend on just how much you earn for listening to them, and whether or not it lowers you monthly bill.

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In my quest to find new and innovative ways to utilize a mobile device for just about anything, I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of using image recognition technologies with mobile devices to interact with the things around you in everyday situations. Unlike mobile barcodes, image recognition doesn’t require any special applications, or device features to operate, it can work with any mobile device made that has a camera, If done correctly.

SnapTell claims to have solved many problems faced when trying to recognize images taken with camera phones. Things like blurred images, and shaky hands can produce images that are hard to recognize. Since SnapTell works by taking images sent to the platform and comparing it against it’s central database to return relevant content, it’s essential that the image is readable even though it might not be of the best quality. How does it work? Their website says they use….

“…a highly accurate and robust algorithm for image matching that we call ASG. Image matching is the problem of efficiently matching a query camera phone image against a database of images. Our technology offers unprecedented scale in detecting a matching image in a large database of images. Scaling of image matching is achieved using patent pending indexing techniques to organize all the features in any of a database of images for the purpose of efficient lookup…”

They claim their technology will work on almost all camera-phones made world-wide, including those on the lower end of the market that feature a VGA camera and offer low-resolution photos of 640×480 and lower. It also works in real-world conditions where there might be a lot of issues including lighting artifacts, focus blur, motion blur, perspective distortion and incomplete overlap with the database image. They claim photos of magazine print ads, outdoor billboards, posters, product packaging, branded cans, and bottles and logos can all be used with their solution with no problem.

The coolest thing they offer, and the reason I found it noteworthy was the fact that they offer a “Text Extraction” solution as well that will actually pick text out of images taken with camera phones and use that text to initiate a search query. If someone takes and sends a photo of an image that isn’t in their database, it can automatically extract any text and use it for a search. It can then still return relevant content about that image without it even being in the database. Pretty cool.

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HomeNet is a company that currently provides a full marketing suite to over 12,000 auto dealers across the US, so it was only fitting for them to add a mobile feature to their extensive inventory marketing platform. Gumiyo’s single-click mobile marketing solution was their answer.

Gumiyo offers a mobile marketing platform that utilizes SMS campaigns to allow consumers to interact directly with inventories across several vertical markets. They offer niche solutions for real estate companies and professionals as well as automotive dealerships. By incorporating an SMS call-to-action placed on real estate yard signs, individual vehicles on dealer lots, as well as traditional marketing efforts, consumers can instantly interact with what they’re interested in, whether it be a home for sale, a specific vehicle they’re after, or anything else. Gumiyo’s website says it best…

“…Make every facet of your marketing strategy virtually “clickable” and measurable—even your print, outdoor, and television advertising! You’ll generate more business by giving your audience an immediate way to interact with your inventory at the very moment they encounter your advertising…”

HomeNet’s “IOL” Vehicle Marketing Suite allows dealers a one-stop resource to manage anything and everything related to their inventory and the marketing of that inventory. From enhanced online videos and 360-degree virtual tours of each vehicle to automatic eBay listing and Craigslist tools, dealers can do just about anything they want to market their inventory more effectively.

By introducing Gumiyo’s SMS capabilities, dealers using HomeNet’s marketing suite can now introduce a mobile aspect to each of the vehicles on their lot. The new feature is dubbed “IOL goText” and works by automatically formating, optimizing, and syncing a dealer’s on lot inventory for the “mobile web.” Once optimized, the new solution provides tools to connect car buyers with the dealership using simple
SMS text messages.

Consumers send a “Go Code” that’s unique to each dealer as an SMS to Gumiyo’s short code. They’re then returned information on the dealer itself, as well as a link to a media-rich version of the dealer showroom. Go Codes can also be created with the last eight digits of the vehicle identification number (VIN) or the dealer’s stock numbers to take a mobile consumer directly to the specific vehicle they’re interested in.

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Orange Mobile has partnered with location-based mobile marketing agency ScreenTonic to deliver advertisements on the music portion of their “Orange World” mobile internet platform.  If users agree to receive the advertising, they can receive free, or discounted music downloads.  The effort’s part of a 3 month trial to see how effective the model could work, and whether it should be used on other parts of their mobile content platform.

800,000 of Orange’s 15.6 million mobile customers will be given the option to download a variety of music content from four different genres (Urban, Pop, Rock, & Dance) to their mobile devices for free, or at a discounted rate, making it the largest trial of its kind in the UK.  Over 500 music tracks will be available for the trial, and advertisers will have the opportunity to have their banners placed prominently during the content purchase process, giving the greatest exposure and the most captive audience.

ScreenTonic was chosen for the trial because of the success of their mobile advertising platform named STAMP.  Orange has used the platform in the past, when ScreenTonic was in it’s infancy in 2003, when they launched their first large-scale solution for a mobile portal for Orange France.  STAMP is a comprehensive advertising solution that incorporates nearly every aspect of a mobile campaign including device compatibility and integrated inventory and delivery systems.  From their Website…

…STAMP™ manages all the specifics of mobile phones and can target the delivery of the ad in keeping with the technical criteria, such as handset capabilities (particularly audio capacities, video, screen size and Java), the portal formats (WAP, XHTML, video, Java, rich media) and the information sent by the portals (bearer, user information and geolocation). It also incorporates the user targeting constraints: capping (controlling the repetition of ads seen per contact) and user scenarios.

ScreenTonic has already signed up a number of advertisers to the trial including Paramount Pictures and Ford, and without a doubt will see success with the trial, as many others already have.  If it means free mobile content, especially full-length music tracks, users should have no problem accepting a few relevant mobile advertisements.

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