BlueBite is a bluetooth proximity marketing system we’ve talked about before, that uses bluetooth and wifi technology to beam content and advertising directly to mobile devices.  It’s had it’s privacy issues, but when done correctly it can be a great marketing tool.  Ace Marketing and Promotions thought so too.

The two companies have a cross-marketing agreement that will allow Ace Marketing to offer the proximity marketing services provided by BlueBite, and will provide its clients with a revolutionary interactive, and situation specific, consumer experience to help them market their products or services.  Since Ace already covers nearly every aspect of marketing across all mediums, the bluetooth technology is a nice compliment to their already impressive portfolio of services.  In the words of Ace’s CEO…

“…This partnership means individuals will be able to truly interact with advertising, downloading and redeeming a digital coupon for example, or viewing exclusive out-of-home video content that pertains to what they are doing at any given moment. This new medium enhances and simplifies everyday activities such as shopping and travel. And since the transmissions are independent of cell phone carriers, the content is always free…”

Ace Marketing has already deployed BlueBite’s technology in a few major markets like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, and BlueBite has already transmitted 30-second videos of CW’s shows at strategic locations, two-for-one beverage coupons at nightclubs around the country and content to drive booth foot-traffic at trade shows.

The two companies plan to set up bluetooth “hotspots” in shopping malls, sports arenas, concert venues, airports, transit hubs, and other high-density foot traffic areas. Every deployment will allow mobile phone users to opt-in to receive various digital content, via Bluetooth and WiFi, when they are in the vicinity of the target location.

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For anyone who paid attention to the 2008 Boston Marathon, there was a unique technology put in place for the first time that turned out to be a great mobile-based marketing campaign in and of itself.

A company called MyAthlete recently licensed a GPS technology from a company called GTX corp and incorporated it into a small lightweight device that could be placed on every runner.  The accuracy of the GPS technology allowed friends and family to locate and track a runner at any given time.

To track, all people had to do was login to the MyAthlete portal on either a PC, laptop, PDA, or web-enabled cell phone and see in real-time where everyone was throughout every point of the marathon.

On the mobile marketing side of things, MyAthlete reported that the GPS units generated an unprecedented amount of traffic to their portal throughout the marathon…

“…on average, each runner’s device was followed by more than 10 unique viewers, generating traffic 1,300 times over their average server load. Once inside the portal, MyAthlete observed that visitors were likely to navigate their way around the main site and selected to view industry-related links hosted on the site…”

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A company that owns several shopping malls in South Africa recently teamed with a company called MobiBlitz, to install and maintain a network of bluetooth hotspots in nearly 72 shopping malls across the nation.

The bluetooth hotspot itself, dubbed a “MobiZone” is a full-service proximity marketing server that extends 100 meters, and networks together with other “MobiZones” to form a nationwide network operated from the company headquarters, providing flexibility for scheduling and adding content.  Advertisers are able to select as many or as few “MobiZones” on the network as they require.  Downloads by users are monitored in real-time, allowing for content to be changed at short notice.   As Stan Katz, co-founder of MobiBlitz describes…

…Now you can literally reach the people who count and accurately count the people you’ve reached. With Mobizone there is no possibility of inflating audience figures, clients know precisely how many consumers have actually seen their message. With pressure on budgets and return on investment the watchword of the day, there is no advertising medium that offers a more cost-effective solution.

MobiZones offer more than just a mobile marketing medium.   The offer things such as a store directories, special offers, movie trailers, news, weather, travel, etc.  Certain content, including an exclusive “Mobisode” from MTV, is available free of charge in all MobiZones.  User can even upload their own content to the zones as well.

With the concern of unwanted advertising being pushed upon patrons is apparent, MobiBlitz vows to have taken several steps to ensure the advertising is opt-in and that devices only receive requests once.  Devices will never get the same message twice, and if a user denies access, it logs the data and doesn’t attempt again for a pre-determined amount of time.

MobiBlitz is trying to create a large footprint by expanding it’s network as fast as possible.  Large brands like KFC, Wrigley, and MTV are already joining, and more are on the way.  It’s a smart idea, and a new angle on creating a content network to advertise to.  I think it should prove to be very effective, not only from an advertising standpoint, but also for a data-collection and statistics-tracking tool for large centers, like shopping malls.

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In part one, we discussed how beneficial bluetooth proximity marketing can be, especially for small local businesses.  The fact that one can incorporate a simple system into their storefront that can consistently broadcast a marketing message, or branded content for a small, one-time fee can prove to be very efficient to a small marketing budget.

We also discussed the fact that once a bluetooth hotspot is installed and active, it’s simple to offer use of your hotspot to other nearby businesses and organizations so long as it doesn’t interfere with the message you’re trying to get out.  For offering use of your network, you can charge a small monthly access fee, and actually turn a profit after recovering your initial costs for installing the system.

So where do you start?  A bluetooth proximity marketing system consists of a central bluetooth server that holds some special software that allows it to constantly search for bluetooth enabled devices in it’s range, as well as a bluetooth “dongle” or some sort of bluetooth transmitter.  The server holds the information you wish to transmit to your patrons, or the advertising message you wish to broadcast to the masses.  The bluetooth transmitter is constantly seeking out available devices to connect to.  When the transmitter recognizes a device, the server automatically sends a “connection request” to the mobile user asking if they’d like to connect with the server to download or access your content.  If the user accepts, the server makes it’s connection with the device, and the content is transfered to the user.

There’s a slew of companies, mostly overseas, that offer one or more parts of a proximity marketing system.  To purchase a complete system from most companies could cost several hundred dollars, and even more depending on the range and the amount of features.  Some companies offer small servers that can be placed at kiosks and posters, and some offer elaborate wifi-based systems for easy content addition.  But, what if you’re not looking for advanced features, and extended connection capabilities.  What if you just want a simple solution for your small business or personal marketing efforts?  What if you don’t have the time, money, and know-how to purchase the different parts of a system and put it together yourself?

The key component of the system itself is the software that power’s it’s operation.  It tells the bluetooth transmitter to constantly seek connections, and when it finds an opt-in connection request, it tells the server what type of content to transmit, and whether that particular user has already received that content or not.  Without this software, your solution is useless.  Sure, you can purchase and download some bluetooth software to run on any computer with a USB bluetooth adapter connected to it, but it limits your broadcast area, and limits the server location to where ever your computer is located.

There’s a 100% open source (and 100% free) version of the bluetooth server software available called BlueZ.  BlueZ is a linux-based bluetooth protocol stack, specifically made for use in proximity marketing systems.  As with most open source software, it’s in it’s simplest form, and requires the configuration on a linux server to operate.  So how in the world do you configure this?

There’s a relatively new company in California called AirCable.  They produce a variety of linux-based server hardware, and bluetooth connection solutions, at very reasonable prices.  They offer a product called AIRcable Server XR™, which is perfect for proximity marketing, because it comes pre-installed with the BlueZ software.  The server itself comprises all the aspects and necessary components for a wide-range bluetooth proximity marketing system.  Another valued feature is the fact that the server can broadcast your signal up to 30km.  This is unmatched by any other solution I’ve come across.

Upon purchasing the server, all that needs to be done is the loading of the content you wish to transmit via bluetooth.  Once setup, just place the server anywhere there’s a power outlet, and leave it alone.  You now have a marketing tool that never needs updating, and more importantly, never needs another dime from you.

In part three, I’ll discuss opening up your bluetooth server to other businesses to allow you to recover your initial investment, and to even turn a profit, as well as incorporating affiliate offers to monetize your hotspot further.

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As an example of advertisers trying to introduce themselves on any mobile medium they can, Relevantis has introduced a new platform that uses branded paid icons on interactive maps to get the message out. The service is aimed at user’s accessing the maps via their mobile device, as well as on their in-car navigation system. The user can then interact with that advertiser with one click, getting things like instant coupons, directions, or a one-click phone call. It creates a win-win situation for everybody, as stated on their website;

The map publisher receives revenue from advertising; advertisers are able to reach out to consumers in an engaging and effective manner; and, most importantly, end-users have a great experience that doesn’t feel like advertising. The map icons feel natural - like they belong. This leads to greater ad revenues and increased customer satisfaction and retention.

Advertisers are charged based on how many impressions their icon receives, or how many user-interactions their icon generates, i.e how many people used “click-for-coupon”. The platform is part of Relevantis’s Universal Ad Platform which supports a wide array of advertising channels. Not only can you advertise via relevant contextual ads on the web, but also via mobile content, and even in-car navigation systems and home set-top boxes. All in the same platform.

The website doesn’t talk much about how it plans to incorporate interaction via in-car navigation systems, which would prove how cool this platform could be. We’ve already been able to instantly dial businesses via our navigation systems with points of interest, but they’ve never been sponsored by the businesses themselves as advertisers. It will be interesting to see how they incorporate the click-to action functions such as click-for-coupon, and other unique content. Most likely it will use SMS/MMS messages to deliver the coupons, directions, etc. When displayed on a mobile device, the ads show up like they would on Google Maps or Yahoo maps.

It’s an interesting platform, and yet another way to tap into the mobile user, but I’m sure Google, Yahoo and the other big players are ready and willing to take on the same concept.

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Large companies and brands are already using mobile marketing campaigns to engage their customers and to attract new ones, but the cost for launching such a campaign can be somewhat expensive, especially for small businesses and organizations. If a small business that has no interest in advertising on a national scale, wants to launch a small campaign targeted at the residents of their small local community, they’d have to enlist the services of a third-party or two to get it done. There’s got to be an easier way, and maybe even a way to do it yourself. If you had the hardware, software, and the know-how to launch your own mobile campaign as well as have the option to offer the same mobile campaigns to other businesses around you for a fee, it could be a win-win situation for you and your customers.

Let’s say you run a small pizza place in the downtown area of your community, and you decide you’d like to try other forms of advertising besides the more traditional radio and newspaper advertising that’s cost you so much in the past. Launching a mobile marketing campaign might be the best solution. But how would you go about it? Enlist the services of an SMS marketing provider? That would be effective, but you could end up spending a lot on per-message charges. What about launching a mobile Pay-Per-Click campaign via the numerous mobile-ad networks? Again, this could end up costing quite a bit, depending on your cost per click. What other options are there?

I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of “proximity marketing.” Especially when using it with bluetooth technology to target consumer’s mobile phones when they’re in close proximity to your business and/or organization. I know there’s some speculation as to whether this form of advertising is to intrusive and spammy, but if done correctly, I think it’s a hugely beneficial form of mobile advertising. If you can incorporate your marketing messages into useful content the end-user truly wants, and can benefit from, it’s a great way to engage your customers, attract new ones, and keep your brand and offerings in front of them as much as possible.

Going back to our pizza place example, proximity marketing could be the perfect solution. The owner could install a simple piece of hardware, provide content of any form, and have a complete mobile-marketing campaign running 24 hours a day with no on-going charges what so ever. The question is, how do you go about doing this yourself? and, how much is it going to cost?

With the proper use of open source software that’s freely available, along with a simple piece of hardware that can cost as little as $129, you can create your own “bluetooth hotspot” that can provide any content you choose to anyone with a compatible mobile phone, in an area of up to 18 miles. Not only can you advertise your product and services while still providing the user’s with useful content, but you can offer your newly created bluetooth hotspot to nearby businesses and advertisers to use for their own mobile marketing campaigns and content for a pre-determined fee.  For a system that only costs $129, you could even turn a profit by becoming your own “mobile marketing agency” in your local area.

To accomplish this you have to know where to find the right software, hardware, and knowledge.  In part two, I’ll discuss where to find everything you’d need, as well as setting everything up.  If you’re an affiliate marketer, I’ll also go over how to use this system to your advantage to multiply your affiliate commissions.  Stay tuned…

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Since a recent infusion of funds, Ad Infuse is ramping up it’s mobile marketing offerings by introducing new iphone-optimized ads to their already impressive platform.

Dubbed adinMotion, the platform uses algorithms that calculate everything from age targeting, user preferences, geo-targeting and more to serve the most relevant advertising possible for mobile content. Now, with ads specifically for iPhones, they’ve increased their targeting power even more. By utilizing a complete web-based control panel, advertisers can choose what type of advertisement they want, what time and dates to serve the advertisement, what demographic and/or other targeting attributes they prefer, and more. For the iPhone, the platform can integrate a WAP banner on content pages, as well as show short, high-quality video ads that are tied to the WAP banner before the user connects to the content. In other words, the commercial-like video can be from the same advertiser as the WAP banner, creating a multi-platform campaign. They also claim that there’s no wait or buffer time between the video advertisement and the content itself, stating it adds to the “premium user experience.”

AdMob has seen success with serving iPhone-specific ads and campaigns recently, notably with their Land Rover iPhone campaign. Their iPhone ad-serving usually contains more user-interaction such as automotive campaigns that feature zip-code fields for user’s to instantly locate their closest dealer, and offerings. Ad Infuse seems to focus more on the media-rich capabilities of the iPhone rather than user-interaction, but it’s sure to come in the near future.

What will be interesting to see is when companies like AdMob and Ad Infuse start to integrate the media-rich, and touchscreen capabilities of the iPhone with other current and future 3rd party iPhone applications. With Google Maps integrating cellular triangulation to pinpoint where an iPhone user is to within a few meters, it’s only a matter of time before the ads served on iPhones, or any other phone for that matter, will start to integrate with mobile-mapping applications to show location-relevant advertising as well.

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