The Third Word � Cellphone opens more paths for marketers

location based services

Advertising, Industry News — Posted on April 6, 2006 by Marc MacIntosh.
Published by: USA Todayby Edward C. Baig, April 5, 2006
Marketers are cooking up creative ways to get at you through the cellphone in your pocket. That is evident in Las Vegas this week, where some 40,000 people are gathered for the CTIA Wireless trade show.
“Your phone is about you in ways that are unlike traditional mass media,” says Linda Barrabee, an analyst at the Yankee Group research firm. Marketers are dabbling in text messaging, video, location-based services and mobile-payment schemes.Examples:
Under a deal Sprint announced with the Luxor hotel here, when you land in Las Vegas and turn on your cellphone, the Luxor can check you in before you exit the plane.
During your stay, you might get mobile coupons for discounted meals, show tickets and other offers. Using the phone’s GPS capabilities, the Luxor can see if you are off the hotel premises and tailor mobile promotions to lure you back.
Sprint is also working with the Las Vegas Monorail on a service permitting riders to buy tickets wirelessly. You punch in a five-digit code plus the keyword “ride,” and get a text message with a mobile ticket. You can either wave the phone at a gate scanner to board, or visit kiosks to print a ticket.
“This a great marketing tool,” says Sprint’s data communications director John Styers, who expects the platform to be used at sporting venues and concerts.
Cingular Wireless will let viewers of the WB TV show One Tree Hill send text messages to determine plotlines in upcoming episodes. Cingular has already had success getting customers to text in votes on American Idol.
Consumers who sent text messages in response to banner ads for the UPN show Veronica Mars got voice mail from star Kristen Bell (in character as Veronica) 45 minutes before the show was to air. Digital agencies Third Screen Media and Carat Fusion, which worked on the campaign, said ratings climbed from a 1.4 share to 2.7. Traffic to the show’s website jumped 500%.