Jim, did you know that Ethereal has 25% more riboflavin than any other cereal on the market?
Jim: No shit. — Putney Swope
Clear Channel Outdoor and Qwikker, the leading provider of Bluetooth content distribution, today announced an agreement to build a mobile content delivery network using Clear Channel’s outdoor signage.
Clear Channel Outdoor will deploy Qwikker technology within its global network of out-of-home advertising properties thus enabling the delivery of mobile content campaigns integrated with its traditional advertising displays.
“Through this partnership we can leverage our estate of advertising locations around the world to build an independent mobile content delivery network. It transforms a one-way, indirectly measurable advertising medium into an active, two-way interactive medium with exact performance measurement,” said Michael Hudes, Global Director, Digital Media for Clear Channel Outdoor. “You can think of this as Outdoor 2.0.”
Clear Channel Outdoor has already deployed Qwikker technology in the USA, Australia, Belgium, Ireland and New Zealand, with further international deployments planned. The two companies have committed to a rollout in the next twelve months of over one thousand additional locations in the US alone, encompassing street furniture, malls, and airport locations. Each enabled location will allow consumers with a mobile phone to opt-in to receive content, via Bluetooth, when they are in the vicinity of an advertising panel indicating the availability of the service.
San Francisco-based Qwikker, formerly known as WideRay, uses small Bluetooth transmitters. Proximity-based ad competitors, include Filter with their BlueCasting technology. The data transfer rate depends on the type of handset the consumer has, but in general transfer rates are around 20k to 30k per second. BlueCastWiFi adds WiFi access to content for laptops and mobile handsets like Apple’s iPhone.
“Bluespamming” continues to draw scorn from those concerned about consumer privacy issues, notes RCR News. Unknowing consumers who have activated Bluetooth on their phones shouldn’t be pestered, detractors say, simply for walking within 30 feet of a mobile marketing campaign. And users who choose to accept content run the risk of receiving a virus or other nasty bugs with the advertising messages.
But Raymond Stone, marketing manager for ZipZone Media, that sells a $1700 Bluetooth transmitter says, “People think you’re pushing something onto their cell phones they don’t want. In actuality, the whole thing is an opt-in system.”
Fred Durman, commercial director at Filter in the United Kingdom, acknowledges that cellular operators may see BlueTooth advertising as something of a double-edged sword. “The plus side is it does showcase how you can use your phone in many more interesting ways other than voice calls,” he says.
Keeping Bluetooth off is the best policy, as this UK video shows.
Clear Channel Outdoor’s largest competitor, CBS Outdoor, last week announced a free WiFi-enabled poster network in downtown Manhattan called the Mobile Zone. Same deal.
E Ink is prototyping versions of the electronic ink that support color and render video for applications like transit schedules, maps or tourist info. Put them in The Tube.
But it doesn’t have to be all advertising or information. MAXXI, Rome’s museum of XXI century arts, has been developing ‘Netspace: Journey into Net Art,’ a series of exhibitions devoted to new media art that aims to expand knowledge about this field in Italy. Tourists might receive Bluetooth-activated narration. Entertainment and commerce are combined in The Slog, a promotional vehicle for Horizon Airlines.
Blow-up outdoor. Reclaim it.
The top 10 Outdoor Advertising Companies (based on 2005 US revenue) according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America are:
- Clear Channel Outdoor
- CBS Outdoor
- Lamar Advertising Company
- Van Wagner Communications
- JCDecaux
- Fairway Outdoor Advertising
- NextMedia Outdoor
- Magic Media
- Reagan National Advertising
- Burkhart Advertising
The Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 1000 new devices in the last 15 months, three times the certification rate of the previous 3 months. About 20% were non-traditional devices like portable gaming devices, music players and more than 100 different dual-mode handsets, said Karen Hanley, senior director of the Wi-Fi Alliance. ABI Research expects Wi-Fi in non-traditional devices to surpass networking equipment in a few years.
Related DailyWireless stories include; Digital Gas, Cisco Digital Signage, Motorola: It’s All About ME, Clear Channel sells for $27 Billion, Clear Channel Podcasting, Big Media Mobilizes, Fox + Clear Channel, Clear Channel Goes Digital, Municipal Wireless Flash Applications, Hotspot Posters, and Internet Kiosks.
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