February 9th, 2011
Billboards Join Wired Age
Billboards and posters are one of world’s oldest forms of advertising. Now, some marketers and start-ups say wireless technology could revamp outdoor advertising by bringing interactivity and pay-for-performance models.
Over the last few months, Google Inc., Nokia Corp. and France Telecom SA’s Orange have run pilot advertising campaigns that let a person interact with posters in bus stops, phone booths, train stations and airports in cites including New York and London.
So far, companies are using the posters as a way to distribute wireless applications or ringtones for smartphones. But outdoor advertisers and marketers say the ads could also be used to distribute games, video ads, coupons and even as a way to sell physical or digital goods and services.
“You have to wait here. You don’t have to be bored,” read the poster for a Google campaign, which ran in Boston-area bus stops. The poster let a person download Google’s mobile app through a free Wi-Fi router installed in the location.
Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104576122091475061666.html?mod=dist_smartbrief