During Super Bowl weekend, a bluetooth proximity marketing campaign will be launched, targeting fans during Super Bowl XLIII. Hot zones of digital information and entertainment in thousands of retail locations will be created to transmit content integrated within a vast array of advertising and marketing displays. These hot spots will allow consumers with cell phones to opt-in to receive location-based information and exclusive entertainment via bluetooth.

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Bluetooth marketing has been around for almost a decade now; and it has become very popular worldwide during the recent years.

Technically, the single most important contributing factor is that Bluetooth has become the standard in most mobile phones.  It was 4 years ago when Bluetooth became an essential feature on newly released phones and now is the time whereby almost every user would have an Bluetooth-enabled phone, given that people upgrade their handsets every 2 to 4 years.

There is a huge potential to be taped with such a large audience, and a Bluetooth marketing campaign can only take off if there are tangible benefits to be reaped.  So, what are these?

Bluetooth marketing enables its audience to keep the campaign’s details conveniently, without holding on to extra pieces of items.

Depending on the campaign’s nature, different media formats may be utilized.  For example, a musical is best promoted using a combination of calendar events and ringtones, as the calender event can serve as a reminder for relevant dates while the ringtone describes the essence of the musical, and allowing people to bring it around, promoting it further as the viral effect kicks in.

Other than these benefits, one can now expand his advertising possibilities and utilize new media formats such as interactive games, wallpapers etc and distribute them at no per-content cost.

Tapping on these advantages of Bluetooth marketing, campaign owners will be more effective in conveying their messages across to their targeted audiences.  It will be a matter of time before Bluetooth marketing reaches its full fledge, to become as commonly used as its printed counterpart in public places.

Between May and September 2008, Philips implemented 18 consumer bluetooth activation points at various venues including malls, nightclubs and university campuses to promote its launch of their innovative, state-of-the-art shaving technology, the Philips Norelco Moisturizing Shaving System.

At peak times more than 100 pieces of content were being downloaded per hour per activation point. The effect of Bluetooth activity combined with eye-catching promoters was key to the campaign’s success. This unique combination adds real value to brand engagement. This medium is opt-in which allows us to engage with consumers who are willing to receive and interact with the brand, rather than bombard the public with unwanted marketing messages.

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The Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery are now advertising for their upcoming exhibition “Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur” using Bluetooth technology.

According to Smithsonian’s website, “… A message from the Smithsonian will appear on pedestrians’ mobile screens, and those who accept the message will receive a detail of the bus shelter advertisement and a message urging them to visit the featured exhibition, “Garden and Cosmos.” This advertisement magnifies the eyes of a Nath Yogi from the exhibition and gives users the opportunity to use the artwork as wallpaper for their mobile devices…”

We believe that Bluetooth marketing is very appropriate for events like this because: First, the targeted audience gets to keep the its details without holding onto flyers.  Second, if the received graphics/multimedia contents are interesting enough, they may be multiplied among friends.  Moreover, when combined with the use of calender events, reminders may be set in the receiving devices, alerting their users of the approaching exhibitions.

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At Raglan Castle, a late medieval castle located in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales, the officials that managed it ran a trial to distribute audio files to visitors’ mobile phones using Bluetooth.

According to Tom at Lexemetch.com, “As I walked through the entrance I simply made my phone discoverable, waited a few seconds for the MP3 to download, then started listening to a guided tour of the castle. It’s a great use of the technology: it just worked…”

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During Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, fans were presented with media contents from the sponsors that supported the race.

According to Mobilemarketing watch, “The race’s two main sponsors; Coke and Chevrolet supported the campaign with 15-second video spots placed among the content. Chevy notified people of the vehicle demos they offered around the track, and Coke directed people to free samples of Coke Zero as part of their promotion integrated into the system. Other content the fans received were things like concert information for the infield performances, and driver autograph-signing information and times…”

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