Bluetooth marketing replacing outdoor advertising

Rahul Kapoor - Televisionpoint.com | Bangalore
Bluetooth enabled marketing has caught the fancy of the film industry in the south as end-to-end movie promotions are being routed to consumers while they are on the move. Sensing the need to court mobile consumers, bluetooth marketers have tweaked outdoor advertising to reach filmgoers during the course of a movie release.

Film promotion vans and related billboards are being used as vehicles to beam rich-media content - film trailers, reviews, wallpapers and ringtones, that can be received on bluetooth phones. From in-store or at-location bluecasting, still popular with brands retailing at malls, bluetooth promotions have scaled up to push movie content at zero cost for the receiver.

Telibrahma Communications, in the bluetooth marketing solutions space, has been providing bluetooth-enabled display vans to promote Kannada films like Gaalipata, Garagase and Taj Mahal since April 2008.

The Aditya Arts banner roped in blu-fi technology to publicise Ramya-Aditya starrer Anthu Inthu Preethi Bantu last month, among the Bangalore and Mysore target audience. After promoting British movie Sucker Punch, the company will make a foray into Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies.

Speaking to Televisionpoint.com, Kannada film Mussanje Maatu's producer Vikas Jain, says, "Usually, once the road publicity van is out of sight, the target audience tends to forget the promotion. Bluetooth-enabled vans are doubly effective as the banners urge people to interact with the content around the film. The visuals, which remain on the phone, draw immediate recall."

Of the 80,000 content downloads made around the film's release date in Bangalore, Jain is confident that bluetooth's power of circulation would have prompted at least half of them to watch the film. Unlike at-location marketing, the technology embedded on vans can broadcast content over a wide range and adapt to any phone model.

The film promotions are rolled out in three phases to create buzz around the film. In the pre-release period, the production house provides snippets on the movie, after which contests and free tickets are sent. After the film is released, they share reviews and interviews with stars. It is supplemented by blu-fi zones in malls and film billboards.

Tier I and II cities will see a lot of movie promotions through this medium. While India is the fastest growing mobile phone market with 300 million subscribers, handset manufacturers claim 70 per cent of all phones are bluetooth enabled.

Suresh Narasimha, CEO, Telibrama communications, tells Televisionpoint.com, "Close to 10 million new connections are being added monthly and with existing users changing handsets frequently, we assume that at least five million bluetooth handsets are being added every month in India. This technology has become one of the sole ways of giving customers a rich media experience."

With aesthetic concerns putting outdoor advertising, particularly billboards, on tenterhooks, bluetooth solution providers forecast a tremendous growth. In July, this year outdoor advertisers in Bangalore received a set back with the chief minister cracking the whip on commercial hoardings, banners and flex boards in BBMP limits.

The BBMP notified plans of phasing out excessive outdoor advertising by freezing licence issue and retaining existing billboards only till the expiry date. The regulation in the out-of-home segment has put the spotlight on street furniture and transit advertising, just as bluetooth marketing is gradually turning into a favourable add on.