Shop Till You Drop; Singapore Mobile Operator Rolls Out Location-Based Mobile Advertising » mobilegroove

Singapore’s MobileOne will launch a service to link location and advertising that, if successful, will turn mobile users into consumers. The SMS advertising service will allow advertisers to target mobile users based on their location and is set to be rolled out in more than 70 shopping malls. This type of advertising has long been mooted as a huge market for mobile advertising, particularly in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. If the segmentation is done right then there is certainly scope for this to take off in a big way; I can see small campaigns having a huge impact on foot-fall in stores and once a few successful case studies hit the market then competition will drive innovation and the sky is the limit.

Statements from both M1 and their partner in this venture, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), were suitably evangelical, not only praising the benefits for advertiser or brand, but also for the user. However, as with all things mobile, the user must be protected and be seen as an individual. Advertisers that fail to grasp this concept will either alienate customers or irreparably damage this fledgling market.

Peggy adds: At the other end of the spectrum, mobile location-based services that seek to connect with shoppers when they are in “buy-mode” are also gaining traction. NearbyNow, Inc., whose online service allows users to search all products, brands, and sales available at local shopping centers, has taken its offer to mobile, allowing users to find what they want using SMS.

NearbyNow, which works together with some 100 malls, recently teamed up with Gen Y fashion retailer Metro Park USA, according to this post in DMNews. It reports “70 percent of traffic to NearbyNow.com comes from Google or Yahoo, and then this links to the local mall page, where partner retailers can feature products that are carried at a specific location.”

As Scott Dunlap, NearbyNow CEO put it: “It’s Google for shopping malls. We offer the search service of what is in the mall; you can send items online or on the mobile phone to get [an] audience of people [who] are starting online, but wanting to purchase in-store.” The inventory is usually updated every 24 hours, so that users can plan their shopping down to the last detail. “Our consumers have a high intent to buy, and are intending to come to the mall within 48 hours. So it’s a great audience to target, and they particularly seem to be interested in new items.” The recently enhanced service allows users to put an item on hold at a store of their choice.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Mobile Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.