Christine Larson


Home About Me Writing Samples My Book For my Students		Streetbeam.(American Express uses high-tech outdoor ads) Christine Larson 12 November 2001 Adweek 14 ISSN 1064-4318; Volume 42; Issue 42 English Copyright 2001 Gale Group Inc. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT 2001 VNU Business Me dia American Express gives PDA users a new way to download apps and ads to their hand-helds Talk about high-touch marketing. This year, Blue from American Express played right into the hands of its audience. The company beamed its message directly into thousands of handheld organizers via high-tech outdoor ads developed by New York-based mobile media firm, Streetbeam. As part of the company's "Blue for Music" campaign this spring, which offered discounts on CDs and tickets to Blue users, the company placed 25 Streetbeam posters on Manhattan phone kiosks. The posters, which can transmit applications to PDAs via infrared beam, displayed a large image of the Blue smart card and encouraged consumers to point their PDAs at the poster and download a Manhattan address-finding tool. The application, showing the nearest cross street for any Manhattan location, also featured a button labeled "Blue." Clicking the button brought up a message reminding consumers to use their Blue card for music discounts, and encouraging them to visit the Blue for Music Web site ( www.americanexpress.com/bluemusic ). "One of the things we thought was effective is that you might visit an outdoor poster only once," says Judy Tenzer, spokesperson for American Express. "But once the application is loaded on your handheld device, it provides a repetitive marketing message. You might have loaded it the first week in May, but you'll he seeing messages for quite a while--depending on how often you get lost in Manhattan," she adds. The campaign also included conventional outdoor ads, plus print and broadcast, a lt hough, says Teazer, Blue's target customers are more likely to be dashing around town than watching TV "Blue customers are very active in their work and personal lives, so the address finder made sense," says Teuzer. Because the Blue target group is entrepreneurial and tech savvy, she adds, "the fit between a Blue customer and a PDA user is very logical." This isn't the first time Blue from American Express has chosen an unconventional media strategy "What's interesting about Blue is that they're definitely doing a lot of tech-oriented media, a lot of 'under-the-radar' media," says Marissa Gluck, senior analyst at Jupiter Me dia Me trix. When the company launched Blue in 1999, the kickoff included branded water bottles at hea lt h clubs, ads at movie theaters and a Sheryl Crow concert in Central Park . American Express has called the Blue launch the most successful product debut in the company's history. This year's outdoor campaign ran from May to July, featuring creative by Ogilvy & Mather, and interactive work by Digitas. Me dia buying firm MindShare placed the 25 Streetbeam posters in midtown, Union Square and the Upper West Side . A lt hough American Express won't divulge its media spending, Streetbeam campaigns typically cost about 25 percent more than traditional outdoor ads. During the campaign's two-month run, Streetbeam recorded 2,032 downloads--and the application may have found its way to many more PDAs, says Streetbeam president and CEO Jan Renner. "We generally estimate the pass-along effect at 5 percent to 15 percent, but it could be twice that for this application. Usually, the cooler the application, the more it gets passed around." Unfortunately, there's no way to measure just how often a user beams the application to a friend, or to track how frequently the user consu lt s the program or selects the "Blue" button. "You're limited in what you can measure," says Gluck, the Jupiter Me dia Me trix analyst. "In terms of effectiveness, it's hard to say, a lt hough certainly there's a nove lt y factor associated with [Streetbeam]." She also points out that an outdoor campaign isn't necessarily an efficient way to distribute a targeted message. "The reason interactive advertising works--when it does work--is that it's relevant. But the value proposition of outdoor has always been that it's a mass medium, which by definition can't be relevant to everyone." Still, she says, Streetbeam is part of a significant change in outdoor advertising, a trend including LCD billboards, digital boards on cabs and cell-phone ads. "What [Streetbeam] portends is the evolution of out-of-home [advertising] toward more digital technology." Streetbeam is currently working with advertisers to develop beaming applications that receive Internet updates when users synch their PDAs. "The conduit technology is there, but advertisers are still figuring out how to use it," Renner says. And 12 to 24 months away, he says, are wireless-enabled outdoor ads. "So you download from an ad and purchase right there. Instant gratification." AT A GLANCE * Technology: Streetbeam * Client: Blue from American Express * Campaign: Blue for Music * Agency: creative: Ogilvy & Mather; interactive work: Digitas * Length of campaign: May-July, 2001 * The numbers: 2,032 downloads; pass-along rate estimated at 5 to 15 percent

Streetbeam.(American Express uses high-tech outdoor ads)

Christine Larson

12 November 2001
Adweek
14
ISSN 1064-4318; Volume 42; Issue 42
English
Copyright 2001 Gale Group Inc. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT 2001 VNU Business Me dia

American Express gives PDA users a new way to download apps and ads to their hand-helds

Talk about high-touch marketing. This year, Blue from American Express played right into the hands of its audience. The company beamed its message directly into thousands of handheld organizers via high-tech outdoor ads developed by New York-based mobile media firm, Streetbeam.

As part of the company's "Blue for Music" campaign this spring, which offered discounts on CDs and tickets to Blue users, the company placed 25 Streetbeam posters on Manhattan phone kiosks. The posters, which can transmit applications to PDAs via infrared beam, displayed a large image of the Blue smart card and encouraged consumers to point their PDAs at the poster and download a Manhattan address-finding tool. The application, showing the nearest cross street for any Manhattan location, also featured a button labeled "Blue." Clicking the button brought up a message reminding consumers to use their Blue card for music discounts, and encouraging them to visit the Blue for Music Web site ( www.americanexpress.com/bluemusic ).

"One of the things we thought was effective is that you might visit an outdoor poster only once," says Judy Tenzer, spokesperson for American Express. "But once the application is loaded on your handheld device, it provides a repetitive marketing message. You might have loaded it the first week in May, but you'll he seeing messages for quite a while--depending on how often you get lost in Manhattan," she adds.

The campaign also included conventional outdoor ads, plus print and broadcast, a lt hough, says Teazer, Blue's target customers are more likely to be dashing around town than watching TV "Blue customers are very active in their work and personal lives, so the address finder made sense," says Teuzer. Because the Blue target group is entrepreneurial and tech savvy, she adds, "the fit between a Blue customer and a PDA user is very logical."

This isn't the first time Blue from American Express has chosen an unconventional media strategy "What's interesting about Blue is that they're definitely doing a lot of tech-oriented media, a lot of 'under-the-radar' media," says Marissa Gluck, senior analyst at Jupiter Me dia Me trix. When the company launched Blue in 1999, the kickoff included branded water bottles at hea lt h clubs, ads at movie theaters and a Sheryl Crow concert in Central Park . American Express has called the Blue launch the most successful product debut in the company's history.

This year's outdoor campaign ran from May to July, featuring creative by Ogilvy & Mather, and interactive work by Digitas. Me dia buying firm MindShare placed the 25 Streetbeam posters in midtown, Union Square and the Upper West Side . A lt hough American Express won't divulge its media spending, Streetbeam campaigns typically cost about 25 percent more than traditional outdoor ads.

During the campaign's two-month run, Streetbeam recorded 2,032 downloads--and the application may have found its way to many more PDAs, says Streetbeam president and CEO Jan Renner. "We generally estimate the pass-along effect at 5 percent to 15 percent, but it could be twice that for this application. Usually, the cooler the application, the more it gets passed around."

Unfortunately, there's no way to measure just how often a user beams the application to a friend, or to track how frequently the user consu lt s the program or selects the "Blue" button.

"You're limited in what you can measure," says Gluck, the Jupiter Me dia Me trix analyst. "In terms of effectiveness, it's hard to say, a lt hough certainly there's a nove lt y factor associated with [Streetbeam]."

She also points out that an outdoor campaign isn't necessarily an efficient way to distribute a targeted message. "The reason interactive advertising works--when it does work--is that it's relevant. But the value proposition of outdoor has always been that it's a mass medium, which by definition can't be relevant to everyone."

Still, she says, Streetbeam is part of a significant change in outdoor advertising, a trend including LCD billboards, digital boards on cabs and cell-phone ads. "What [Streetbeam] portends is the evolution of out-of-home [advertising] toward more digital technology."

Streetbeam is currently working with advertisers to develop beaming applications that receive Internet updates when users synch their PDAs. "The conduit technology is there, but advertisers are still figuring out how to use it," Renner says. And 12 to 24 months away, he says, are wireless-enabled outdoor ads. "So you download from an ad and purchase right there. Instant gratification."

AT A GLANCE

* Technology: Streetbeam

* Client: Blue from American Express

* Campaign: Blue for Music

* Agency: creative: Ogilvy & Mather; interactive work: Digitas

* Length of campaign: May-July, 2001

* The numbers: 2,032 downloads; pass-along rate estimated at 5 to 15 percent