BLUE IN THE FACE: Bluetooth evolving as mobile marketing channel

Like it or not, Bluetooth marketing is gaining traction in the United States as an effective – if sometimes intrusive – way for advertisers to get their messages in front of mobile users.
So depending on your view, Verizon Wireless subscribers are either missing out on the fun or blessedly exempt from unwanted come-ons.
Bluetooth marketing – derisively dubbed “bluespamming” by its critics – has a mixed record in its short life. Qwikker Inc., a New York-based startup formerly known as WideRay, was one of the first on the scene earlier this decade with Jack, a self-contained, Linux-based computer that transmitted messages via Bluetooth in public settings. A host of other players have joined the field in recent years as the technology has become more commonplace (most notably in Europe and North America) and Bluetooth campaigns have grown from a novelty marketing ploy to encompass nationwide campaigns.
Range Rover two years ago launched a campaign in Times Square, using a billboard to ask passersby if they’d like to receive marketing content, and Loews Theatres has used in-theater kiosks to transmit movie trailers. The New York puppet group Avenue Q recently installed technology at Noel Coward Theatre that asks Bluetooth users if they’d like a free video clip of the show, and CBS is using the technology to lure potential viewers by plugging its lineup at Grand Central Station. The concept moved beyond advertising last year, when police in the United Kingdom outfitted a car with a Bluetooth transmitter in an effort to turn up witnesses in a Liverpool murder case.
Backers claim many of the proximity marketing campaigns have been effective. Avenue Q’s effort saw more than 700 people accept content, notching an impressive “take rate” of 7%. Qwikker claims a recent effort with Nokia Corp. in New Zealand saw 8,400 responses (out of 33,000 devices prompted), with 2,300 agreeing to receive content.
Detractors remain
Bluetooth marketing has built a small army of detractors, however, who claim that annoyance rates for Bluetooth campaigns may be higher than conversion rates. Unsolicited come-ons are an invasion of privacy, some have said, forcing consumers to respond to a pitch – even if that response is “No.” And numerous deployments of proximity marketing could lead to nightmarish scenarios where consumers are forced to set their Bluetooth profiles to “off” to avoid being bombarded with pitches as they walk down city streets or through shopping malls. Industry organizations such as the Mobile Marketing Association and the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office are working to address such concerns, and proximity marketers say campaigns that employ high-visibility signage can help ease consumer pushback. But in the United States, one of the biggest hurdles is being presented by a carrier – not would-be customers.
VZW blues
“Right now, Verizon is off limits for the transfer of content over Bluetooth,” said Saul Kato, founder of Qwikker, noting that the nation’s No. 2 carrier blocks the transfer of content via Bluetooth. “We’re hoping they open up that pipe to the phone, but it remains to be seen where they’re going to come out. We think there’s a real strong user demand to letting you do what you want with your phone.”
The rub, of course, is Verizon Wireless’s effort to foil file-sharing efforts by “crippling” Bluetooth on many handsets. That stance – which was at the center of at least two lawsuits in 2005 – has seen Verizon Wireless block file-transfer capabilities on all but nine of 31 Bluetooth-enabled handsets, according to documents on the carrier’s site.
That leaves a sizable chunk of the market unreachable via Bluetooth pitches, given Verizon Wireless’s nearly 66 million mobile users. And while the carrier is constantly reevaluating the policy, it has no plans to reverse course any time soon.
“Bluetooth, just like any other technology, evolves, so we always look at that,” Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Brenda Raney said. “We look at it in the context of what our customers want, what they need, and what will provide those customers with the best service. The policies have evolved over time, and they will continue to evolve.”
Campaigns continue
Meanwhile, advertisers seem increasingly willing to wager on Bluetooth campaigns, and deployments are being ramped up around the world. Qwikker a few months ago announced a partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor to deliver mobile video at 1,000 hotspots in the United States by mid-year.
The goal, said Kato, is to offer content that’s attractive enough consumers are eager to opt in – not annoyed that they have to opt out. And perhaps create enough interest that users lobby Verizon Wireless to alter its policy.
“For this to succeed there has to be user uptake,” he asserted. “This is not a TV commercial. This is all user acceptance and download.”
And carrier tolerance, of course.