Mapway & @ExterionMediaUK & @Proxama iBeacon Bus Experience
Exterion Media, Europe’s largest privately owned out–of-home advertising business, has launched the UK’s largest iBeacon experience across 500 Transport for London (TfL) buses throughout London in partnership with Proxama PLC (AIM: PROX), the leading mobile proximity marketing expert and Mapway, the world’s leading publisher of transport apps for mobile devices.
Mapway has integrated Proxama’s beacon Mobile SDK into its Bus Times London app and is currently deploying a utility-led consumer engagement experience to bus passengers in London. The experience is delivered using Exterion Media’s bus beacon network, which is underpinned by Proxama’s TapPoint® beacon platform.
With bus travel in London accounting for more than half of all bus journeys in the UK, at an average journey time of 17 minutes, brands will be able to use the opportunity presented by this ‘dwell time’ to engage with passengers.
The service launched for Android users of Bus Times London on 17 March and delivers:
- Real-time travel updates – in-app notifications are delivered to users when they board a beacon-enabled bus, advising them of real-time travel updates for the route they are traveling on
- Contextual in-app ads – relevant and timely advertising served based on the consumer being on board a bus at time of viewing. Brands can capitalise on the consumer’s exact physical context and dwell time to deliver ads at the right time and increase click through rates
Brands using beacon-triggered enhanced advertising have seen that delivering contextually-relevant experiences drives higher consumer engagement levels. Sticky9 (part of the PhotoBox group) is seeing an average click-through rate of 14.5 per cent, much higher than the typical one to two per cent of non-beacon-triggered advertising. Beacon-triggered real-time travel update notifications are receiving a click-through rate of 44 per cent.
Jon Worley, CEO of Proxama’s Marketing Division told us “This collaboration is a huge milestone for the proximity marketing industry. App owners are looking for ways to increase active user numbers and establish new sources of revenue, and beacons can deliver on both objectives. Brands are also looking for ways to better understand and more accurately engage with their target audiences, so campaigns like this deliver a win-win – with the results speaking for themselves. This partnership is yet another indication that 2016 is the year that beacon technology for marketing gains significant traction.”
David James, CEO of Mapway, said “We chose to work with Proxama and Exterion Media because, using beacons, we can ensure opted-in users only receive relevant and timely notifications and that content is both powerful and contextual. This platform has enormous potential for brands, and we look forward to helping them better engage with consumers. Similarly, we hope adverts will become of more interest to users of our apps, replacing volume with quality and relevance”
Following the success seen to date on its Android app, Mapway is also integrating Proxama’s proximity Mobile SDK into the iOS version of the Bus Times London app, with the update scheduled for release to the App Store in May. Both apps combined will deliver a reachable consumer audience of half a million.
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