Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Creative Mobile Technologies LLC, Out-of-Home digital networks and a premier technology and payment processing solutions provider for the taxicab market in the U.S., and Blue Bite, mobile-marketing solutions provider, have announced what is believed to be a first of its kind media-mobile technology partnership in the U.S. taxi space.
Blue Bite’s proprietary mTAG platform will be available in 5,000 taxicabs with CMT media screens in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Anaheim by September 1, 2013.
Under this arrangement, taxi passengers will see video or static messages on Blue Bite- enhanced CMT taxi media screens and be prompted to either ‘tap’ or ‘snap’ the mTAG affixed to the frame of the screen. Riders will be able to ‘tap’ their NFC-enabled smart phone to instantly download rich user content including music, videos, mobile apps, promotional information, coupons, maps, and tips, among other things. Consumers without an NFC-enabled phone will be able to ‘snap’ a picture of the Quick Response code to access the same content.
We had a nice chat with Tom Haymond, CMT’s executive vice-president, creative mobile media, who has been active in the development of CMT’s taxi screens from their earliest days in 2007.
“This is the right timing and the right people to work with,” says Haymond. “We have a great relationship with our taxis and we believe that this will go over well. We have research that shows that 89% of customers leave the screens playing when they are in our taxis. And with an average ride of 10 minutes (San Francisco) to 14 minutes (New York), this will give customers time to really engage with our content providers (ABC Networks and the City of New York) and our advertisers. Once they tap in or scan, the material is instantly downloaded to their mobile phone, so they can watch, use and listen to it at their leisure.”
Haymond says that the Blue Bite partnership was tested in three units and worked well, so the rollout was arranged. And while the initial rollout is for 5,000 taxis, Haymond “Absolutely” expects it to expand to all CMT’s 20,000 cabs in 60 cities and 35 states.
“We wanted to put it first in representative cities across the country to get an ideas of the differences in watching and use, any problems with dead zones and so forth,” says Haymond. “We can see that this fits in with people’s lifestyles. And with our ability to target and our flexibility to schedule advertising in eg. 200 cabs here and 500 there, anywhere across the country, we believe that advertisers will want to be involved.”
Haymond says that all advertising across the country is handled out of the New York headquarters “under the incredibly talented Gary Power, CMT’s traffic and continuity provider. We can really micro-manage according to whatever the advertisers want.”
“Blue Bite is thrilled with its first foray into the taxi market and the opportunity to integrate with the dynamic CMT platform that will give users instantaneous access to multifaceted and relevant content during their taxi ride,” says Mikhail Damiani, CEO and co-founder of Blue Bite.
“CMT is excited to be the premier taxi provider of the Blue Bite technology and to increase riders’ interaction with our media screens, especially as consumers become more reliant on their mobile phones,” says Jason Poliner, vice-chairman and COO of CMT. “The digital out-of-home space has skyrocketed and today is an integral component in national advertising campaigns. CMT is well-position to meet demand for advertising in various unique, premium digital out-of-home platforms.”
“Advertisers’ ability to connect with our viewers’ mobile devices is one more way CMT can increase engagement, interaction and support for our clients,” says Haymond, executive vice-president of CMT Media Sales. “Combined with CMT’s geo-targeting capabilities; full motion video and audio; and ABC’s dynamic content, the addition of Blue Bite’s systems gives CMT an unparalleled ability to help clients impact consumers in the digital OOH space and see a tangible ROI.”
Blue Bite has seen mobile engagements in their campaigns increase by more than 115% over the past 18 months. The real-time mobile content and analytics will allow participating companies to optimize their campaigns and react to market situations. Consumers will benefit from content that is both location-specific and relevant, and will have the ability to share the campaigns with friends through social media.
“Mobile technology, coupled with media-rich content generated on the media screens, is an exciting way to engage active consumers and generate brand awareness,” says Gerald Griffin, senior vice-president, ABC regional sports and entertainment sales. “The mTAG platform also allows clients to measure effectiveness of their campaigns.”
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