JSE-listed property loan stock company Growthpoint has recently signed a contract with MobiBlitz, cofounded by radio veteran Stan Katz, to install interactive Bluetooth hotspots (Mobizones) in all of their shopping malls, totalling some 72 nationally. Twenty of these have now been completed, with another 10 to follow shortly.
Sandton City and Mandela Square in Johannesburg, owned by Liberty Properties, are piloting Mobizones with a view to installing them in other malls in the Liberty portfolio. Killarney Mall, also in Johannesburg and owned by Octodec, is also up and running.
“Now you can literally reach the people who count and accurately count the people you've reached. With Mobizone there is no possibility of inflating audience figures,” says Stan Katz, cofounder of Mobiblitz. “Clients know precisely how many consumers have actually seen their message. With pressure on budgets and return on investment the watchword of the day, there is no advertising medium that offers a more cost-effective solution.”
Rapid delivery
A Mobizone Hotspot allows for the rapid delivery and receipt of content to mobile devices within a radius of 100 metres. This includes permission-based advertising messages. The intention is not only to enhance the shopping experience, but also to increase instore traffic for tenants. All communication is free to the user.
Each Mobizone Hotspot forms part of a nationwide network operated from headquarters in Rivonia, Johannesburg, providing flexibility for scheduling content. Advertisers are able to select as many or as few Mobizones on the network as they require. Downloads by users are monitored in realtime, allowing for content to be changed at short notice.
The network was designed to address several marketing and advertising problems simultaneously, including flexibility, pinpoint targetability and accurate measurability. Point-of-presence material in malls serves to prompt shoppers to turn on Bluetooth on their cellphones.
Alive to any potential annoyance factor, Mobiblitz is at pains to ensure that this does not happen in a Mobizone. Cofounder Farhad Omar explains, “Not only are these communications permission-based, but Mobizones are programmed to limit the number of messages that are sent to any particular device. Nor will any device receive the same message twice. MobiBlitz chose Bluetooth for ‘last metre” delivery in malls because MobiZones are proximity-based and Bluetooth is robust and, at a speed of 2.5 mbps, super fast.”
Interactive virtual spaces
From the user's point of view, Mobizones are interactive virtual spaces where one can receive messages that are personal and relevant, surf the Zone for store directories, special offers, movie trailers, news, weather, travel etc; Certain content, including an exclusive mobisode from MTV, is available free of charge in all Mobizones. The interactive element allows ‘Zoners' to upload their own user – generated content.
Katz explains “We are creating compelling entertainment zones within these shopping malls, not merely for pushing advertising messages, but also for providing cool content such as advergaming, which is available for sponsorship, and premium content which is available to purchase.”
All content, which includes video, animated gifs, graphics, text and the like, is phone-specific. This means that the image is always optimised for that particular handset.
Create large footprint
Some of the major brands using the system include KFC, Wrigley, Numetro and MTV. More are set to come aboard over the next few months, according to MobiBlitz. The plan is to create as large a footprint as possible, with Mobizoned malls set to come on stream in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, and East London in the next month.
“We're inundated with enquiries,” says Omar, “We're moving as fast as we can with several teams working around the clock to complete installations.”
Visit our PRESS OFFICE: Mobiblitz is a converged mobile Media Company at the forefront of developing Mobile Media solutions for Blue Chip African Companies. Our strength is in our ability to combine best of breed Technology with Marketing Strategy.- more....
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