Case Study: Bluetooth Proximity Marketing

Situation
Alexander’s Estate Agent is an independently owned Estate Agent in Aberystwyth,
their branch is well positioned near to the centre of the town centre and has
established a good reputation in mid-Wales.
In the spring of 2008 Alexander’s had a range of sea-facing luxury apartments to
market and were looking at options on how they could maximise the footfall past
these properties and increase enquiries in the process.

Solution
After a consultation period with Huetouch, Alexander’s implemented a Huetouch
Bluetooth device that would sit within the luxury apartments and beam pictures of the
properties to mobile phones within a 100 metre radius.
This would form the basis of their Luxury Apartment campaign on Easter Weekend,
when the footfall past these apartments would be at it’s highest.
Before the weekend Alexander’s designed a simple image slideshow featuring
photos of the inside and outside of the apartments. The slideshow was loaded onto
the device through the Huetouch web-portal and then the Bluetooth device was
placed in one of the properties and left for the weekend.
During the Easter Weekend the Bluetooth device would contact passing mobile
phones and offer the free slideshow. If the mobile phone owner ignored or denied
the request they would not be contacted again, if they accepted the request they
would be able to quickly download the free slideshow from the Bluetooth device from
as far away as 100 metres.
Success
The Bluetooth device was in place for three days and during this time it delivered the
slideshow to 1,739 mobile phones, which resulted in 50 enquiries, 20 viewings and 2
sales.
Derek Ross from Alexander’s said:
“Through using the Huetouch device we were able to reach potential
customers who otherwise may not have been aware that the properties near
to them were for sale. The results of our Easter Weekend campaign were
phenomenal and the feedback from the public was very positive, they
especially liked the lack of printed materials and the ease of which they were
able to receive the details.
Working with Huetouch was very easy, they went above and beyond the call
of duty to ensure that our campaign was a success and we are now planning
a longer campaign based on the success of the first one.”

Bluetooth Range

Bluetooth works over distances of between 10 metres or 100 metres, depending on the Bluetooth device class.

It’s important to consider how far away users will be able to see the call to action.
For example, it shouldn’t be visible at a distance farther than what the Bluetooth node can transmit, or else users may become frustrated trying to connect to a node that’s out of range. (Formore information about device classes, visit
http://bluetooth.com/Bluetooth/Technology/Basics.htm.)

Note that although most Bluetooth nodes may be able to send content over 100 metres (320 feet), most handsets have an effective range of only 10 - 20 metres.

How to Deliver Bluetooth Campaigns by the MMA

Bluetooth hardware must be deployed at each location involved in a Bluetooth-based campaign.
This hardware may be a dedicated network appliance such as an access point, or it may be a PC
or other multi-function hardware device. This hardware is often networked in order to allow
remote configuration and control of the devices and update of content over time. For example, a
retailer could use a central server to push a new ad out to all of its stores’ Bluetooth nodes.
Bluetooth marketing companies can sell or lease the hardware and software to location owners,
as well as offer more comprehensive service provision including development of mobile content
and assurance of quality of service. They may also operate a network of locations, access to
which can be sold to advertisers and media companies.

There has been a significant amount of activity in providing Bluetooth-based infrastructure to
established out-of-home media owners, such as taxi media, cinemas and fixed site poster
companies, which have intuitively viewed Bluetooth as a value-added extension of their existing,
basic media channels.

Most mobile phones have three Bluetooth modes:

1. Off. The Bluetooth functionality is turned off. Bluetooth devices cannot be used with the
phone, and it will not be possible for proximity marketing systems to contact the phone.
2. On but hidden or non-discoverable. The Bluetooth functionality is on, but the phone
can pair only with devices – such as a Bluetooth headset – that the owner has identified
as “trusted.” The phone will be “invisible” to proximity marketing systems, which typically
do not use paired connections.
3. On and visible or discoverable. The Bluetooth functionality is on, and the phone is
visible to other Bluetooth devices. In this mode proximity marketing systems can contact
the user.

In order to receive any content, the recipient must first choose to enable the Bluetooth
connectivity on their handset and in addition make the device visible to others. The ability to make
their device invisible permits users of other Bluetooth functionality, such as headset pairing and
music players, to operate them without also opting in to third-party content offerings.
Additionally the recipient will be, as part of the Bluetooth protocol, prompted by a request
generated by their handset. This request appears as a pop-up alert (similar to the notification of
receipt of a new text message) and often is accompanied by a single beep or vibration. This alert
functions as a content- or campaign-specific opt-in mechanism and allows the consumer to
decline any offer of content. Some (but not all) Bluetooth delivery hardware can be configured so
that further alerts are not delivered to recipient devices after an opt-out has occurred, for a
specified period such as a day or for the length of a campaign.
As brands and marketers develop Bluetooth marketing campaigns, the MMA suggests consulting
with handset manufacturers because different manufacturers and/or handset models implement
Bluetooth slightly differently.