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New Media: Supermarket Rides Text Wave Via Bus
Sept 19, 2005
A company that “entertains” bus and train riders with TV programming and a firm that specializes in text messaging have joined forces for a twist on mobile marketing.
This week in Milwaukee, some bus riders will be treated to a promotion for supermarket SuperValu that offers a $500 shopping spree at the stores. Eight such randomly drawn prizes will be awarded over eight weeks.
Bus riders will be shown ads over a TV network from Transit Television Network, Orlando, Fla., for the promo. The ads will flash a short code that riders can enter via their cell phones.
Alex Campbell, CEO of Vibes Media, Chicago, which provided the short code technology for the promotion, said SuperValu, like other marketers, is testing short codes: “Most of our clients see this as an emerging media, they know it's coming and they want to figure out ways to use it.” Other Vibes clients include Hershey and Anheuser-Busch.
Transit Television has been providing programming on buses and trains since 1999 in Orlando. Since then, the firm has expanded to Atlanta, Milwaukee, Chicago and is now setting up a network in Los Angeles. Transit’s full-audio TVs show about 12 minutes of ads per hour from clients like McDonald’s, Popeye’s and H&R Block.
Programming is done in-house, though Robert Bridge, marketing director at Transit Television, said the company is in talks with media firms about providing programming.
