Lets discuss Bluetooth advertising.

[.Oscar]

Firstly, It feels good to be back.

So anyway Ive been pondering over these Bluetooth advertising units.

http://ww*.bluemagnet.c*m/bx28.html

They are a free way of advertising that targets mobile phones. They are capable of sending video audio and text to as many as 28 phones at one time.

The unit previously mentioned is a standalone unit running a linux based OS.

Does anyone have any experience with these, any potential ideas.

Let the discussion commence!

 

[optimus72]

I have been looking at getting into this for sometime or local advertising...

 

[xyzxyz]

Don't bother. I have one. PM me if you want to buy it - will sell it gladly for $150 + shipping. It does work but unless you have access to an area where there are hundreds of people waiting around for more than a few minutes it is of no use.

 

[gonigkum]

This shit actually looks amazing if it works as advertised ...

think about this: a big u2 concert and a shitload of dumb asses who already spent over 100$ on a single ticket, listening to a big hit of u2. You could send them a msg that says, 'enjoying (name of the song)? Send an text msg to xxxx to download it to now'
Im just sayin

 

[seanjohn]

Don't bother. I have one. PM me if you want to buy it - will sell it gladly for $150 + shipping. It does work but unless you have access to an area where there are hundreds of people waiting around for more than a few minutes it is of no use.

Like, gee, Idunno... the mall?

 

[undisput3d]

If you live in a big city, partner with a conference/convention center. Lots and lots of wireless people with a hunger for something new and time on their hands...

 

[ddlmachine]

Like, gee, Idunno... the mall?

Hell, I could run it out of my apartment. I live in a very busy section of a college campus (UIUC) I could promote stuff 24/7 If the range extender is effective at a radius of 250m/820ft then I could target like 3 or 4 bars, several restaurants, a gas station, hundreds of apartment units, 3 or 4 hair styling joints, all foot traffic most of which stops at any one of these locations for at least a few minutes. Long enough to receive an ad.

May give this a try

 

[dopex1]

Wow. Looks like it could be a possible gold mine

 

[seanjohn]

Most phones have Bluetooth, but the question is, how many have Bluetooth turned on? And, will anyone even accept the incoming connection?

I know, with my iPhone, I'm not letting some random Bluetooth connection get through...

 

[Baraba]

I usually find devices via BlueTooth with all kind of strange names. Thanks for reminding me about this. Now I will change my BlueTooth name to my website name, so the people will see my website. Cheap advertising. I hope the battery drain is not much faster when the BlueTooth is on.

 

[kahamri]

This is what I was thinking, How effective could this actually be?

Most phones have Bluetooth, but the question is, how many have Bluetooth turned on? And, will anyone even accept the incoming connection?

I know, with my iPhone, I'm not letting some random Bluetooth connection get through...

 

[webuk44]

Contacted Blueone in China who sell these devices. I have got one but they inform me that iPhones & Blackberry's are too smart to let a random bluetooth transmission pair with them.
Now if the vast majority of mobiles include these models you are wasting your time.

 

[Roparadise]

Contacted Blueone in China who sell these devices. I have got one but they inform me that iPhones & Blackberry's are too smart to let a random bluetooth transmission pair with them.
Now if the vast majority of mobiles include these models you are wasting your time.

Doing this method in a mall or a big city like NYC should get great results. The only drawback is that this is probably against FCC rules,so be careful when using this method.
This is a few months old,but the data shouldn't have changed much since then.

 

[three3s]

Contacted Blueone in China who sell these devices. I have got one but they inform me that iPhones & Blackberry's are too smart to let a random bluetooth transmission pair with them.
Now if the vast majority of mobiles include these models you are wasting your time.

I looked in to Bluetooth marketing around a year ago and it was precisely this reason that put me off pursuing it in a big way. As the graphic above shows, around half of the smart phone market belongs to iphones and blackberrys, which these bluetooth marketing devices do not work on. I can only miagine their market share will increase over time also.

The question is, of the remaining half of smart phones, what percentage of people have the bluetooth activated?

 

[Roparadise]

I looked in to Bluetooth marketing around a year ago and it was precisely this reason that put me off pursuing it in a big way. As the graphic above shows, around half of the smart phone market belongs to iphones and blackberrys, which these bluetooth marketing devices do not work on. I can only miagine their market share will increase over time also.

The question is, of the remaining half of smart phones, what percentage of people have the bluetooth activated?

Actually android are gaining more and more of the market from apple and blackberry.

 

[Dr_Scythe]

I first heard of this a few years back. Would interesting to trial run it.

Another spin would be to sell the service to event promoters. You supply the technology and charge them a fee and they get a swanky new way to interact with there guests. They would get around the bluetooth pairing problems by putting up signs/advertising saying "turn on bluetooth for a free gift!"

Could see this working well for festivals, carnivals and music gigs.

 

[timothywcrane]

I will share my experience. In the US, almost all phones are set by default NOT to accept incoming bluetooth messages, and those that are set up to take the messages are forced to accept it before reading it. I tried this out with stadium crowds, and was unable to get the messages out to the people. Itried heavily trafficed malls and the result was the same. I put a bluetooth transmitter in a backpack and strolled through both venues. I even tried a concert with "a message from the band". I had an acceptance rate of 100% on this one, as there was only one phone in 20,000 set to receive message notices.

I think that this technology will have to mature and grow on the consumer base before it is viable. I think either is a fail, or we are ahead of our time. I hope that it is the latter.

 

[Gray Marble]

I was just looking into this last month, came up with the same reasons NOT to pursue it. I dont think its useless though and I will pick it up again, just not now. The problem is people need to be enticed to turn on their bluetooth. I say just make people aware and reward them for doing so. Place a sign out in the front of the store to let people know you are offering something good. Try that and see if it works