Japanese automaker Toyota launched a targeted location-based mobile marketing campaign in September at the NFL?s New York Giants? season opener.

Proximity Blue powered the campaign that combined outdoor, television and mobile advertisements. The mobile marketing company said that the location-based campaign delivered a 14 percent increase of people downloading information about Toyota's campaign to their handsets.

?The strategy in using a combination of mobile advertising, as well as location-based methods, is targeting the right demographic,? said Boris Tishaev, vice president at Proximity Blue, New York.

Toyota Motor Corp. is the world's largest automaker.

The New York Giants are currently in first place in the NFL's NFC East division, with a 5-0 recording heading into yesterday's game against the New Orleans Saints.

Proximity Blue is a mobile marketing and technology company.

Through branded signage, a street-team and proximity-based mobile-marketing technology, Proximity Blue promoted Toyota's Great Time to Sign program.

Giant step for Manning
On the mobile platform, Proximity Blue used its Bluetooth Media Server to transmit video of the Giants? quarterback Eli Manning discussing the campaign and directing users to Toyota?s Web site.

The campaign also featured a branded mobile site at http://greattimetosign.mobi, which included more information on the Great Time to Sign promotion, the Eli Manning video, links to Toyota?s mobile site for vehicles and options to find a dealer and request a quote.

?Since Eli Manning is the official spokesperson and Toyota is the official vehicle of the Giants, the fans that were tailgating or attending the game would be more engaged in this campaign than others who happen to see the promotion,? Mr. Tishaev said.

?Also, using an attractive street team to help engage the crowd always helps, especially at a football game,? he said.

On-hand at the football game were several Toyota automobiles branded with Giants logos and Eli Manning?s picture.

The target demographic of the campaign was football fans of all ages who were interested in hearing a personal video message from Eli Manning.

Mr. Tishaev said that he could not elaborate further on the results of the campaign. But he did say that several thousands of fans were engaged by this campaign using Bluetooth technology, in addition to the promotional cards, street team, outdoor signage, the mobile Web site and the vehicles on display.

Using location-based mobile advertising is an effective way to reach an audience, according to Proximity Blue.

?When you use location-based mobile advertising, you reach a more targeted audience, one that is more likely to become customers,? Mr. Tishaev said. ?Also, using the mobile phone as your platform, which is the most commonly carried item in our society, the brand and campaign has a much higher recall and retention rate.

?By providing multimedia content for people's mobile phones, they are more likely to view it more than once and share with friends and family,? he said. ?Location-based mobile advertising can benefit all businesses, including small ones.?