Mobile marketing company 5th Finger has partnered with proximity marketing specialist Aura Interactive to offer advertisers a BlueZone marketing platform featuring Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, SMS and MMS.

The goal of the platform is to create engaging, interactive and measurable brand promotions. The new 5th Finger-Aura digital marketing medium marked its U.S. debut at the recent LG Action Sports Championships in Seattle.

"The strategy brings together two of the world's most awarded companies in mobile and proximity marketing to deliver a unique platform to advertisers," said Luke Forman, New York-based cofounder/vice president of media and events for 5th Finger. "We call this Proximity Marketing 2.0.

"The download acceptance rate for the content offer was 50.7 percent, which is well above the average of 15-25 percent we've seen on other Bluetooth-only campaigns," he said.
BlueZones allow consumers to download mobile content at specific events via SMS, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

When a BlueZone network is set up at an event, entertainment venue, kiosk or retail site, visitors with a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi-enabled device will receive an invitation on their PDA to receive location-related downloads.

Downloadable mobile content includes videos, interviews, ringtones, wallpapers, games and coupons or vouchers.

Consumers at the LG Action Sports Championships could download up to 10 video clips and up to four wallpapers of Action Sports athletes performing tricks and stunts on skateboards, BMX bikes and inline skates.

LG Action Sports is an all ages event with the target demographic being the youth market, skewed to male.

The combination of SMS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies lets 5th Finger track which download offers are most popular.

"The combination of technologies ensures that rich content can be delivered across the broadest range of devices, resulting in high engagement with attendees at events," Mr. Forman said.

"Rich content delivered across Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is completely free and provides consumers with a positive and memorable experience at an event," he said.

Experiential marketing initiatives and out-of-home advertising have historically been hard to measure.

However, BlueZone hotspots give advertisers a clear indication of traffic levels and interaction numbers in various regions.

The network can display how often people return to a specific location and which downloads consumers opt out of.

While no personal information or mobile numbers are captured by the BlueZones, the details of each interaction are measured for tracking and reporting purposes.

"You will see opt-in mechanics in the next installation of the BlueZone," Mr. Forman said. "Text-to-win SMS campaigns were conducted on the Jumbotron between athlete performances, where the audience could win signed skateboards from sponsored athletes."

5th Finger delivers a mobile technology platform that translates to measurable results for marketers and brands.

The company's proprietary mobile platform can integrate with companies' advertising and media campaigns to help ensure that the strategy and technology delivers on the brand promise.

5th Finger's integrated mobile campaigns envelop WAP sites, banner ads, applications and mobile commerce, promotions and CRM messaging.

5th Finger specializes in the CPG/Beverages, Media/TV and Live Events areas.

It claims to have spearheaded 5,000 campaigns and 300-plus million consumer interactions globally.

Aura Interactive Pty Ltd. is a mobile technology service provider specializing in Bluetooth proximity marketing, interactive mobile media and mobile commerce.

Aura is the exclusive global provider of BlueZones network services, focusing on developing and deploying interactive outdoor advertising campaigns and interactive event-based solutions and promotions.

BlueZones can be installed into sites such as kiosks, cinemas, shopping centers and malls, street furniture poster panels and retail environments to create interactive Bluetooth/Wi-Fi hotspots for mobile phones and PDAs.

"The BlueZone platform is portable and can be rolled out for specific events to compliment a sponsor's on-site activations, such as the one for LG Action Sports Championships," Mr. Forman said.

"It can also be rolled out at as a permanent installation at stadiums and other out-of-home locations with our online content management system facilitating scheduling and targeting of advertiser content," he said.

Permanent installations exist across sports stadiums, cinema chains, shopping centers and airports in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We are assessing similar partnerships across North America at the moment," Mr. Forman said. "Due to the groundbreaking nature of the platform, we are seeing significant enquiries from industry word-of-mouth."