January 17, 2005
Leaflets and flyers on the mobile phone
High street shoppers are to face street marketing teams attempting to download promotional material to their mobile phones, warns The Guardian.
Teams of promotional staff will be given special sashes containing microchips that beam information to the mobile phones of passers-by. The downloads could take the form of electronic money-off vouchers, competition entries or simply the phone number and website address of the company in question.
Hypertag, the company behind the idea, said they have already signed up three clients who would be using the new wearable technology in the next month. One is a retail group and the other two will target crowds at sporting events, offering people a free ringtone for their phone or inviting them to take part in a competition.
Ms Harker, one of three directors who co-founded Hypertag, insisted consumers would always have to give their consent to receive information from the promotional teams. "You have got to decided you want to interact. We did a lot of consumer research before we launched and we know that if they broadcast anything to their phone that they haven't asked for it will be a real turn-off." She predicted the technology could soon replace leaflets and flyers.
Related entry:
- Field marketers armed with electronic tags.
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