NTUC Club’s Downtown East / 2007

Campaign objective:
Downtown East, a popular resort with theme parks and a multitude of f&b outlets, wanted to increase patronage frequency to its destination and tenants.

Mechanics:
Promotional content in the form of animated gif files offering $1 dollar deals at selected F&B outlets and on chalet bookings. The gif files were broadcast from 5 OghmaMedia base stations installed in various locations. The message included the instruction to show the downloaded file at the relevant counter to enjoy the special offers. Banners were put up by NTUC Club to encourage people to turn on Bluetooth.

Hotspot Locations:
1 @ Pasir Ris Bus Interchange, 4 inside Downtown East at selected spots, with monitoring done over wireless Internet connection.

Length of campaign:
3 weeks +

Preparation:
In order to send the message out to as many people as possible, either to get them to visit the resort or entice those already inside the resort to patronise the F& B outlets, we had to pick the best locations to install our Bluetooth base stations.

The Oghma team spent some time with the client identifying optimal hotspots, and eventually settled on 5 spots where footfall traffic was the heaviest. The hotspot deployed at Pasir Ris Bus Interchange targeted Pasir Ris residents/commuters, while the 4 hotspots deployed inside Downtown East were strategically located to capture the most downloads – at entry points, inside the food court and the main event area.

Analysis:
Quoting Evelyn Loo, the senior manager for NTUC Club corporate marketing, as reported in Marketing-Interactive: “The results have realized most of our campaign’s objectives - the resort rooms, which were reserved for the promotion, were snapped up within hours after they were made available for booking. Subway, Ben & Jerry, and the food court have experienced a surge in patronage after the lunch hour period during the campaign.”

The campaign received much media interest. Our systems detected more than 20,000 phones over the entire campaign period, and the download rate hit 35%.

From our experience, the ingredients for a successful Bluetooth Broadcast campaign invariably include hotspot location, promotion mechanics, and the public’s awareness of the hotspot’s presence.

The mechanics of a client’s campaign determines its effectiveness in influencing or persuading a consumer to respond to its message. The Downtown East campaign demonstrates what Bluetooth Broadcasting can achieve with well-crafted promotions. Giving consumers a strong incentive to act - $1 promotion on popular items or activities – would more often than not result in the desired outcome of increased turnover.

It is also important to select Bluetooth hotspot locations that attract big crowds and are popular waiting areas. In addition, it is always worthwhile putting up prominent displays / signage announcing the presence of a Bluetooth hotspot and urging people to turn on Bluetooth on their handsets to download special offers. Downtown East had put up signage at prominent locations, which reinforced people’s awareness and their willingness to download.

Nokia Music Bus 2006 / 2007/ 2008

Campaign objective:
In conjunction with the launch of Nokia’s 5300Xpressmusic phone, Nokia offers a mobile music entertainment experience to bus commuters as a branding exercise.

Mechanics:
3 SBS buses were transformed into a kind of “lounge-on-wheels”, complete with plush bar furniture and a TV screen playing music videos by popular artistes. Passengers could download ringtones and wallpapers via Bluetooth which are in sync with the video clips being played. Nokia had a banner running across the screen to inform passengers to turn on Bluetooth on their phones to download branded content.

Hotspot Locations:
Oghma installed its base stations inside the 3 theme buses, with monitoring done over wireless Internet connection.

Length of campaign:
Ongoing since Dec 2006

Preparation:
Some customization of the OghmaMedia software was necessary to synchronise with the video application.

Analysis:
The campaign featured a bold and remarkable mix of ambient and mobile marketing ideas, and generated much buzz in the media and blogosphere for Nokia. It shows how Bluetooth Broadcasting can work with other channels as part of an integrated campaign. Instead of sending out direct promotions to mobile phones, the client offers free of charge branded content highly valued by consumers, such as MP3s and wallpapers of their favourite artistes.

Nokia Music Mobile also marked Oghma’s first foray into making video screens “interactive” with the Bluetooth broadcast element. It’s a concept which works brilliantly, because it enables consumers to “select” which content they prefer to download free of charge via Bluetooth, based on what they see on the video screen.

The campaign is still going strong, with a change in content and bus service numbers every few months. Nokia is promoting Singaporean bands and their music with the current run. Since December 06, average number of downloads a day has ranged from 50 to 100 per bus.