PrimeCasting kiosk

The U.S. Navy Reserve is using some unconventional tactics in a new campaign to help support its enlistment effort. The campaign, which launched in mid-November, uses phone kiosk advertising supplemented with Bluetooth technology.

The ads, which are placed on Navy bases across the U.S., including sites in California, Virginia, and Florida, feature the headline, "Make a Difference a Few Days at a Time," writes MediaBuyerPlanner. On selected locations at each base, the phone kiosk ads are augmented with a two-minute recruitment video delivered to the cell phones of passersby using Bluetooth technology.

As people pass near a transmitter with a discoverable Bluetooth-enabled cell phone or PDA, they receive an alert prompting them to download the video. People who opt out or turn off the Bluetooth feature on their device will not receive the file. All downloads are and can be shared with other users via the phone's Bluetooth connection.

Such Bluetooth-enabled ads create a new dimension for outdoor advertising by allowing advertisers to offer video clips, MP3 audio tracks, ring tones, games and JPEGs.

Preliminary download data through December showed an opt-in rate of 31.6 percent among users responding to the Bluetooth alert, and an overall opt-in rate of 16.9 percent.

The campaign was placed by Outdoor Services in Southfield, Michigan and developed by Campbell-Ewald in Warren, Michigan.

The phone kiosk ads and Bluetooth solution, known as PrimeCasting, were provided by Prime Point Media. Prime Point Media is the largest provider of phone kiosk advertising in the U.S., according to the company, with over 700,000 locations in its database.