MANILA – Wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has introduced in the Philippines the very first real-time location mobile solution that enables brands and advertisers to reach their target consumers via their mobile phones more accurately.
Utilizing cellular technology called geo-fencing, Smart Ads is the mobile advertising service of the telco leader that delivers relevant real-time offers via SMS to users’ phones within the proximity of a pre-determined location.
“Unlike other mobile ads solutions in the market, Smart Ads is the first and only service capable of determining the real-time location of subscribers who have opted-in or signified interest to accept mobile ads. A subscriber’s location in real time is our main differentiator. Brand offers delivered while they are still within the specified location,” said Leah Besa-Jimenez, Media Convergence Group Head at Smart.
“This condition is crucial in terms of immediate conversion from product offer to actual availment,” emphasized Besa-Jimenez.
This means subscribers will be able to receive product deals and offers that are most relevant to them whenever they are near participating stores or branches. Advertisers, meanwhile, will not only be able to target promotions based on users’ real-time location, but will also be able to filter based on demographic, network usage profiles and audience segmentation among others.
For privacy reasons, only opt-in subscribers will be able to receive real-time mobile ads. Users may also choose to opt out from receiving mobile ads whenever they want to.
The service has already been used to support campaigns of some of the biggest multinational brands operating in the Philippines, in FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies, QSR (quick service restaurants), and Retail , with more than encouraging results and overwhelmingly positive feedback from the brands.
For example, using Smart Ads’ basic location targeting alone, one brand’s mobile campaign was able to reach a 7.6% response rate, which is well above the global average of click-through-rates for online ads (0.04%) and mobile ads (0.3%). CTRs are a measure of the percentage of users who opened the advertisement on their mobile phones.
The field tests found that adding real-time location to the mix of other targeting mechanisms served through SMS, voice, and inquiries significantly increased the campaign’s response rates and reach impressions among users.
“These encouraging results prove that serving up the right offer at the right place and at the right time is key to driving consumers to stores,” Besa-Jimenez said. “By utilizing our real-time location-based mobile ads solution, brands will be able to tap into their consumers whenever and wherever they want, because Smart Ads is primetime all the time.”
With Smart Ads, Besa-Jimenez said brands have the potential to reach the more than 72 million Smart, Talk ‘N Text and Sun Cellular subscribers through a ubiquitous medium which they take with them wherever they go.
To know more about this new real-time location based solution and other offerings by Smart Ads, visit www.smartads.com.ph.
