Airports Experimenting With Delivering Ads Directly to Mobile Devices

Low-power Bluetooth beacons will offer flyers exclusive offers and rewards on mobile devices at eight British airports.

Flyers passing the time at eight British airports may soon have a new form of entertainment while waiting in the terminal: shopping with discounts and rewards delivered directly to their mobile devices. Trade website NFCWorld.com reports the airports will begin experimenting with low-powered Bluetooth beacons in their airports with the goal of connecting passengers to better advertising messaging.

The Bluetooth beacons are supported by mobile marketing specialist Proxama and Eye Airports, an airport advertising network. Passengers using their Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices will be able to connect to the low-power beacons to access advertising messages featuring discounts and rewards. According to the two companies, the messages will be opt-in, with feedback directly collected from flyers who access the mobile deals.

“As the consumer chooses to receive these [location-based marketing] messages, they feel more involved in the communication process,” said Sarah Parkes, managing director for Eye Airports, to NFCWorld.com. “Most importantly, [flyers] can specify who they want to receive offers from.”

The companies believe that the new beacons will provide better advertising directly to flyers who are already waiting for their flights in terminal. Unlike GPS-based advertising programs, the beacons will provide relevant messaging to flyers and can be highly customized.

The eight British airports that will receive the beacons are Bristol Airport (BRS), East Midlands Airport (EMA), Inverness Airport (INV), London Gatwick Airport (LGW), London Stansted Airport (STN), Southampton Airport (SOU) and Newcastle Airport (NCL). London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which already has a rewards program tied to their wireless Internet, will not yet receive the low-power Bluetooth beacons.

[Photo:  iStock]