Location-based advertising gone wrong
2006-10-03 09:08 | Permanent Link | LBSI've been seeing these things around Boston lately - giant mobile billboards mounted on the back of a truck. The company touts "Our Geo-Mapping programs allow us to plan and coordinate campaigns nationwide, thus saving you time and money." and "GPS tracking allows us to monitor where our units are at all times. Additionally, all our units are equipped with mobile cell phones. With constant communication, we can re-direct our drivers any time you wish to change target areas."
Right around the traditional student move-in period in Boston (which is impossible to explain to anyone who has not experienced it), I also saw some mobile IKEA trucks with sample furniture in them.
I have to believe that this is effective advertising, but I also have to say it seems like poor global citizenship. They burn gas, belch greenhouse emissions, and when driven in a place like Boston and Cambridge, they contribute to traffic jams. (Notice how the National Mobile Billboards gallery manages to place all their photos in non-traffic situations?)
I hope it's a passing fad...
