Bluetooth Marketing - The Next Step In Portable Marketing?

[Eolair]

Sorry, but the idea just sucks. I hate spam marketing and I hate people who make money of it.

 

[psj3809]

But surely the original post was basically a spam email ?

He could have just asked about bluetooth spamming (or mailing) without going on about his website and ringtones ? Surely move this thread somewhere where the vast majority of people wont see it ?

 

[mali]

The idea has basically been ripped to peaces, so it's just fine for me

Edit:
And regarding some teens being ripped off by those sites, it will train them to be more careful. I've got two teenage children and we have discussed this matter, too.

 

[psj3809]

The idea has basically been ripped to peaces, so it's just fine for me

Edit:
And regarding some teens being ripped off by those sites, it will train them to be more careful. I've got two teenage children and we have discussed this matter, too.

Glad to hear it

Seriously i do worry for some kids, you hear stories about them not realising theyve signed up for x amount of ringtones per month etc. All adds up !

But i would hate the fact someone would just 'bluetooth' my kid whatever they wanted, okay this guy wont send anything dodgy but if bluetooth marketing was legal there would be tons of porno stuff being sent to whoever had a signal, regardless of age. Would be crazy. Its like those stupid chatlines, back in the late 80's/early 90's lots of people rung these up, surely theyre dying a death now, i laugh when i see an ad and it says in small writing (£1.50 per text etc) and you get saddos texting in. All the computer games channels on Sky turn into some crazy adult phone show, weird. Must cost these kids a fortune. Anyone with a brain knows that when you ring 'sexy suzy' its a fat 55 ugly year old woman who just happens to have a sexy voice !

Just cant believe this guy thinks its a great idea and is trying to justify it. Amusing thread though.

 

[mali]

The good thing is, that the same laws that target email-spam may be applicable here.
The only successful way to deal with that stuff is to educate your children and make them strong to deal with it themselves.

 

[maddis]

But surely the original post was basically a spam email ?

He could have just asked about bluetooth spamming (or mailing) without going on about his website and ringtones ? Surely move this thread somewhere where the vast majority of people wont see it ?

I was just exploring the concept of the capabilities of marketing with the pandora.

This website is just a side project for me. I cant afford prime time tv adverts and Sponosored lins on the 1st page of Google. ITs a loss leader for me. The only way jamster can afford this is because they charge over £5 for each ringtone and Game, which is a subscription based service. I am not here to make enemies, just getting an overview on what will and wont work as a cheap alternative form of advertising.

Maddis

 

[sterling976]

Hm.. ok. I'll try to bring this back on-topic for a minute. My understanding of Bluetooth is that it's a one-to-one protocol, meaning you have two devices and they handshake, then transfer data. True, you're sending the data as an RF broadcast, but the protocol is designed to have one sender and one recipient. AFAIK, there's no Bluetooth analogue for multicast on TCP/IP networks, so what the OP is asking to do really isn't feasible.

Back off topic -- WTF?!?! This reminds me of a news story that was circulating a few months back about targeted audio advertising in public. I can't find the link at present, but the gist was that you could buy a device that's essentially a motion sensor and a really fancy speaker that projects sound in a tight pattern such that you can't hear it unless you're directly in its way. The result is you can be several feet away and it sounds like someone's whispering in your ear. About hand soap/freeze-dried coffee/diamond jewelry/some other product you really don't need to hear about while you're out for a morning stroll. Talk about annoying! And creepy! The only difference I see between that and the bluetooth advertising the OP was talking about is the fact that you can put your BT device in non-discoverable mode and never have to worry about the pairing request.

I can't see a practical use for BT advertising that I, as a consumer, would actually appreciate. I can't even think of one that I would tolerate. As a matter of fact, this sort of thing is exactly why I never put my phone in discoverable mode while I'm in public -- I do all my pairing at home.

Oh, and if the threat of BT spam isn't enough to make you think about keeping your device hidden, there are other threats to contend with. Anyone with half an ounce of sense would never accept a file transfer from an unknown source.

 

[psj3809]

But surely the original post was basically a spam email ?

He could have just asked about bluetooth spamming (or mailing) without going on about his website and ringtones ? Surely move this thread somewhere where the vast majority of people wont see it ?

I was just exploring the concept of the capabilities of marketing with the pandora.

This website is just a side project for me. I cant afford prime time tv adverts and Sponosored lins on the 1st page of Google. ITs a loss leader for me. The only way jamster can afford this is because they charge over £5 for each ringtone and Game, which is a subscription based service. I am not here to make enemies, just getting an overview on what will and wont work as a cheap alternative form of advertising.

Maddis


Fair enough, just touchy as i really hate spam mail, whether thats email or stuff through the post. Luckily you can sign up to lists now where you are taken off junk mail lists (i rarely get a spam phone call nowadays). Again if someone wants junk bluetooth posts then fair enough.

Companies now get sued for sending out tons of junk emails, most professional websites have to sign up and not send out spam email unless people ask.

Good luck to your ringtone site (even though i dislike ringtones !) but yeah because of jamster (arent they the evil company who unleased crazy frog on the world ?) and others there must be a huge monopoly and its difficult to get in in the action.

But sending out any type of mail without the customers permission is asking for trouble. Use the pandora for games/surfing etc but please dont try to turn the Pandora into some junk mailers wet dream.

I rarely put my mobile number down on any forms, even if its for a new bank card or somthing as i know i'll get bombarded with crap. Its just the fact that you think sending messages via bluetooth to people is acceptable. If thats the case please openly post your email address and i'll make sure you get some 'marketing' emails everyday, lets see how you like it if you think its a good idea or simply its easy to decline if you dont like the messages ?

 

[maddis]

The idea has basically been ripped to peaces, so it's just fine for me

Edit:
And regarding some teens being ripped off by those sites, it will train them to be more careful. I've got two teenage children and we have discussed this matter, too.

Everything on my site is a pound, and produced by myself, i am not in this market to rip people off, besides there is not even any subscription service.

 

[Parkydr]

I told you people would think you're scum

On the bright side, you've got yourself quite a bit of attention and may be a few sales without having to spam any one.

You might want to add a link in your signature and post something contraversal on a few other forums.

 

[MarkoeZ]

Well since this this is discussed anyway: There IS a way, one of our cinema's allready has it, and we are discussing at the moment if it's something for us.

BIG DIFFERENCE: we put up a big pole that says: "move into this area to get a free trailer!" and they get one, so that's not really spamming.

But technically: I heard someone from the other theatre mounted another antenna to the rig and got a range of about 300 metres (depending on walls etc ofc). As i have not worked with it yet i could not tell any details about the technical side though.

 

[Kimundi]

Just an Idea... Instead of Bluetooth open a WLAN Hotspot that only shows an copy of your Website. That Way, no one can blame you because THEY connected to your device. I just dont know if the wifi chip supports Acces Point mode...

 

[VRAndy]

Does anyone think this is a good idea?

Bluetooth range is pretty short. I enjoy the idea of being within arms' reach of a spammer.

 

[sterling976]

<snip> please dont try to turn the Pandora into some junk mailers wet dream.

Heh.. trying to answer this quickly before the thread moves on and it becomes irrelevant. There are reasons the Pandora couldn't really be turned into an effective junk emailer or bluetooth advertising platform. And, surprisingly, they don't include the risk of bodily injury.

It wouldn't be effective as a junk emailer because that business model revolves around hundreds or thousands of compromised machines and/or several really powerful servers with a large outbound internet pipe. The Pandora doesn't really fit either of those descriptions, plus it won't generally have access to an always-on internet connection.

As for bluetooth advertising, in addition to the limitations I believe are inherent to the bluetooth protocol that I mentioned in my last post, and the generally negative reaction I think you'll see from most of your victims targets, there's a problem with using any BT-based advertising from the advertiser's point of view. The audience is just too limited. Advertising works best when it reaches a large number of potential customers with the smallest possible investment in the advertising channel. Scripting something on a linux handheld to periodically scan for discoverable devices and send them a file should be fairly trivial, so the effort invested would be minimal, but the other side of that equation (large audience) just isn't there. You have to have a lot of people in close proximity to you who all own a bluetooth-enabled device AND have it turned on AND have it in discoverable mode AND are willing to blindly accept a file transfer from someone they can't identify and have never met AND aren't too busy or preocuppied with something else AND will subsequently be willing/able to remember to visit your website/store/restaurant/club/whatever. That's a very, VERY limited audience.

So, um... in conclusion.. uh.. good luck with that, I guess. *shrug*

 

[maddis]

I told you people would think you're scum

On the bright side, you've got yourself quite a bit of attention and may be a few sales without having to spam any one.

You might want to add a link in your signature and post something contraversal on a few other forums.

Thanks for the advice. I will update my signature. I tend not to post contraversial topics. I know sometimes topics can be a bit hot and people voice their opinion. I appreciate your feedback.

Going off topic a bit, i am thinking of doing a set of animated retro screensavers (gifs)

Was thinking sonic the hedgehog on the sms (the start menu screen)

 

[sterling976]

Well since this this is discussed anyway: There IS a way, one of our cinema's allready has it, and we are discussing at the moment if it's something for us.

BIG DIFFERENCE: we put up a big pole that says: "move into this area to get a free trailer!" and they get one, so that's not really spamming.

But technically: I heard someone from the other theatre mounted another antenna to the rig and got a range of about 300 metres (depending on walls etc ofc). As i have not worked with it yet i could not tell any details about the technical side though.

I'd be willing to bet the broadcasting device contains multiple BT antennae. If anyone's really that interested in this stuff, the specification is, IMO, a much better place to research this sort of thing than an internet forum.

 

[jlebrech]

Does the Pandora have bluetooth then?

How about a menu item on the Pandora to tell whoever is in range that you have a wonderful new games machine that can play quake 3?

 

[riosingh]

I always turn my bluetooth off.
How do you know the file you recieve isn't a code to send a txt to one of those dodgy companies that send you a txt back and charge £3 for each they send you costing you£100 a month?
Or ring a dodgy porn line cosing£1.99 per min?
Or just a silly bit of code that serches out other bluetoorth devices sending out a code to find other bluetooth devices sending.................... killing you battery in a few hours?

But if somehow I recieved a spam for a cool wesite I don't think i'd mind. as long as its not an advert for a tretment to make my willy bigger or to watch lolita getting banged in the ear or something.

 

[WizardStan]

The problem with bluetooth marketing, and in fact all forms of spam messaging (text, email, phone, billboards, etc...), is that it benefits only one person: the spammer. The person getting the message has received nothing in return. It's an unfair exchange and people hate that.
TV, Radio, and most web ads are tolerable because you're getting something: free or cheap TV, music, and web services.
As mentioned, bluetooth is already being used to broadcast some advertisement like things, but they're usually highly targeted: ie, downloading a trailer for a movie when you're in a movie theater.
If you want to entertain the idea of advertising via bluetooth, think of what compensation you can give for that advertisement. Maybe a free ringtone is pushed to their phone when they enter range, maybe rotated daily, and a message "this ringtone from blahblahblah" or something. You would also have to work out some means of ensuring you don't bother someone who refuses. Record their phone ID or something, and if they reject the transfer, don't try again. If you do it right, it would probably be met with greater approval. Heck, if you do it really well, people might actually start looking forward to it, a new goody on their cold Monday morning commute to work. And you claim a little bit of ad revenue. Does one balance out the other, though?

 

[Chip]

Does anyone think this is a good idea?
I think you've gotten plenty of answers to that question. I don't think you were really looking for moral justification, since this is something you've been doing already. What you were really looking for is some hints on how to automate your BT spamming, or possibly someone to volunteer to write the program for you.

You're clearly not going to get either here. Nobody can stop you from being a nuisance on the train, but as you can see, you're not going to get much support either. You're on your own.