Online sales house 24/7 Europe claims to have created the first ad
campaign using new technology that allows internet access through mobile
phones.
The three-week campaign sees Finnish internet brokerage service eQ
Online join forces with Finland’s leading business newspaper,
Kauppalehti. If the campaign is successful, 24/7 hopes it will be able
to stage similar promotions in the UK.
The deal makes use of the newspaper’s existing message service, which
allows users to receive information such as stock prices and exchange
rates on the LED screens of their mobile phones.
Now users will also be invited to log directly on to eQ Online - but
only if their mobile is equipped with Wireless Application Protocol
(WAP) technology. This enables internet access through mobiles, palm-top
computers and pagers.
Finnish company Nokia recently introduced WAP- equipped mobile phones
into its home market and is expected to launch them in the UK within a
few months. Wireless technology is widely expected to drive the next
stage of the country’s already booming internet sector.
The deal was struck by 24/7’s new digital channels group, set up to
explore the advertising potential of the latest digital and mobile
technology.
The group is headed by strategic development director Antti Eranne.
’This deal marks a breakthrough into new advertising platforms,’ he
said.
’WAP technology is still in its infancy but as usage becomes more
widespread, increasingly sophisticated advertising solutions will become
a reality.’
He added that the new group aimed to find channels ’to match every
customer’s online marketing objectives in the most effective way’.
