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Paramount Pictures taps NFC to deliver exclusive Star Trek content in airports

Paramount Pictures is making it easier for airport visitors to access exclusive Star Trek content by tapping their smartphones on out-of-home displays.

Because the effort uses NFC technology, users in several airports across the country can simply tap their smartphones on the airport display to easily access exclusive mobile content without having to download an application. The ad copy tells users that "The Future Is In Your Hands" and encourages them to unlock the content by tapping their NFC-enabled smartphone to Captain Kirk's communicator.

?Mobile extensions for out-of-home campaigns for studios are a natural fit,? said Mikhail Damiani , CEO and co-founder of Blue Bite, New York.

?The studios have content that people like to consume and especially for a title like Star Trek, there are huge fans of the franchise who want to connect on a more personal level,? he said.

?The mobile component provides that bridge for Paramount to engage with their loyal fans and garner new ones through an exciting and unique OOH activation.?

Trekking into mobile
The "Star Trek Into Darkness" film made its debut in U.S. theaters last week. It is the second installment in the franchise?s reboot led by director J.J. Abrams.

Working with mobile marketing agency Joule and mobile out-of-home solutions provider Blue Bite, Paramount Pictures created colorful art featuring Star Trek?s Captain Kirk holding a phone-like device called a communicator in his hand.

By tapping the communicator with an NFC-enabled phone, users are able to unlock a custom mobile experience that includes exclusive video content.

The campaign targets airport visitors as they often have some extra time on their hands while waiting for a flight and providing them with content related to a movie that many are interested is a good way to drive further interest and ultimately ticket sales.

Star Trek also makes sense for an effort such as this because the films typically feature many high-tech devices.

Seamless experiences
NFC technology is a good way to make an out-of-home display interactive and bridge the divide between the physical and digital components of a campaign.

The campaign is appearing on large-format ClearChannel Outdoor and JCDecaux displays in four airports, Chicago?s O?Hare, Los Angeles Int?l, Dallas-Fort Worth and New York?s JFK.

?The experience here was meant to connect with the tech-centric Star Trek film and its fans,? Mr. Damiani said. ?It was extremely seamless where a simple tap of the phone to Kirk?s communicator would trigger an automatic download of exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

?We typically see some of our highest mobile engagement numbers per display in airports,? he said. ?This is largely driven by the constant foot traffic, amount of dwell and idle time the passengers have, as well as by the impactful size of the media.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York