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Celebrity Cruises mobilizes digital OOH to drive engagement with taxi riders

A Celebrity Cruises campaign appearing inside taxis in London as well as leveraging both near field communications and QR codes is delivering 47 percent of interactions via NFC.

The number of NFC interactions climbs to 68 percent when coupled with VeriFone?s Taxi TV. The campaign is running inside 600 branded cabs across London, with riders able to enter a drawing to win a luxury holiday by tapping or scanning their smartphone within the cab.

"The point of NFC is to be frictionless," said Alex Kutsishin. co-founder of Fiddlefly and CEO of Agency Human. "It's for people to say 'hmmm, I like what that says let me find out more' and then simply pull out the phone and touch the hot zone.

"In that sense using NFC to engage users in registering for a contest is a great idea," he said. "More than NFC the important part of that campaign is the message.

"Mobile is about being clear, honest and simple. If you have these three pillars engagement should be strong."

Mr. Kutsishin is not affiliated with Celebrity Cruises and spoke based on his experience in mobile.

Tapit and VeriFone did not respond to press inquiries.

Contactless communication
The campaign is a collaboration between Tapit, VeriFone and Celebrity Cruises.  
The goal of the campaign is to streamline the delivery of content to smartphone users inside taxis. By using NFC and QR codes, Celebrity Cruises is able to entry into its latest competition fast, convenient and secure, which should help drive up the volume of entries.

A growing number of brands are leveraging mobile contactless technology to engage with consumers using out of home media and inside retail locations.

For example, Red Bull recently partnered with Tapit to connect bus and train commuters to its content.

One benefit for marketers, is the ability to analyze how consumers are interacting with their physical assets.

Reaching early-adopters
Taxis are a key way to engage with mobile users as consumers are typically sitting in a vehicle for a period of time without much to do. This presents a key opportunity for marketers to engage consumers with compelling content.

Through VeriFone?s Taxi TV, Celebrity Cruises is able to reach consumers who are already engaging with digital content.

Celebrity Cruises reports that it has seen a high number of entries from the campaign, helping it to reinforce the brand with London?s early-adopters.

Reaching such consumers is important for the brand as technology plays a key role in its brand positioning. For example, the onboard experience for guests includes the ability to order dinner on iPads at a restaurant.

Celebrity Cruises is also  a licensed Apple retailer at sea.

"All mobile and OOH is growing," Mr. Kutsishin said. "Mobile is the glue between OOH and consumer engagement. Mobile makes out of home campaigns real.

"They turn screaming into conversations," he said. "It empowers consumers to act on their urges."

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