In an effort to promote its business solutions, the United Parcel Service is running a B2B mobile ad campaign within the New York Times? new BlackBerry application.

The UPS ad units appears at the top of section-fronts and article pages, scroll and disappear as the user scrolls down. For example, one of the banners says, ?See how Kolo found a picture-perfect supply chain with UPS.?

?The New York Times application for BlackBerry offers advertisers the opportunity to reach The Times? engaged audience of readers,? said Robert Z. Samuels, director of mobile products at The New York Times, New York.

?Last month The Times had nearly 80 million mobile page views, according to internal data,? he said.

Users of The New York Times application that click on the UPS banner are taken to a landing page where they can learn about how Hong Kong-based Kolo, a manufacturer of premium archival-quality photo and presentation albums, is using UPS to ship its products directly to U.S. customers, bypassing warehouses.

On the banner's landing page, consumers are able to read the Kolo case study, forward it to a friend and watch a video.

Since most BlackBerry users are business-focused individuals, the New York Times? BlackBerry application is ideal for UPS to reach its target demographic in this B2B mobile ad campaign.

Another banner leads clickers to a case study on how Zappos used UPS to improve its customers service. This landing page also has a forward to friend option and a relevant video.

Multiple touch points
The New York Times? BlackBerry application is the most recent of the brand?s mobile offerings.

Available for free at http://www.nytimes.com/bbapp, the Time?s application formats content for optimal navigation and display on BlackBerry smartphones, offers automatic synching and allows users to store articles directly to their devices for offline reading.

Features of The New York Times? application for BlackBerry smartphones include:

Offline reading ? access stored and saved content while airplane mode is activated and in areas without cellular network coverage.
Simple navigation ? view articles and pictures quickly.
Customization options ? specify favorite sections, set synching frequency and adjust font size to customize the experience.
Save and Share ? save articles on the smartphone or share articles via email and SMS text.

The application was developed and designed by The New York Times. 

The Times created this news application using the capabilities of the latest generation of BlackBerry smartphones, to offer a more dynamic reading experience and to make use of offline reading capabilities.

The application was designed to support the touch interface of the new Storm handset. The Times offers a number of other applications and mobile products for BlackBerry smartphones including the Crossword and Sudoku applications, and shortcuts to The Times mobile Web site and popular sections such as DealBook.

In addition, The Times has news applications for the iPhone and the Palm Pre.

?The New York Times application for BlackBerry is a part of our ongoing strategy to provide news, information, games and features in an environment specifically designed for mobile devices so that our readers can access it wherever they are,? Mr. Samuels said.

?This application is specifically designed to utilize the features and navigation of the BlackBerry,? he said.