• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 23, 2010

The boundary between outdoor advertising and mobile media is becoming increasingly blurry, as players from both sides experiment with strategies that integrate elements of each.

This week brings the unveiling of a partnership between Clear Channel Airports -- which specializes in place-based advertising targeting air travelers -- and Geodelic, which incorporates location service technology into mobile apps, to produce FLYsmart, a free location-based app for air travelers.

The new service shows users nearby retailers, restaurants and other destinations. FLYsmart lets them find services and amenities in terminals, including newsstands, gift shops and restaurants. The app also offers maps of terminal concourses, live feeds of arrival and departure information and information for hotels and services around the airport.

The app is currently available for Apple iPhones; versions for Android and BlackBerrry smartphones should be available later this year. The launch airports include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago's O'Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle. Smaller airports will come online each week.

Ron Cooper, CEO of Clear Channel Outdoor, stated: "By leveraging our vast airports network, latest digital technologies and the power of mobility, we're creating compelling and exciting ways for brands to engage and reach new audiences."

Airports are hot spots in the convergence of mobile, out-of-home and Internet advertising.

Earlier this summer, IBM launched an ad campaign -- running through Sept. 24 -- on the theme of "Smarter Cities," including a large interactive display at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Installed in American Airlines Terminal 8, the display will be visible to many of the roughly 700,000 airline passengers per month served by American at JFK. The unit also features a rotating ticker with a text to mobile call to action feature.

Two years ago, JetBlue installed interactive video screens at the gates of its new terminal at New York's JFK Airport, which allow travelers to order food for delivery from airport dining options if they can't leave the gate.

Overall, there are 200 such screens around Terminal 5 in the JetBlue digital network, called Re:vive. It was designed by New York's Deepend for OTG Management.