• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, August 2, 2004

I was walking down Union Street in San Francisco a few weeks ago and my phone rang. As this is a typical experience, I took the phone out of my pocket and checked to see who it was. I did not recognize the number so I pushed the talk button on my Treo 600 and held the phone to my ear. As I listened I was surprised to hear an unfamiliar voice saying, "This is Dr. so-and-so and I specialize in all types of dental care. Come in this week and get a special teeth cleaning for just $39.99."

Why on earth was this dentist calling me and how did he get my phone number?

I was a little disturbed and more than a little curious as to how this stranger in the dental hygiene industry acquired my number when I looked up and realized that I was standing directly in front of the dentist's office. I'd just been tagged, as I call it, by AT&T somehow targeting me with a GPS ad on my cell phone. If this has ever happened to you, you can understand the strange feeling that remained. I was annoyed from a consumer stance, but my curiosity was peeked from a marketing standpoint.

I can assume that they targeted the ad. After all, I was in close proximity to the Dentist's office, and of course I do have teeth. The targeting is unmistakable, but are consumers really ready for these types of intrusions into their personal lives? If your phone rang every 300 feet with a "targeted" ad based on your proximity to a local business of "interest," would consumers continue to answer the phone? Most likely they would become annoyed and start to ignore the phone more often than not. Sound familiar? It sounds eerily similar to the way in which e-mail has been utilized and over-extended.

Of course there is a very important difference. E-mail is free and cell phones are a paid service. To contact a consumer via e-mail does not incur a cost and as a result most consumers recognize that spam comes with the territory. Cell phones are a paid service and one that has been typically considered private and "off-limits" to general advertising to date, unlike landlines at home. We now have a national do-not-call list, and I have heard rumors of a possible do-not-e-mail list in the future, but where do cell phones fit in? Is there an implied acceptance for consumers who sign up for a cellular or digital service to accept advertising to their phones?

I do recognize that many cellular providers offer the opportunity to deselect a consumer from possible advertising, but I must say that it's not very overt. Since this intrusion I've received one other call and multiple text messages from my provider relaying "targeted" advertising. None of them were successful as none of them were very memorable nor were they acted upon, but from a marketing point of view I am still intrigued.

If this type of advertising was more targeted on my actual pattern of behavior, I might respond. If it were more creative and took more advantage of the medium, I might respond. If it were in some succession with advertising or marketing I might have received in other media vehicles, I might respond.

How can we take advantage of mobile advertising and come up with something that is truly interesting? I'm not sure, but I have heard of some rather intriguing ideas lately. I recently read about various companies setting up off-line "games" featuring real people in real locations through GPS tracking via cell phones. I've heard of geo-caching scavenger hunts using cell phone technology. I've heard of the typical uses of Vindigo and AvantGo and of a number of other mobile tool sets, and I am interested in hearing what you have seen.

What have you seen, as of late, that sparked an idea?