Beem is revolutionising the advertising market: the platform, which will be available in Switzerland from 1 June, makes classic advertising campaigns interactive for anyone with a smartphone, without the need to install a special app or visit a website. And it is all possible thanks to some surprisingly simple technology.
The traditional static content advertising market is coming under pressure. For advertisers, interactive and performance-oriented online formats are the future – which is primarily to the benefit of the large international online providers. “Enhancing a campaign with Beem provides genuine added value in this environment,” says Alessandro Rausa, Head of Beem at Swisscom.
Thanks to Beem, traditional advertising campaigns within Switzerland can now be brought directly your smartphone, making them interactive. To start with, Beem will be available for APG|SGA billboards and cinema advertisements. TV channels are in the advanced stages of testing and will soon follow. Beem can already be used on 3+.
Beem-enabled cinema advertisements or APG|SGA billboards emit a high-frequency sound outside our hearing range; billboards also emit a Bluetooth signal. These signals are received from the Beem platform; because it is integrated with many popular apps, there is no need for the user to download a special app. Beem is currently integrated with the 20 Minutes, Watson and Bluewin apps. If a user has one of these apps open, they will see an unobtrusive notification as soon as the signal is received. Selecting this notification opens the Beem platform, where the user will be shown additional, updated information or offers relating to the billboard, programme or commercial. This may be purely informative or might include competitions or votes that the user can take part in, as well as special offers and vouchers.
As an alternative to the third-party apps, a separate Beem app can also be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Users do not have to register with Beem to use the platform although it simplifies repeated use.
The first campaign featuring Beem will launch on 3 June: SBB has put its faith in the new technology, and Beem will also be launching its own campaign on the same date. Campaigns can be run through APG|SGA (for billboards) and WerbeWeischer (for cinema). Admeira and Goldbach are also involved in the test phase for the TV implementation. “Traditional advertising media attract the necessary attention; thanks to Beem, these media can now be elegantly linked with interactive aspects and relevant content providing added value. It’s a very attractive combination,” says Beat Holenstein, Member of the APG|SGA Management Board.
Beem’s vision is to bring the analogue and digital worlds together: its potential applications extend beyond advertising. Beem could be employed wherever users interact with their smartphone and would appreciate an additional level of information – for example, at events, in museums, or for spatial orientation etc.
