Borders Expands Wi-Fi Advertising

JiWire, the leading location-based mobile company, has just announced a partnership with Borders bookstores in the U.S. The deal adds 500+ bookstores to JiWire’s Wi-Fi ad network and signals the next leap to in-store WiFi location-based advertising.

Contextual location-based advertising is growing quickly. As Wi-Fi usage increases, particularly in ‘lifestyle’ venues like Starbucks and large bookstores, it’s changing the way brands interact with consumers.

According to David Staas, SVP marketing for JiWire: “Just as brands were challenged on how to 'socialize' themselves in the social media space, today brands need to think about how to “localize” themselves with their consumers. People are more willing to share their location and are doing so to gain more relevant local content and services.”

JiWire’s most recent Mobile Audience Insights report cites that: 53% of consumers are willing to share their current location in order to receive more relevant advertising; overall use of Wi-Fi in cafés has increased more than 50% Q1 2010 from Q4 2009; 70 % of café users connect for over one hour on all mobile devices including laptops, Smartphones, and iPads, with 85 percent connecting at least once a week.

Furthermore, since, according to JiWire, as 83% percent of users connect in their own neighborhoods for business and pleasure, advertisers have a low-hanging fruit scenario to reach ‘local, tech savvy, affluent consumers and small business owners.’ The reach is to a ‘highly captive and consistent audience.’

“Location context goes beyond a point on a map to identifying not only where someone is, but also the type of venue and even brand of venue where they are.  Location-based advertising allows national brands to “localize” themselves and be much more relevant to their audience,” says Staas.

Any connected user in any Borders store can now receive location-targeted messages and offers from national brands such as UPS, Verizon and Cisco.

Staas cited two examples: “UPS ran a “We do more than shipping” in Borders. The objective was to promote local services to small business owners in specific markets. The click-through allowed people to explore the range of services as well as identify the closest store.

Microsoft ran a campaign for Microsoft Office that included customized local messages in each ad based on the user’s location. An ad in Denver would show a local landmark and customized call to actions such as 'A PC without Office is like Denver without the Rockies.' We see on average a 100% to 120% increase in click-through rates when local content is included.”

The two driving forces behind location-specific engagement that make ‘on-the-go audience’ a prime target: more devices with ‘baked-in’ Wi-Fi and the steadily increasing consumer demand for high speed mobile Internet -- everywhere, anytime.