NAVTEQ’s “LocationPoint” mobile-ad platform got a shot in the arm recently with a very successful campaign for McDonalds in Europe, its first location targeted campaign by a global brand advertiser, netting an impressive 7% CTR overall.
The platform allowed McDonald’s to deliver location-relevant mobile ads to users of Nokia Ovi Maps when they were within a certain distance of McDonald’s 82 restaurants in Finland. The campaign promoted a McDonald’s cheese burger for 1 euro, resulting in a solid 7% click-through-rate. Consumers clicked on the ads to see promotion details and receive driving or walking directions to the nearest store location. Of users who clicked through, 39% selected the click-to-navigate option which offered “drive to” or “walk to” navigation to the nearest McDonald’s location using Nokia’s Ovi Maps navigation.
“Targeting consumers when they are near our locations and then navigating them right into our stores is powerful marketing for McDonald’s,” said Tomi Wirtanen, head of marketing, McDonald’s Finland. “We are thrilled with the results from this campaign. NAVTEQ LocationPoint proved that location targeted mobile advertising does indeed drive foot traffic into our restaurants.”
The problem I see with LocationPoint is that too many other networks are doing the same, and in many cases, doing it better than NAVTEQ. In North America, competition is strong, and NAVTEQ simply doesn’t have the pull that larger platforms and ad-networks have. Still, this campaign netted impressive results nonetheless. If Nokia had a better stronghold in the US, LocationPoint would be much more relevant.
“NAVTEQ is uniquely positioned to bridge the digital and physical worlds by combining the location assets from NAVTEQ and the consumer reach of Nokia,” said Tuula Rytila-Uotila, Vice President Location, Nokia. “As consumers turn to their mobile devices for more services, such as music, maps, and entertainment, contextually relevant advertising can enhance the consumer experience while minimizing costs of the services to users.”