Some time ago, it was common practise for nightclub owners to send out teams of people to competing clubs and place A5 sized flyers on the windscreens of cars parked within the grounds of the nightclub.  For the people distributing the flyers this was, at times, a dangerous task.  The security teams of the rival clubs weren’t known for their leniency when dealing with such street teams. 

Now in the 21st century and the introduction of Bluetooth proximity marketing systems it is becoming easier and a tad safer to advertise to your competitor’s customers.  Suppliers of Bluetooth messaging systems also openly advertise ‘covert’ models for use “by under-cover PR staff in situations that handing out paper flyers would either not be suitable or permitted”.  But is this ethical or even more important, is it legal?

Imagine being the owner of a shoe shop in a busy mall.  The prices of the shoes may reflect the price of being located in a mall.  Let’s call this shop XY Shoes.  Meanwhile, in a neighbourbood not too far away, but considerably more cost effective for shopkeepers, AB Shoes runs a modest business.  Despite the lower prices offered by AB Shoes, the shop just doesn’t seem to attract the customer base of the local mall.  AB Shoes is offered the chance to run a Bluetooth Marketing campaign in the mall.  Customers of XY Shoes suddenly start receiving Bluetooth messages containing photos of shoes at a lower prices at AB Shoes. 

For AB Shoes, the campaign was successful.  The mall customers are now going to buy the same shoes at a lower cost at AB Shoes.  In the age of technology that we live in, XY Shoes has been Adverjacked. 

As Bluetooth Proximity marketing becomes more popular due to low cost advertising campaigns and getting the exact target audience, there will be more dilemmas.  Gone are the days when street teams placing flyers on cars risk their lives.  Enter the days where the customers of the same clubs can be reached while they are still inside the rival club.

Will the future see the mobile phone carriers lowering the cost of sending SMS texts?  Will the mobile carriers use their location software to offer similar targeted campaigns at competitive costs?  Will Bluetooth Message blocking be offered to small businesses in the same breath as a security alarm?  Who knows, maybe all of these things, but one thing is for certain, Bluetooth Proximity marketing is definitely growing.