Location based services: seek and destroy

Location based services (LBS) on mobile provide exciting opportunities for advertisers to create highly personalised viral campaigns.

LBS campaigns are not without their bear traps, however, as not everyone wants their exact location to be known - especially to an unknown third party. This means opt-in is even more critical than usual.

Virgin Media Television's campaign Terminate-a-mate used the uncanniness of LBS to its advantage to promote Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The campaign linked the unsettling feeling of being watched to the indefatigable persistence of the Terminator, who will seek you out wherever you are, find and destroy you.

Users were invited to enter a friend's mobile number or email address at the Terminate-a-mate website. If the recipient was willing to share his/her location, that person was sent a link to a mobile video, delivering a warning that a Terminator was nearby. It reminds me of the viral video used to promote Dexter.

Over 9,000 visitors to the Terminate-a-mate website clicked on the 'Terminate now' button to send the text to a friend's phone. The campaign was buzzworthy, with 2,865 recipients passing the message on themselves. The video was viewed 10,971 times, Revolution Magazine reported.

LBS worked a treat in this case, but not all brands set out to unsettle their audiences. Fortunately, there are other ways to use LBS, as mainstream brands are discovering. More on this to follow...