Gilette is currently running a mobile marketing campaign in London, in 10 busy train stations and some Superdrug stores (a big retail brand in the U.K. for health and cosmetics products), with the aim of promoting its newest razor product, the Gilette Fusion Power Phenom. From the article:

A 6-sheet digital campaign both directing consumers to the nearest Superdrug and advertising a prize draw will be running in train stations.

In the 50 biggest Superdrug stores on 27 February Gillette brand ambassadors will be equipped with bluetooth pods transmitting content about the product and prize draw. The teams will also be leafleting, carrying out demonstrations and giving out information about skincare.

The prize draw will be open to any consumer who purchases a razor in one of the participating stores, with each one having its own winner. Prizes include a tailor-made Saville Row suit, an Aston Martin for the weekend or a speedboat-chaufeurred trip to a show at the O2.

Their aim for the first part of this campaign, as they say, is to drive consumers into the nearest Superdrug store and buy a razor. However, I think this part of the bluetooth marketing campaign will probably not work very well..

Just put yourself into the position of a London commuter who is almost blind to the infinite offers they see everyday on the London Tube, or around the streets of London. You get out of the train and on your way out of the station you receive a notification on your mobile phone about something like this. Just how likely are you to go find the nearest Superdrug, (even if you are given precise directions), and go inside just to buy that razor?

I'm sure most of you are thinking 'not at all' and I'm sure the case would be the same if you were simply travelling across London to visit a friend, and to take it a step further, even if the ad said they were giving it away completely free. (Ok, I know everyone likes freebies, but we all know they're not quite 'free' most of the time, right? Well the average London Tube passenger also knows this..)

My point in saying this is that I think this mobile marketing campaign has been misplaced. The mobile offers a unique opportunity to reach the consumer at the right point of opportunity, that is at the right time, place and mindset, just when they were already going to do something. At that point you then have the opportunity to make an influence. Most of the time not about 'what' they are going to do (e.g. in buying a razor, they are probably going to buy one anyway), but about the 'how' and the details of their action (e.g. what brand razor they're going to buy, what features it will have, etc).

This proximity marketing campaign, sounds a lot more promising in its second part, when it will actually be performed in-store. When the consumer is already within the Superdrug store, they are already in the frame of mind of 'buying health and cosmetic products', so it is MUCH easier to start 'talking' to them about what they should buy, and I'm pretty sure the difference between the two different parts of this campaign will show in numbers, after its completion.