Bluetooth ads: a personal experience

Having received my first bluetoothed ad this weekend, I thought I'd share my personal reactions... The invitation to accept a message from 'Qashqai' appeared on my phone as I was sitting drinking a coffee and minding my own business in a cafe in Brixton. My initial caution (I've had viruses beamed to my phone in the past) soon gave in to basic human curiosity so I clicked yes. Going through my mind at the time: Who is Qashqai? What are they sending me? Why are they sending it to me?! My underlying assumption: this was from somebody sitting in the cafe As I waited for the transfer to complete I scanned the other customers in the cafe.... Then this arrived on my phone Judging from the reactions on YouTube the ad (from TBWA) has been a success, at least in terms of popularity. And when I've seen it on TV, I've always considered it to be a well made piece of film. But in this case my reaction wasn't quite as positive.. I should begin by saying that I'm not the biggest expert on cars - or the name Qashqai may have given the game away earlier. As it was I was just plain disappointed when I received the message and saw that it was an ad. I was expecting a personal message, some sort of contact with somebody else. This is what I'm used to using my phone for. Even if the message had been from a complete stranger, that would have been ok. But this was just impersonal. What made matters worse was that the message from Qashqai kept flashing onto my screen every 5 minutes or so, even after I had already accepted and viewed the ad. There was no intelligence behind this message, no personal contact, no connection being made. So not exactly intrusive, just a bit of a letdown. How my reaction might change if this became a more regular thing I can only guess, but I do know that my expectations have now been lowered for the future - probably to the point where I'd be less likely to accept any unsolicited bluetooths! What I suspect could have made a difference is if there had been some kind of interactivity, some kind of connection - even if with a website or link for further information, anything that gives me a reason to be engaged and INTERACT - this is after all what phones are for.. My personal reaction isn't too far from responses we have seen when talking to consumers about the concept of mobile advertising. It's acceptable - expected even - but runs the risk of being considered invasive if it offers nothing in return. In this case, I had no warning of what I was receiving - I was simply being asked to watch a TV-type ad in return for nothing. In the age of 'permission based marketing', mobile advertising in particular - due to the intensely personal medium - should be offering more than this if it wants to create a positive reaction. PS Having said all this I guess the whole exercise was a success on some level - I am now talking about the ad after all. It would just have been so much better if it could have done so without disappointing along the way!!