Honda is promoting its nationwide Honda Dream Garage Sales Event through a mobile wallet ad campaign that invites consumers to tap a banner ad and save the event to Apple?s Passbook or Google Wallet. 

The mobile ads, which have run on sites such as ESPN.com, Allrecipes.com and Washington Times, let the automaker continue the conversation with customers beyond the mobile ad impression by sending reminders about its annual sales event using wallet notifications. The Vibes/Flashtalking-orchestrated campaign demonstrates the versatility of Passbook and Google Wallet by introducing the concept that mobile wallet can drive both direct response marketing and brand awareness. 

?For any advertiser wanting to drive consumers to a brick and mortar location, WalletAds is a great solution,? said Brian Bradtke, vice president of mobile wallet advertising for Vibes, Chicago. ?For an auto dealer like Honda, these campaigns can be set up to allow Honda as a manufacturer to leverage their mobile ad buys for brand awareness as they do now, but to also drive measurable traffic to their dealers. 

?This is significant because with traditional brand awareness campaigns advertisers are creating exposure for a brand, but have no way of measuring direct impact,? he said.

Honda is able to tap into consumers? mobile wallets like Passbook on iPhones and Google Wallet on Android phones directly from their mobile ad units using WalletAds, a new mobile ad technology from Vibes.

Traditional mobile banner ads typically take consumers to either a mobile commerce site, where 97 percent then abandon their shopping carts, or to download an app, which requires many extra steps for the consumer. 

By making the consumer?s personal mobile wallet the post-click destination, WalletAds provide a more effective call-to-action for marketers and a more convenient experience for the consumer. 

To provide enhanced targeting, serving and tracking for WalletAds, Vibes has partnered with Flashtalking, an independent ad serving, measurement and technology company. 

Honda?s campaign leverages Flashtalking?s dynamic targeting capabilities to tailor Honda WalletAds through device-specific experiences. For example, only iPhone users will see a Passbook option accompanying the Save to Phone call-to-action in the ad.

 

?In Honda?s case, it was able to use this new mobile wallet technology in an innovative way to first create excitement around their sales event while secondly leveraging a clear call to action ? saving the event to their phone,? Mr. Bradtke said. 

?Once the content is saved to mobile wallet, Honda can then send valuable reminders and updates on the sales event on an ongoing basis, creating a two-way dynamic channel with their customers. 

?That saved content in the mobile wallet can also be updated to drive auto aftermarket and local dealer promotions, providing ongoing value to both the OEM and their dealers over time.?

 

Automakers have been looking for ways to effectively target an important buying group ? millennials ? , that tends to resist traditional advertising campaigns. Marketers increasingly grasp the route to purchase with the group is via smartphone, the one device they have with them constantly.

For instance, in February, Honda dealers in New York state, New Jersey and Connecticut leveraged the selfie craze by inviting showroom visitors to snap a picture with a new Civic to have a chance to win the car.

Three participants in the TriHonda Dealers? Selfie for a Civic Sweepstakes campaign who posted the photo to Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #SelfieForACivic as well as the dealership?s hashtag could win tickets to a Brooklyn Nets game at the Barclays Center, where one would be chosen for the grand prize of a 2015 Honda Civic LX Sedan. 

 

In addition to adding a rich media experience to the ad campaign, the saved WalletAds content can be updated over time to allow the advertiser more impressions with that consumer. 

Advertisers can replace that initial promotional content with completely new offers, events and promotions, and drive robust post-save reminders, geo-fenced notifications around the Honda dealership.

?Once the consumer taps on the ad and accepts the option to save the event to either Passbook or Google Wallet, Vibes? technology steps in,? Mr. Bradtke said.  

?It?s a very convenient process for the consumer, with the added benefit of Honda reminding them of the event or sending updated event information through location-aware mobile notifications,? he said. 

?At the end of the promotion, the saved content can be updated with an evergreen offer, or switched to a completely new offer, with a notification on the phone to tell the consumer about that change.?