Telstra is celebrating the NRL finals with a new app feature that builds on the NRL's Light It Up campaign to create an interactive mobile experience at the stadiums.
It is part of Telstra's efforts to build mobile experiences that tap into stadium connectivity and monetise its NRL mobile apps beyond banner advertising.
Adam Good, director of digital media and content at Telstra, told AdNews ahead of the launch that it is a first for the Australian market, adding that it has been modelled on similar apps used by US NFL teams including the Seattle Hawks.
The app feature gives fans a burning torch logo for their team and will encourage fans at finals matches over the next few weeks to hold them up at the same time and create a stadium light experience at the ground.
It is also allowing fans to create “digital keepsakes” that are unlocked when users log into the official NRL app. Fans can then superimpose their own photos with NRL imagery to make their picture appear as if on the big screen at the ANZ stadium, or superimpose the Provan-Summons trophy on to their picture and share it on social sites.
Telstra will look to monetise the digital “keepsakes” and app features beyond mobile banners down the line but that the initial trial will just have Telstra branding.
“To be involved in mobile it's not about being able to count ad impressions, it's about creating experiences within your property that can also be shared on other platforms [like Facebook and Twitter]. We don't want to just be selling mobile ad banners, we want to do integrated ad packages that brands that are associated with these premium products are happy to be associated with.
“Because they are so new it's an opportunity to trial things – there's no other brands on these except Telstra – as a brand we get to be the first to try it and see how it might work if we monetise it for other corporate sponsors next year or down the line.”
As more stadiums become connected via beacon and NFC technology, Telstra will look to extend the features of its apps with geo-location features.
“The next step is down the path of beacons. We didn't do it this year but it's in the roadmap. It's starting to become technology that's embraced at the handset level whether it's Apple or Android so beacons will be something we can start to incorporate," said Good.
“If you had the official app in a connected stadium, you could be triggering exclusive content. These digital shareable items are not beacon initiatives but it's a journey we're on. This is a building block.”
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