Recently,
many McDonalds restaurants have begun to offer free
Wi-Fi service to its dining customers. With this type
of Infrastructure already in place, it is not a very
hard step to begin serving ads to anyone within their
hotspots. In fact, many restaurants that offer this
same type of service have already begun to use Wi-Fi
ads as a type of 'payment' for the customers free
use of their Internet access.
This
would work on either Wi-Fi enabled laptops, PDA's,
or even some of the newer multi-function phones. In
any of these cases, the ads could be simple promos
for either outside advertisers or for McDonalds themselves.
For this example, I used a new McDonalds test product
as an ad to try to increase trial of their new breakfast
sandwich. Promos like these have the obvious benefits
of increased trial, but they also can be used to push
high inventory foods that have either been over-purchased
or are quickly perishable such as salads.
The
animation on the left gives you an idea of where the
person would be standing when they receive the ad.
The link to the right shows the animated Ad in its
full size.
