Regional Mobile Provider Revol Testing Mobile Ad Format

Revol Wireless, a regional wireless provider, has recently announced that they are going to trial run advertising on their subscribers mobile phones.

Subscribers that agree to receive content, advertising and other promotional offers via their mobile phone will be eligible to receive discounted mobile bills in exchange for participating. The program is called “Revol Perks” and is being trialed for 60 days. Subscribers in Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio, and Indianapolis can get a one time $10.00 credit on their bill for giving it a test drive.

Revol has been developing the content and ad delivery system with Arlington, Va.-based mobile advertising company Mobile Posse for the past year. The service essentially involves a small banner ad that appears on the phone’s idle screen; it does not interfere with the phone’s normal use or take over the screen, and it eventually goes away if the customer doesn’t respond. Users who wish to respond to an ad—say, for a free order of fries from a local restaurant, which could appear on the phone around dinner time—click on the star key or a soft key to pull up more information. That information could include a hot-linked phone number, information about nearby locations, or a coupon code to show a cashier.

The ads are stored in a library on the phone, which the customer can pull up and browse through later instead of responding immediately. Advertisers decide how long they want the offer to last, and the ad library shows expiration information. In addition to the ads, users also are sent content such as a morning weather update, sports scores and trivia.

“The key to our solution is that it delivers content in a seamless and unobtrusive manner that will be accepted and welcomed by consumers,” said Jon Jackson, Mobile Posse’s CEO. “By giving consumers the opportunity to opt in and specify the types of content and offers they would like to receive, we are bringing to market the mobile advertising solution of choice.”

Do you like the idea of having coupons that you can use on your mobile phone?

Mobile Posse