Mobile Plays Key Role at New York International Auto Show

Cris Levy Comments Off on Mobile Plays Key Role at New York International Auto Show Public Events

May 05

Last week, I visited the New York International Auto Show, the largest auto show in North America. I saw lots of amazing cars and new technologies. However, the takeaways which I want to share with you in this week’s blog post are the mobile app, SMS, mobile barcodes and mobile Web sites, which were all part of this year’s event.

In 2010, the New York International Auto Show launched an iPhone app, which was back again and prominently promoted. This year, the Show expanded its use of mobile with the introduction of 2D barcodes. Upon downloading a free app from the Show’s mobile barcode solutions provider, potential attendees could scan the barcodes in the Show’s marketing with the camera on their mobile device and be taken to a mobile Web site where they could purchase tickets and get more info about the Show.

The Show offered a mobile Web site which was well designed for use on smaller screens, and employed an auto-detect feature for mobile devices so when I typed the regular Web site URL into the browser on my smartphone I was automatically taken to the mobile Web site.

Mobile was also used by automakers exhibiting at the New York International Auto Show. Take the Audi exhibit for example. Next to each of its cars there was a display, which featured info about the car and two separate mobile call-to-actions (CTAs) to get more info—visitors could scan a 2D barcode or send an SMS/text message.

I opted for the SMS CTA, and texted the keyword to the short code, which were both listed on the display. I immediately received a text message back with a link to a mobile Web site with more info about the car. There was a different keyword for each car so when I clicked on the link it was not to an overall Audi landing page but to one dedicated to the car I was looking at—very user centric!

The New York International Auto Show provides an excellent example of the opportunities mobile presents for promoting shows and helping exhibitors engage visitors in new ways.

Posted on May 5, 2011