Indianapolis-based Fox59/WXIN-TV has teamed up with mobile marketing agency 3rd Dimension to develop Traffic Authority: Mobile, a free mobile traffic camera service for commuters and residents.
Users can download an application onto their Web-enabled mobile phones that allows them to view traffic tie-ups in real time before going on the road. The service is provided by more than 60 traffic cameras mounted along roadways in the area. The cameras are operated by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and are part of the Intelligent Transportation System.
According to Kurt Tovey, creative services director of Fox59, the goal of Traffic Authority: Mobile is to increase branding for Fox59’s four-hour morning news program. “Viewers can already tune in ‘on the fives’ for weather and traffic. This is the next leap in providing traffic at any time,” he said.
Advertisements for Fox59 programs run while the selected camera loads or buffers on the phone, usually about five to 10 seconds.
“Our demographic is hard to access because they aren’t the type of people who watch 30 second commercials,” Tovey said, “But the placement is very quick so it’s not so inconvenient.”
He added that Fox59 hopes to soon have a broad rotation of advertising clients and promotional messages.
Eric Joseph, president and COO of 3rd Dimension, said his company hopes to develop more services on mobile sites. “We hope to provide Amber Alerts and other public services,” he said. “We want it to be a local media site for mobile.”
Similar services from 3rd Dimension have launched in Houston and New York. There are plans to expand the service into more markets this year.
