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November 21, 2008

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Goes Interactive

By Michelle Robart, TMCnet Editor

Ace Marketing & Promotions announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Macy’s to make the 82nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade the first interactive event of this size in history.
 
On Thanksgiving Day, over 3.5 million viewers will line the streets of New York City anticipating the parade. This year, the parade’s interactive elements will be delivered to spectators via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
 
The interactive elements will first begin at Macy's Balloon Inflation the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 26, 2008 and is open to the public from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Over a million spectators are expected to gather here to see the parade’s giant character balloons come to life.



 
When spectators get to the inflation area located at 79th Street and Columbus Avenue, they will receive fun facts and behind-the-scenes information on the giant balloons being inflated on 77th and 81st Streets.
 
Users can receive this unique content on more than 1,000 compatible mobile devices, including the iPhone (News - Alert), and they can enable their devices to receive special messages from the Santa Claus and other Parade content.
 
To capitalize on this opportunity, spectators just turn their Bluetooth device "On" and enable their Bluetooth visibility to either "Discoverable" or "Always Visible" in the settings menu on their device.
 
After this is set-up, when entering the Inflation site or when Santa's sleigh rolls by them, they will receive a message -- "Do you want to receive a free download from Macy's Parade /Santa?" When a user "accepts" the message, the free download immediately begins and is saved in the user's media folder. This service is free since there is no network signal required, other than a detectable Bluetooth or Wi-Fi device.
 
"We are very excited to offer this next level of excitement to our millions of Parade spectators," said Amy Kule, producer of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. "The Parade has always been about connecting with our audience in magical ways and the added ability to provide engaging and helpful content, via easily accessible Bluetooth devices, offers us a new way to connect with the millions who watch our Parade live in New York."
 
"Having our Proximity Marketing solution showcased by Macy's, for an event that is unmatched worldwide, is truly a huge testament of our technology and its progress," stated Michael Trepeta, President of Ace Marketing & Promotions. "As we strive to bring Proximity Marketing(SM) to the attention of advertisers, merchants and consumers worldwide, we could not have been chosen to demonstrate the strength of our services at a more time-honored tradition in America," Trepeta concluded.
 
According to Matt Gaines, chief marketing officer, Ace Marketing & Promotions, the company has had a very successful year with being the first to conduct its Proximity Marketing & Rockzimity Marketing campaigns in sports and entertainment venues.
 
“We are just scratching the surface with the applications for this technology and participating in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an honor, we are more than hopeful that Macy's decision to work with Ace will continue for years to come," Gaines added.
 
With more than 50 million viewers across the country and more than 3.5 million live spectators, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a national icon that has grown into a world-famous holiday event. For over 80 years, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has marked the official start of the holiday season for over 80 years and is growing in size and scale every year. The parade follows a 2.5-mile route in New York City with over 10,000 participants including Macy's employees, their families, celebrities, athletes, clowns and dance groups.
 
New York-based Ace Marketing & Promotions is a full-service promotional marketing company offering a wide array of business solutions. Established in 1998, the company has built a successful, scalable business platform capable of consolidating a portion of the promotional products industry.

Michelle Robart is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Michelle's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Michelle Robart


 







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