Clear Channel Outdoor Rolls Out ‘Connect’ Interactive Mobile Advertising Platform in 29 U.S. and Canadian Markets

First-ever Integrated Out-of-Home and Mobile Network To Enable National and Regional Advertisers to Reach Mobile Consumers at Scale

Strategic Partner Blue Bite to Deliver Dedicated Sales and Support

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO), the leading innovator in out-of-home advertising, is building on the successful global launch of Connect, its interactive mobile advertising platform, with the rollout of a U.S. and Canadian network that will give advertisers the ability to create mobile-interactive campaigns via outdoor advertising in 29 markets, including 9 of the top 10 U.S. DMAs. For the first time, advertisers are able to reach mobile consumers via out-of-home media and smartphones in integrated campaigns at national scale. Blue Bite, a leading mobile-marketing solutions provider, has been selected to provide back-end technology, operations, and sales support for Connect advertisers in the U.S. and Canada. Advertisers will benefit from a dedicated team and a seamless experience from ideation to execution, insights and reporting.

Using Connect, Disney promoted new film "Maleficent" in France, running interactive displays on roughly 600 digital shopping mall kiosks (Photo: Business Wire)

“Our North American rollout of Connect is the largest deployment of integrated mobile and out-of-home technology ever,” said Suzanne Grimes, President & Chief Operating Officer, Clear Channel Outdoor-North America. “The intersection of mobile and out-of-home is an enormous opportunity for marketers, and Clear Channel Outdoor is excited to continue to lead the way with Connect. Combining the visual impact of out of home with the interactive and data-rich capabilities of mobile will help our clients create more engaging and measurable campaigns to build their brands and achieve their sales goals.”

Clear Channel Outdoor and Blue Bite are making the development and execution of interactive mobile campaigns easy. Connect tags (see photo) are attached to digital and static panels on pedestrian level outdoor sites with heavy traffic such as street furniture, bus shelters and other advertising structures, also in airports and at other points-of-sale. With Connect, Advertisers have a turnkey solution for interactive campaigns using existing web-optimized content whether they need NFC tags, QR codes or SMS numbers. Clear Channel Outdoor also plans to deploy beacons and other technologies when client demand and consumer benefit arise.

Blue Bite will facilitate the consumer experience by delivering appropriate mobile content to each smartphone user who engages based on their location. They will ensure access to information, coupons and transactional opportunities, or facilitate interaction with social media or games. Campaigns can be customized by city, neighborhood, or even individual site.

Today’s announcement follows successes with Connect in pilot U.S. markets and in Europe where the product was deployed earlier this year. More than 60 advertisers in the United Kingdom including McDonalds, Google, Aussie Bum, Levi’s and Paramount have run over 100 mobile-enabled campaigns using Connect.

“Clear Channel Outdoor is really pushing the frontier with mobile and outdoor innovation and has the scale and scope to deliver a truly massive mobile interactive network,” said Mikhail Damiani, CEO and co-founder of Blue Bite. “We’re excited to work with Clear Channel, clients and their agencies to develop campaigns and insights that help drive the future of advertising.”

The North American deployment includes street furniture, bus shelters and in some markets airport inventory in the following DMAs:

Note: inventory varies by market.

About Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., (NYSE:CCO) is one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies, with more than 675,000 displays in over 40 countries across five continents, including 47 of the 50 largest markets in the United States. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings offers many types of displays across its global platform to meet the advertising needs of its customers. This includes a growing digital platform that now offers over 1,000 digital billboards across 39 U.S. markets. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings’ International segment operates in nearly 30 countries across Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America in a wide variety of formats. More information is available at www.clearchanneloutdoor.com

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About Blue Bite

Blue Bite is a leading mobile-marketing solutions provider utilizing a targeted, location-based approach to reach captive audiences on their personal mobile devices. Blue Bite has partnered with many of the leading Out-of-Home Companies in the U.S. and prides itself on creating an interactive two-way engagement by enabling consumers to connect with digital and traditional media via their mobile phones. For more information, please visit www.bluebite.com and follow the latest updates and developments on Facebook and Twitter.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140716006040/en/

Clear Channel Outdoor
David Grabert, 212-812-0089
DavidGrabert@clearchannel.com
or
FeverPress
David Press, 917-721-7046
david@feverpress.com

Source: Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

Released July 16, 2014