What the Ads may look like

It makes sense for the bank to get into the advertising business for a number of different reasons. Up to the minute checking account information will be highly prized. Advertising possibilities that would make sense are:

Event Triggered Ads

Upon checking your balance on payday, depending on your micro demographic, you may receive ads for happy hour specials in your area, sales on larger purchases that fall within your budget, or notification that the movie you saw a few months ago was just released on Blu-Ray. Retailers know that your attention will be on your funds. If an event may trigger thoughts about your balance, it is in their best interest to want to advertise during that time.

This could be annoying to consumers. Ads need to be relevant and service oriented. A new parent should get ads for diapers around payday and not movie previews. A person who does not drink should not be notified of happy hour specials. Ads should be expected and not obtrusive. Know the customer.

Proximal Ads

With GPS enabled devices and an omnipresent web, the ability to sell ads that meet certain preset parameters becomes a possibility. For example, Applebees may need to increase it's lunch crowd. Selling ads to air during the lunch hour to consumers on their cell phones who are within a predefined radius from an Applebees location is the most direct way to meet that business goal. With info from the bank, a the massage could be tailored to only include office park dwellers, or blue collar types. Limits would be in place for the amount of ads per micro demographic. Rates would rise and fall according to demand.

Ads for towing services sent to motorist who have been idle for 5 min on a highway. Reminders projected on your windshield from the grocery store about a gap in your milk purchase routine as you drive by it. The combinations are limitless.

This common sense approach focuses the billboard on a targeted demographic. This maybe a way for the lucrative, local advertising scene to play a role in the new economy. The chance to purchase GPS enabled ads could be a facet of the overall small business suite of services offered.