Ricoh Arena
Thousands of new clients from pioneering Ricoh deal
Exhibitors at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry will soon be able to reach hundreds of new clients via the most advanced form of Bluetooth marketing after sealing a deal with a Birmingham company.
The £113 million multi-purpose complex has teamed up with Birmingham-based SuiteX to offer wireless Bluetooth mobile phone prompts to attract extra customers at dozens of conferences.
SuiteX' systems alert consenting visitors of special offers and events, via Bluetooth proximity marketing alerts, which beam out an original ringtone and message for downloading.
SuiteX recently won the rights to use 'the world's most trusted Bluetooth Proximity Marketing system', and is offering it as a leading-edge marketing tool to companies to increase their footfall.
This scheme - one of the first in the country - started this month (January) to give the Ricoh Arena the edge over rival conference venues, and provided a huge vote of confidence for SuiteX as well as a six-figure conference fee income.
Geoff Abbott, a lifetime Sky Blues fan who is Business Development Director for SuiteX, said: 'It's tremendous. This deal makes the Ricoh Arena potentially more attractive to exhibition organisers. It takes marketing into the 21st century, offering exhibitors extra communications.
'It is magnificent for them. There are no up-front costs - they simply plug and play a 'turn key' system which we look after, using the best technology.
'It's exciting, and puts the Ricoh Arena ahead of the game, without having to be involved with the technical side.'
Ricoh Arena executives can also use it to target messages to visitors about future conferences and events.
The SuiteX facility enables people to upload videos and screensavers to their mobile phone. It's being used at the Confex 2008 exhibition in February.
Blue-chip clients see the Bluetooth marketing as a streamlined way of reaching a new, high-value audience for their products.
Neil Hillman, Managing Director at SuiteX, said: 'The 'viral' effect of the downloads mean that on average they are passed to five more visitors, so that the hundreds downloading from the exhibition stands become thousands of people receiving it.'
Trevor Land, Sales and Marketing Director at SuiteX, said: 'This is a major plus for organisers and exhibitors at the Ricoh Arena, which is going to be among the first in the country to offer such a sophisticated marketing system.'