Moviefone may have met its peak of cultural relevance over ten years ago when Kramer impersonated the Moviefone guy on an episode of Seinfeld, but the film schedule telephone service is still going strong. The Moviefone guy still provides 40 million callers with movie times a year. And today they are launching new voice commands and in call advertising.
These services will be provided by mobile advertising technology company Apptera, which has been providing free-411 services, social music services, and locale information on banks and atms for years.
AOL/Apptera are betting that localized telephone services will be even better utilized as advertising. Apptera will be providing Moviefone with voice command features, targeted in-call advertisements, opt in SMS text reminders, and restaurant/product coupons. Starting today, when a Moviefone caller checks movie times and locations in their area, they will also learn about nearby car dealerships and restaurant specials.
The almost quaint telephone service is competing with free online sites that do not eat up minutes (or, ahem, make you sit through ads). And with smartphones becoming more popular, it will be even easier to search for film schedules without waiting for an automated voice to get showtime information.
But people with time to kill before or after a movie might appreciate a coupon offer that will simplify the perennially difficult choice between the nearby Chili’s and TGIFriday’s. Apptera and Moviefone are betting that moviegoers will more than appreciate advertising pertinent to their evening out.
"For free services, you’re getting information on the fly – I might not want to go out to that Chili’s but I’m not offended. Next time I might call just to get the coupon," says Randy Haldeman, Apptera’s chief marketing officer.
But the question remains: can localized advertising deals be enticing enough to lure users off of their computers and back to the phone — and AOL’s Moviefone — again?
