How attractive this idea seems will depend upon your attitude to adverts, as either streams of useful information or sources of continued annoyance. The second consideration is whether you are a current user of Tesco’s mobile phone service (available in the U.K. and Ireland); or, if not, whether you’d want to sign-up with one of Britain’s biggest retailers?
The new services is called Tesco Xtras and it will operates via the Android platform. As to what commercials will be beamed to your device, should you sign up, companies such as British Airways, McDonalds and Doritos have signed on. The attractiveness of these will depend upon your personal interest in travel or low-cost fast food. In exchange for agreeing to receive a set amount of direct advertising, customers can save £3 (around $5) from their pay monthly bill.
The service has received considerable interest on Twitter, and it the reception is generally positive. One user, Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) tweeted: “So far, thought the ads were great – calm, fair and persuasive.”
However, not all are in favor. Another Twitter user, Andrew Wise (@WiseAndy) commented: “This reeks… Targets the less well off with location and interests tracking.” This indicates the move is aimed at people in lower socio-economic groups.
For the service, Tesco has partnered mobile platform Unlockd. Commenting on the deal, Matt Berriman the co-founder of Unlockd, said: “To be the driver for collaboration and benefit from some of the world’s biggest media companies, a market leading mobile carrier, as well as the end consumer, is a huge coup.” Unlockd is a mobile-based technology, media and telecommunications business that aims to connecting brands and content via a proprietary platform.
Adding to this, David Dinsmore, Chief Operating Officer, News UK, said: “This is an exciting partnership and gives us a new way to reach readers. It is also an opportunity for our advertising clients to reach consumers using Unlockd’s innovative platform.”
At the opposite end of direct advertising, mobile provider service O2 is experimenting with an improved advert blocking software tool, the BBC reports. This is aimed at those customers who regard adverts as a nuisance, interrupting mobile browsers, and taking up too big a slice of a users’ data allowance.
