Adwalker adds to HK's ambient sell

Hong Kong is the first market in Asia, where the two-year-old product has laun- ched, serving as both advertising medium and a point-of-sale. Each unit consists of a daylight visibility screen, a smaller hand-held touch screen for consumer interaction, a credit card reader, a ticket or receipt printer and a portable computer system which can accommodate a multitude of software to play music and videos. Adwalker will also be connected to a number of interactive networks, including Bluetooth, GPRS and WiFi. Andrew Cawte, Adwalker's newly-appointed CEO for Asia, anticipates the medium's POS service will appeal to airlines, entertainment providers, retailers, FMCG and games companies, retailers, sport event organisers, government and research firms as well as bars, restaurants and clubs. Units will be available to advertisers at HK$7,000 for five hours use per day. The price includes two hours of free creative work. Starcom Hong Kong's managing director, Mabel Leung, believes the medium offers advertisers an interesting opportunity for direct contact with consumers. "Adwalkers will really provide on-the-spot contact points to consumers and the added level of interactivity will make it quite an impressive medium." But Leung also had a few concerns, chiefly the actual ground-level functionality of the units in Hong Kong. "The streets are very narrow and crowded in Hong Kong so the units might not be able to get the same exposure to people as they would in Europe." Leung also questioned whether the Government's regulations on "on street" advertising would affect operations. Cawte did not believe this would be a barrier. "Even where there is legislation in place preventing literal 'on street' activity, we still have the option of operating in places where we only require the permission of landlords, management companies or operating authorities such as shopping malls, railway station and sports stadiums."