Vibrating train windows: Now an ad platform, apparently

By Amy Kellow | 2 July 2013
 

Imagine resting your head on the train window. Eyes drifting off, body relaxing into the seat. Now imagine a voice coming from inside the window. You look around, but no one stirs. Only you can hear it. And then it dawns on you, it's an ad, your own super-personal ad.

Shocked? Creeped out? Confused? Amused? Whatever your reaction would be, you need to know about it. It's happening in Germany, and it's marketing on a whole other level, according to the company behind it - catch-up TV service Sky Go.

Aptly titled 'The Talking Window', the experiment was tested out on dozing commuters. A voice was transmitted directly from the window telling them to "get Sky Go for their mobile" to combat boredom. No one else on the train could hear the message. They didn't know where it had come from. All they knew was the message being pushed.

So how was it carried out? A video explaining the process (below) claims that a special transmitter was attached to the window, sending out inaudible high-frequency vibrations. It used a technology called Bone Conduction - only ever used by deaf people and those in the military. The vibrations were then translated by the commuter’s brain into sound, claiming to have created "a whole new media channel".

It's not quite subliminal, but it's getting there.

The stunt was created by BBDO Dusseldorf. The ad was originally seen on AdWeek.

What's your verdict? Would this kind of marketing work on a local scale?



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