New advertising startup lets you target and engage customers at a local level

I just stumbled upon a new tech startup that wants to do for digital signage what google did for online advertising.  The company is called locbit (for "local bit of information") and they are located in San Diego California and their concept is quite simple.

You create an advertising campaign by choosing the locations where you wish to display your ad and you set your bid.  Next you enter your online coupon or web site link  and you enter a short text message to be displayed with your ad.  Your ad is assigned a unique QR code that will be shown with your text message.

Your ads will be displayed on digital signage screens in the area(s) you select and you only pay if someone interacts with your ad by scanning the associated QR code.  You also get access to usage data so you can adjust your bid to ensure the best possible exposure.

  

I think this will be really appealing for small and medium sized screen networks who cater to businesses that need to reach a local audience.  The system is compatible with any content management system capable of displaying a web page.  All you have to do is assign the URL that was assigned by locbit to a template or screen layout zone and ads will be streamed and displayed in the proper area with the rest of your content.

As you go through the registration process, you can select which type of advertising you want to be shown on your screens.  For example, a coffee shop can restrict the scope to food related ads.  You can select one, multiple or every type of ads and locbit will take care of the rest.  Your bid amount will determine how often you own ad will be shown as part of the rotation so you can increase the ad repeat rate by increasing your bid.

The network operator gets relevant content that can easily be added to their existing content and local businesses get to advertise where their customers shop.

It's a clever idea and it will be interesting to see if the company takes off or if it gets gobbled up by a bigger player.  Stay tuned!