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england gives Leeds the lead with virtual city guide
LeedsCast launched, using gogo, a mobile messaging system created by Leeds-based marketing specialists, an agency called england.
Leeds is now home to the world’s first virtual city guide delivering useful information straight to mobile phones. A number of LeedsCast zones have been created throughout Leeds city centre, each of which houses a ‘gogo pod’ which can detect mobile phones and invite people to download the LeedsCast application.
gogo delivers the information free in under 20 seconds to mobile phones via Bluetooth. There are nine initial LeedsCast zones with more being launched in the coming months.
LeedsCast is a simple to use application which provides information on attractions, shops, restaurant, hotels and bars. It has useful contact information including public transport and taxis. Once downloaded the information is accessible wherever you are, and will be updated when you return to one of the zones.
LeedsCast has been designed to identify the zone you are in and can offer incentives relevant to your immediate location as well as walking directions to the other LeedsCast zones. The system also provides news headlines and a range of special offers and incentives from city centre businesses and venues.
gogo was conceived and created by england in response to the City Centre Leeds commitment to making the city centre easier to understand and get around. For LeedsCast, it is supported by Marketing Leeds which is supplies content from www.leedsliveitloveit.com, the city’s official website for business, leisure and education. gogo has already been adopted by a number of other organisations and is currently being used by the Metropolitan Police to deliver community safety information and witness appeals.
Deborah Green, Chief Executive of Marketing Leeds, said: “Leeds is proud to be hosting the world’s first virtual city guide. LeedsCast puts a whole host of information literally at your fingertips, and has created virtual signposting to complement the physical signs around the city.
“We’re really excited that through this technology we can open up new channels of communication with people who come into the city. This represents a new era in location-based city marketing.”
Chief Executive of an agency called england, Tony Stanton, who conceived and developed the system, said: “LeedsCast is the first city application of gogo and there is already much excitement about the launch. The potential uses of this technology are endless.
"Businesses can use the system to engage with potential clients in the ideal location and at a suitable time. Messages are quick and easy to prepare and can be delivered just in specific zones or across all the zones.”
gogo is centrally managed via the internet, allowing multiple content delivery in all mobile phone formats. Information is delivered from pods which can be located at poster sites, retail locations, entertainment venues, public spaces or wherever required. The range of the pods is up to 100 metres and pods can be networked or programmed to operate independently.
