Telstra promotes NFC in Sydney and Melbourne

The Australian mobile network operator has equipped sales staff in flagship stores with NFC lanyards, helping them to show customers what NFC can do, as well as adding NFC tags to advertising posters and to promotional materials available in shopping mall food courts.

Telstra's NFC phone booth ad campaign in action
TELSTRA: Phone box ads feature NFC tags

Australian mobile network operator Telstra has expanded its NFC marketing project, as it seeks to understand how best the technology can be used across its business.

Working with Australia-based NFC specialist Tapit, Telstra is now testing three different uses for NFC tags in three different types of location.

In this new phase, NFC tags are being used to enable customers with NFC phones to get a link directly to Telstra’s prepaid top-up page, making it easier to recharge their prepaid account while on the move; to obtain an app and access a free trial to pay TV service Foxtel, and to get a free trial to Telstra’s new MOG streaming music service.

Telstra, Tapit and JCDecaux have added NFC tags to some twenty phone box advertisements in Sydney and Melbourne and NFC is also being used by Telstra store staff to promote NFC directly to customers and shoppers when they visit Telstra retail outlets.

Staff at Telstra’s flagship stores in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the Macquarie Centre and Chatswood stores in Sydney and the Chadstone and Doncaster outlets in Melbourne, have been issued with Tapit branded lanyards, enabling them to easily promote NFC functionality to shoppers. NFC-enabled promotional materials have also been distributed at the stores, along with window decals at some locations.

“People can see for themselves, many for the first time, how easy and magical NFC is.”

Later this month, promotional materials containing NFC tags and QR codes will also be made available at food court tables in Sydney’s Warringah Mall and Macquarie shopping centres.

“People can see for themselves, many for the first time, how easy and magical NFC is,” says Tapit.

“Telstra is innovative, they are the first major brand in Australia to launch such a comprehensive NFC initiative in retail and outdoor simultaneously,” says Jamie Conyngham, CEO at Tapit. “It’s all about making it easier for people to get the content or service they want instantly on their mobile phone. Reducing the amount of clicks or keystrokes simplifies the process and has a positive impact on sales and customer loyalty.”

The project goal, Conyngham told NFC World, is to better understand how people interact with NFC tags and which locations generate most interactions. “It’s an exciting time,” he says. “We’re only just scratching the surface of what rewards NFC will deliver brands and consumers.”

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