Canon picks Tube for hi-tech London push

Canon is combining moving advertising panels on the London Underground network – Adwalkers, which are hi-tech interactive sandwich-boards – and Bluetooth marketing to promote a &£100-off offer to shoppers on London’s Oxford Street in the approach to Christmas.

Digital agency Goodtechnology has put together the promotion, which will be backed by an integrated online campaign.

Canon Consumer Imaging New Media manager Christiaan Holman says: “As technical pioneers, we need to be using the most ground-breaking formats in online advertising and staying one step ahead of the game.”

Synchronised panels inside Tottenham Court Road station will show moving images, with the messages: “Print straight from your camera” and “Save up to &£100 on Canon Selphy printers and digital IXUS cameras”.

When shoppers emerge at street level, they will be met by the Adwalkers with digital screens on their chests carrying more Canon advertising. They will hand out vouchers in exchange for basic customer information.

Consumers with Bluetooth phones will be told in the advertising that if their phones are on “receive” mode, they can have the voucher sent to their handsets.

Goodtechnology says that this way, the promotion should avoid falling foul of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, which demand that all marketing using electronic media be “opt-in”.