The Houston based mobile ad platform will target the ride share program’s customers.
Gnomad took the opportunity to use the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in order to launch its mobile advertising platform which will make it possible to display ads to passengers sitting in the back seats of dozens of Uber vehicles around the Austin, Texas area.
The Gnomad mobile app was developed by a company called Poetic Systems, Inc., out of Houston.
The way it works is that it displays mobile advertising and content, among other features, that are geared toward travelers who are visiting from elsewhere and who are seeking to find out more about what there is to do within the area, particularly throughout the duration of the festival. So far, the mobile marketing content in the app is featuring the Greater Houston Partnership, which is a SnapStream based in Houston. It has also placed the spotlight on the Capital Factory co-working space and an assortment of startups in Austin.
Mobile advertising content was also assembled for Gnomad along with the Tasting Table culinary website.
That site is based in New York under Rich Winley, the co-founder and CEO. Ahead of the SXSW, he explained that “We’re expecting to be in about 75 Uber cars,” and that “We’re expecting 20,000 people to see the GHP ad over the weekend.”
That said, despite this mobile marketing agreement, Gnomad is not considered to be an official partner with Uber as each driver with the rideshare program is considered to be an independent contractor. This has given them the opportunity to create individual partnerships with Gnomad if they wish to do so. Those drivers, who are currently facing fare cuts, are frequently seeking additional opportunities to generate an income. By working with Gnomad, Winley explained that they can take part in a revenue sharing model.
Over the long term, Gnomad will continue these types of mobile advertising opportunities and intends to take its ad tech to New York throughout Fashion Week. For that event, it has partnered with a handful of ad agencies in New York, which had not been identified by the time of the writing of this article.
According to the Taco Bell vice president of media and brand partnerships, Juliete Corsinita, “We’ve honed our media skills over the last couple of years.” As a part of this effort, the company is also working with Aki, a mobile advertising firm that attempts to “target mobile moments”.