OREANDA-NEWS. July 03, 2015. Proxama PLC (AIM: PROX), the international mobile commerce company specialising in proximity marketing and a provider of end-to-end payment solutions for card issuers and processors, is pleased to announce through its partner Exterion Media ("Exterion"), Europe's largest privately held Out-of-Home advertising business, that it has equipped 500 London buses with beacon technology. Exterion is already working with leading brands to deliver welcomed information and entertainment to 300,000+ London bus-riders every day.

This is further to the announcement the Company made on 19th May 2015, when it announced a three year contract with Exterion to provide a managed service to deliver proximity marketing services to consumers' smartphones, whilst using public transport. The deployment of 500 beacons across London's bus network is the first stage of this marketing plan.

The beacons use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to send targeted in-app messages to the smartphones of London commuters travelling by bus. Travelling has proven to be a time when people are receptive to receiving messages especially when combined with other advertising. In a successful six month beacon trial on 110 buses in Norwich, Proxama generated a high response rate with 30% of users clicking through from receipt of the beacon notification.

Based on online research, Exterion estimates 94% of Londoners own a smartphone. Coupled with this, the average journey on a bus in London is estimated to be between 17-19 minutes (with some journeys taking considerably longer). This provides passengers the time and opportunity to respond, interact, view or redeem offers delivered direct to their mobile phones. This mobile popularity and the lengthy journeys makes beacons on London buses an attractive channel to deliver extended consumer engagement to audiences on the move.

"We are continually seeking new and innovative ways to connect brands with consumers and this solution will engage audiences on the move in a way that builds meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships. We believe the future of out-of-home advertising engagement is the ability to deliver a truly personal experience; and, with so many of us keeping our smartphones handy during the bus trips we take every day, it makes sense to combine the two. Our ultimate aim is to deploy this technology across our portfolio nationwide, with a long-term vision of providing full connectivity across buses in the UK." says Jason Cotterrell, Managing Director UK, Exterion Media.

"The trial in Norwich and our partnership with Exterion Media showed us that consumers are open to receiving content via their mobile devices while they travel, so we expect to experience a similar level of success once we roll out across London to potentially 8,500 buses. By ensuring that content pushed to users is relevant, personal and received at the right time, beacons are set to enhance Londoners' commuting experiences." says Jon Worley, CEO of Proxama Marketing Division.