nativ.ly helps Waze and Taco Bell partner on an innovative native advertising campaign.
Here at nativ.ly, we’re always on the lookout for great apps that add value to people’s daily lives. From that first time we used Waze to navigate our way around a rush-hour traffic jam, we knew it was going to be huge. This wildly-popular Social GPS navigation app (free on IOS & Android) now connects 34 million drivers to one another so they can “outsmart traffic together”. Whether it’s being alerted before approaching police, accidents, road hazards or traffic jams, it’s like a personal heads-up from a few million friends on the road.
Taco Bell Branded Pin
Waze puts Taco Bell on the Map…literally.
At Waze, user experience comes first, and their unique location-aware advertising offering reflects that. There’s no disruptive banner ads here, because that could distract drivers. Waze has built an elegant mobile advertising solution that seamlessly integrates brands into the native experience with non-interruptive ads that user’s see on their maps as they drive by them on the way to their destination.
When Digitas, Taco Bell’s digital agency, was looking for innovative mobile advertising opportunities to help promote the Taco “12 Pack”, nativ.ly helped them partner with Waze on it’s first-ever national campaign. This is part of a big push into native, content-based, ads for Taco Bell (as Digitas VP, Mark Chambers, detailed to Digiday).
Taco Bell took advantage of several brand integrations to engage Waze drivers:
Branded Pins
Every Taco Bell location is promoted to drivers as they approach them on the live Waze map. When a Waze user clicks on the Branded Pin, they see custom campaign messaging encouraging them to pick Taco Bell “12 Pack” over grocery stores and other game-day food locations.
Taco Bell’s “O MPH” High-Impact Takeovers
“O MPH” High-Impact Takeovers
When a Waze driver comes to a complete stop (at a stoplight), a Taco Bell pop-up message promotes a retaurant location that is relevant based on the driver’s route. This “location-guided” ad unit is not only targeted to driver’s based on their current proximity to a Taco Bell, since “Wazers” set their destination, this unit can also be targeted to drivers who will be near a Taco Bell further up the road.
I loved how @waze showed me a @tacobell ad NOT while I was driving but stopped at a light. I nearly visited Taco Bell as a detour unplanned.
— Eric Rosario ツ (@Eric_Rosario) January 19, 2013
What does the future hold for Waze ?
Expect opportunities centered around retail deals/offers available to “Wazers ONLY” and loyalty based incentive programs. Waze is also open to brands sponsoring features that add value to the overall user experience. For further information on how to leverage the Waze platform for brand opportunities please contact us here.