Apptera's offers text reminders to cinema goers during ordering

Ok. I like this a lot.

If you’re based in the States, you may well have experienced this. Cinema goers who phoned up to book tickets via phone for the recent smash, Iron Man, were asked if they’d like a text reminder when the next Incredible Hulk hits theatres.

Brilliant. Just press ‘1’ and your done. You’ll get an immediate reminder by text — then a reminder the day before the movie launches. This kind of thing just makes life easy for all concerned, right?

Especially if you get a call-to-action text offering you a 2-for-1 deal on popcorn or something like that to get you in the door on launch night, or something like that. I’d like to see this kind of thing added into the mix here in Europe. Has anyone witnessed anything similar?

Here’s more information on the process from Apptera:

Apptera, the voice and visual mobile advertising company, today announced the completion of a pilot program with Ignited, an El Segundo, Calif.-based full-service marketing agency, to deliver ground-breaking in-call advertising solutions on behalf of its client, Universal Motion Pictures. When callers to a movie showtime application asked for the movie “Iron Man,” they heard an audio ad for another Marvel Entertainment production, “The Incredible Hulk,” coming to theaters on June 13th.

Apptera’s mobile advertising technology offers contextual multimedia promotions to callers when they interact with speech-enabled movie showtime applications. In this case, when speaking the words “Iron Man,” callers triggered the audio ad for “The Incredible Hulk.” The ad asked the movie fan if he or she would like to receive a text-based reminder on their cell phones the day before the summer’s next big hero, “The Incredible Hulk,” arrives in theaters.

If a user pressed “1,” he or she received an immediate confirmation message, which could include a link to the movie’s mobile Website or voice portal. This text message will allow the fan to interact with the movie brand during the interim, before the requested movie comes out. Then, the day before the premiere, callers will get an SMS reminder, building the anticipation and encouraging them to see the movie on opening weekend.