Mobile marketing may soon find a home on devices larger than the mobile gadgets we’re used to.
Much larger.
In fact, the state of California could soon become the first state in the union to sanction the mixing of advertising with a resident’s vehicle. More specifically, California lawmakers are tinkering with the idea of producing ad-enabled digital license plates as an innovative measure to help address the state’s swelling $19 billion deficit.
As it stands, the state Assembly could pass a bill allowing state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to begin “researching the use of electronic license plates.”
“State governments are facing unprecedented budget shortfalls and are actively rethinking the use of existing state assets to create new ongoing revenue opportunities,” said Senator Curren Price, Jr., the bill’s author. Senator Price added that the digital plates “would look and work like a computer screen.” While a license plate number would regularly be displayed, there would be an “added ability” – specifically, the ability to display ads when a vehicle equipped with this innovative license plate is stopped for four seconds or longer.
In addition to the ad revenue and job creation that could result from such an endeavor, “Critical, real-time public safety information such as Amber alerts and emergency traffic updates can be broadcast to the plates during exigent circumstances,” noted Senator Price.
So will digital license plates built for mobile marketing represent a wave of the future? If this catches on in California, there’s no telling how far the practice could ultimately extend.