BELL SERVICE GIVES ADVERTISERS DIRECT ACCESS
By Adnews Staff
Bell Canada of Toronto launched a new visual display service this week that allows advertisers to promote their products on peoples' phones. Called Direct Access, the service is being offered free of charge to any customer with a Vista 350 telephone. Direct Access is currently available in Toronto, London, Montreal and Sherbrooke. It will be rolled out throughout the rest of Bell's territory in Ontario and Quebec next year. The Vista 350 comes with a large, eight-line viewing screen. With the phone and Direct Access, customers can perform telephone banking, get weather forecasts, purchase movie tickets, get sports scores, find David Letterman's Top Ten List, browse a catalogue of Bell products and check the status of their phone bill. Direct Access also allows Bell clients to customize and view advertising through the QuickAds feature. When the phone is not in use, short advertisements will appear on the display screen. Customers can select which ads they would like to view by specifying categories, or block out the ads altogether. If they see an ad in which they are interested, they can hit a button to get up to 30 seconds of sound and up to an additional 60 lines of text. If they wish to contact the advertiser, they can do so at the touch of a button. QuickAds also allows advertisers to be selective. They can aim their ads at specific residential areas by targeting only certain postal codes. The charge for each message sent will range from 0.5 to 1.5 cents. QuickAds also measures the number of hits each ad gets, so advertisers can gauge how effective their ads are. Direct Access is being promoted by transit, billboard, direct mail and point-of-purchase advertising in the four cities where it is available. Leo Burnett Company Ltd. of Toronto created the ads. National Public Relations is doing PR.