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What happens when three major players in the ATM industry decide to join forces and put their money where their mouths are when it comes to ATM advertising? In the case of Diebold, Card Capture Services and InterActive Touch Marketing (iATM), the result is a three-month pilot with a paying national advertiser. The pilot, which began late last month, includes 140 machines at Rite-Aid stores in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Some of the sites, in the East and Midwest, had been part of Bank One's Rapid Cash program. The deal could expand to include up to 800 machines. The advertiser, a major pharmaceutical company, is promoting over-the-counter medications in a program that includes on-screen still advertising combined with dispensed coupons. While there have been several interesting advertising initiatives in the past, few if any of them resulted in a paycheck for their ATM deployers. "To my knowledge, this is the only check I've seen in front of me that validates that there has been a multiple-state sale in this type of retail environment," said Ray Knight, iATM's chief marketing officer. Three screens, each promoting a different over-the-counter product, will run during the pilot. The still graphics will appear when a cardholder first approaches the ATM, and then as he or she waits for a transaction to be completed. According to a press release jointly issued by the three companies, this translates to a projected 200,000 impressions. A discount coupon will be delivered to ATM users right before they receive their cash. Knight said the advertiser opted for a separate, rather than a receipt-based, coupon to make it as easy as possible for consumers to redeem; they won't even have to detach the offer from the bottom of the receipt. A special bar code on the coupon will enable the advertiser to track redemption rates. Diebold is providing the hardware, CashSource Plus 200 machines, and remote monitoring software called CSP Manager that is used to download the static color advertising screens and coupon graphics. CCS will drive the machines. Coral Gables, Fla.-based iATM brokered the deal with the pharmaceutical company, matching its client to the CCS network of retail machines. According to Knight, one of the keys to the deal was finding an advertiser whose product was sold at Rite-Aid stores. That way, consumers only have to walk a few feet to redeem their coupon and purchase the product. "In this realm of advertising, you're dealing with a sophisticated corporate marketing department or ad agency that asks you a lot of tough questions and is concerned about having a program they can justify to their boss," Knight said. "This platform is a little ahead of the curve, so it's logical to find a brand that's sold at the location." In addition to close proximity to purchase, CCS Director of Marketing Saul Caprio said the program offers the advertiser "a cardholder with his attention focused on the screen, who is in a buying a mode and has cash in hand." It's also important to combine the advertising with an offer, Knight said, joking that the three rules of marketing are "offer, offer, offer." While ATM advertising is still a relatively untested medium, Knight thinks the reputations of the three companies involved, all of whom are well-known names in the ATM industry, helped instill confidence in his client. Knight said iATM decided to partner with an ISO 6-8 months ago and was pleased to find a meeting of the minds with Portland, Ore.-based CCS, the country's largest non-bank deployer. "They've been a leader in talking about getting ATM advertising in a retail environment," he noted. Indeed, CCS Vice President of Sales Jay Halverson, in his keynote address at the recent Faulkner & Gray Advanced ATM Conference '99 in Chicago, urged deployers to "increase your efforts to carry paid advertising during each transaction, so users become accustomed to seeing an ATM as multi-functional." Halverson also seemed to suggest that partnerships similar to CCS' alliance with Diebold and iATM will become more common in the industry. "Your strongest competitors may also be your strongest potential strategic allies," he said. Knight agreed, saying, "If this was so easy, any ATM owner, operator, manufacturer, ISO or distributor would go out there and be bringing national brands to the table. It's difficult and time consuming, and it costs a lot of money to make these things happen." Knight predicted that more major ATM advertising deals will be announced within the next 60 to 90 days. "I think you'll see several major brands coming to the fold, through either our company or other companies I know are dedicating just as much effort, professionalism and resources to bring them to the table," he said. "We're going to have a major snowballing, and we're going to move to the second phase of this business." Email the author: ann@atmmagazine.com