News

It slices, it dices'…

And you can sell it at your neighborhood ATM. Mike Szimanski of ATM Advertising Inc. says his latest program gives ATM deployers a shot at the lucrative direct response market.

January 7, 2002

The television infomercial is no longer the only way to move Ab Slides and Ginsu knives.

Mike Szimanski, president of Baltimore-based ATM Advertising Inc. is offering ATM deployers a new advertising package called the Mouth Mall that features popular products from the Buttoneer to the Zoom Copter.

Most small to mid-size ISOs have been shut out of the ATM advertising market up to now, Szimanski said, because they lack the "right" machines or locations.

National and even some regional companies will only advertise their products on ATMs in particular designated market areas (DMAs), but Szimanski said the Mouth Mall program is available to any deployer with a minimum of 100 machines, regardless of location.

Running the ads won't require adding a second phone line, broadband access, a faster processor or large amounts of memory. The only technical requirement is a color ATM screen.

"It gives every ISO a fighting chance at making money off advertising," Szimanski said.

He's targeting the ISO market because he believes that many of the "as seen on TV" products are a good fit for traditional ISO locations. Using a location-based marketing approach, deployers might want to offer the "Girls Gone Wild" video at bars and nightclubs or "Winning Strategies for Blackjack" at casinos, he said.

ATM users share many traits of infomercial watchers, Szimanski added, including a predisposition for making impulse purchases.

Unlike the more traditional ATM advertising model, deployers participating in the Mouth Mall program won't receive revenue just for placing ads on their machines. But they will receive commissions from every sale.

A Mouth Mall logo will appear on the welcome screen of participating ATMs. Ads for featured products, along with an 800 number that can be used for ordering the items, will appear on the "please wait" screen and again on the receipt. Each deployer has an 800 number unique to its ATM network so that sales can be tracked through an independent call center.

ATM Advertising Inc. will provide the ads in formats suitable for a deployer's machines, as well as the 800 numbers. Deployers are responsible for loading the ads onto their machines and for promoting the Mouth Mall to their retail clients.

While the Mouth Mall has no big-name national advertisers like Coca-Cola or Chevrolet, "nobody else is offering those ads either," Szimanski said. And products like Nads Hair Removal Gel and the Rotato Potato Peeler account for $14 billion in annual sales.

He contends that ISOs and other deployers shouldn't have to wait until ATM advertising becomes a more widely accepted medium to start generating revenue.

"It's time to try something new," he said. "What we're doing here isn't a cure for cancer, but it's a way for ISOs to begin making money immediately on their ATMs."