Objective

The London Book Fair wanted to provide information about their event and a travel guide to the local area for attendees of the event . At the same time Frommer’s Unlimited wanted to raise the profile of the Frommer’s brand to the UK and international publishing industry at the London Book Fair 2008. The mobile guide would also demonstrate that Frommer’s could deliver content through a mobile device such as a mobile phone or PDA.

Strategy

Frommer’s Unlimited wrote a travel guide specifically targeting the Earls Court area to reflect the Book Fair’s location. This content could then be delivered to any Java enabled mobile phone as an instantly accessible download.

In addition to providing recommendations for restaurants and nightlife, it included travel information on how to get to the Book Fair, essential information about the event, what’s on when in London and what to do in your spare time.

A dedicated page was created on frommers.com promoting the mobile guide, providing the link to download the guide and promoting a competition to draw attendees to the Wiley stand during the Book Fair.

The mobile guide was promoted by Reed Exhibitions, the London Book Fair organisers, on their home page and it was also included in email blasts to 25,000 exhibitors and visitors. In addition it was included in the email signatures of the LBF staff in the four months preceding the book fair.

Results

The click through rate to the frommers.com dedicated page from the LBF homepage was approximately 10% and a further 10% downloaded the guide onto the mobile devices. LBF was able to present a groundbreaking way for attendees to sehow content could be delivered over mobile in a superior way than as WAP pages. The initiative also helped the Frommer’s brand become the fastest growing travel publisher in the UK.

The relationship with Reed Exhibitions helped to secure a similar promotional opportunity at WTM 08 which is also organised by the same company.