Adzookie, a free advertising network for mobile devices, said Tuesday that the company will pay your mortgage if it can paint your house with an ad for the service.
The site is taking applications at its PaintMyHouse site.
Like Adzookie itself, the promotion is an ad, explained Mark Oskorus, the company’s vice president of marketing. The budget for the promotion is just $100,000, some of which will be used up in painting the houses with advertising and then repainting them their original colors when the customer opts out or the promotion ends.
Depending on what happens and how much business it brings back to the site, the promotion may be extended, Oskorus explained.
Adzookie is just one of a growing number of mobile ad networks. One of the largest, AdMob, is owned by Google, and has tied its ads to in-app advertising and other locations. Apple runs its own iAd network, with other independent competitors like Chalk, Mojiva, and Millennial Media.
The ads, however, won’t promote Adzookie’s clients, just the network itself. According to Oskorus, chief executive Romeo Mendoza was driving home from the company’s headquarters in Orange, Calif., when he was struck by all the foreclosed and bank-owned homes lining the streets.
“People are having a hard time out there,” Oskorus said of the applicants, which totaled 223 homeowners, 12 businesses, 7 restaurants and 1 church as of Tuesday morning. An additional 70 signed up since then, he said.
“it’s hit a really interesting nerve,” Oskorus said. “It’s a really sensitive subject, making ends meet.”
Applicants must fill out the form on the Adzookie Web site, explaining why their home should be painted. Not surprisingly, the majority are in financial difficulty, either foreclosure or medical expenses, Oskorus said.
Applicants must own the home; it can’t be rented or leased. Adzookie will paint the entire outside of the house, minus the roof, the windows and any awnings, over three to five days.
The applicants must also agree to keep the house painted with the Adzookie ad for three months, up to a year’s time. After the three-month period, if either Adzookie or the homeowner ops out, Adzookie will repaint the house in the original colors, Oskorus said.
Adzookie’s network is actually free; the company is simply burning through its own self-funded store of cash, Oskorus said. Users who allow Adzookie to place location-based ads on the mobile version of their Web sites can use the credit to buy their own ads on the network. Advertisers, of course, can also buy ads on the network, and target customers via various metrics.
The site hopes to use the house-painting promotion to attract advertisers and additional capital. “We’re going through the [venture capital] process right now,” Oskorus said.
Via PC Mag
