Tag: proximity

Google Launches Eddystone Beacons To Compete With iBeacons

Posted on by Lab Team

Watch out, iBeacon! Yesterday Google announced “Eddystone,” an open source beacon standard designed to be platform-agnostic to take on Apple’s iBeacon, whose proprietary standard only works with Apple devices and shuts out all the Android users. In comparison, Eddystone beacons will be able to work with any device that supports Bluetooth LE. In addition, Google’s beacon platform will offer more options for the types of functions the beacons can trigger than iBeacons, therefore diversifying the data sets Google can collect via the beacons.

Armed with such universality and versatility, Eddystone seems to have some serious competitive edges over iBeacons. Interestingly, just weeks ago, Facebook started handing out free beacons to the retailers across the country to support the expansion of its hyperlocal feature Place Tips for Business. Now with Google officially joining the beacon race, the proximity and IoT spaces look more competitive and vibrant than ever.

Source: ARS Technica

Header image courtesy of Google Developers

Apple Acquires Coherent Navigation For Better Location Service

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original article on: The Verge

Coherent Navigation, a San Francisco-based company specializing in high-accuracy GPS and navigation technologies, has been acquired by Apple, joining the long list of mapping and navigation startups that the Cupertino company has bought recently, which includes Locationary, Embark, Hop Stop, WifiSLAM, and BroadMap.

No specific details of the acquisition have surfaced so far, so it remains unclear whether the acquisition was primarily for talent or technology. However, given the specialty of Coherent Navigation, it is safe to assume that Apple is looking to improve its location services, which includes the faulty Apple Maps but also extends to all other apps that utilizes GPS services in iOS system.

For brands, an improved system-wide location service would mean more accurate proximity-based targeting, which would result in great marketing opportunities to better serve the consumers in hyperlocal markets.

McDonald’s Tested In-Store Beacons To Positive Results

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Mobile Marketer

McDonald’s tested a new in-store proximity program at 15 McDonald Cafés in Istanbul, Turkey, sending beacon-enabled promotions to its customers via Shopping Genie, a popular Turkish loyalty app, with some very positive results. Over two six-week periods, the fast food chain staple saw a conversion rate of 20 percent, with an impressive 30% of users who received the promotion using it more than once.

 

Chinese Jewelry Retailer Deploys In-Store Beacons Via WeChat

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Mobile Commerce Daily

Chinese jewelry brand Chow Tai Fook teamed up with Beijing-based beacon-provider Sensoro to install a beacon-powered e-coupon distribution system that operates via popular messaging app WeChat, in 237 stores across 4 major cities in China. The campaign, which reportedly resulted in over 32,000 participating consumers and over $16 million in sales, highlights the advantages of seamlessly integrating beacon interfaces within an app that consumers are already using and familiar with.

How A Finnish Mall Found Success With “Physical Cookies”

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Mashable

Last fall, a mall in Helsinki, Finland reportedly started testing a new VIP loyalty program in which individually targeted deals are offered to shoppers who agreed to carry a plastic key fob embedded with an RFID chip with them. Since then, over 14,000 customers have tried out this “physical cookie” device, which can provide valuable insights on the shopper’s preferences.

The mall worked with local ad agency TBWA\Helsinki to create the RFID key chains, which don’t require registration or sharing any personal information. After a four-month trial, the mall reported some promising results, as customers with “Physical Cookies” spent 21.7% more time in stores than those who didn’t.

 

Beacon-Influenced Sales Predicted To Grow 11 Times More Next Year

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: MediaPost

$4 billion this year, $44 billion next: BI Intelligence’s Beacons Report on beacon-influenced retail sales are certainly eye-catching. Despite its predicted substantial growth, it is important to remember that this still takes up less than 0.1% of total store sales for now. More retailers need to get on board with the proximity technology for beacons to hit mainstream. According to the report, consumer adoptions will be driven by coupons, loyalty programs and personalized messaging.

On Trend: Digitally Enhanced Experiences Are Taking Over Live Events

Posted on by Richard Yao

Attending a live event, such as a game or concert, is a unique experience, but increasing costs and crowd-induced inconvenience have driven more consumers to watch from the comfort of their living rooms.  In order to lure fans—especially younger generations—back to venues, event organizers and venue owners alike are pushing for live experiences enhanced by mobile and location-based technology.

When designing a digital experience to complement a live event, the first step is to identify whether the event is more location- or time-dependent. Although both types rely on widespread smartphone usage, a strong WiFi connection, and proximity technology like beacons, the user experiences they offer can differ significantly:

  • Location-dependent apps work great for events that happen frequently in a specific venue , even if the audience changes each time. This is best shown in the VenueNext app for Levi’s Stadium, home to the SF Giants. The app boasts features that cover everything from digital tickets and parking passes to instant replays on smartphones and beacon-enabled seat locating. The app also offers convenient services such as mobile food ordering, in-stadium navigation, and real-time updated queue length, all of which encourage spending on concessions and merchandise, thereby boosting revenues for the venues.
  • Event-based apps are better during events in which the audience stays the same throughout its limited yet intensive time frame, as in the case of conferences or music festivals. Therefore, organizers typically design digital experiences that are heavy on notifications, event streaming, and social interaction. The SXSW GO app, for example, provides the users with personalized schedule building, event audio streaming enabled by SoundCloud, and a geo-fenced SXSocial network connecting thousands of its attendees.

Despite the differentiation, digitally enhanced tools are slowly but surely changing the way people experience live events, which opens up new opportunities for event organizers and brand sponsors to connect with the audience.

Lord & Taylor Expanding In-Store Beacon Program Nationwide

Posted on by Lab Team

 Read original story on: Street Fight

After testing in-store beacon technology in ten locations across the U.S. and Canada with positive feedbacks, Lord & Taylor now plans to expand the pilot program to its stores nationwide by the end of November. The company installed four to six beacons in each test store, and used a centralized system to send discounts and editorial content to the signed-on mobile devices of its customers. The company reported an 18% engagement rate for in-store messages from its pilot program, while the average engagement click-through rate for a mobile banner ad is less than 0.4%

AdWeek Event Recaps Masterpost

Posted on by Lab Team

Over the last four days, The Lab attended and covered six NY AdWeek events in total, and here is a round-up. Click on the titles to read more.

Programmatic Sophistication: Riding the Next Wave of Innovation

The IPG Media Lab kicked off Advertising Week bright and early on Monday, attending a panel on the future of programmatic featuring Matt Seiler, the Global CEO IPG Mediabrands; Vivek Shah, CEO and Chairman, IAB; Neil Vogel, CEO, About.com; and Tim Cadogan, CEO, OpenX; and moderated by Alex Kantrowitz of Ad Age.

What Is Newsworthy?

On Monday, Michael Roth, the Chairman & CEO of IPG, moderated an Advertising Week panel with Rebecca Blumenstein, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Wall Street Journal; David Pemsel, Deputy Chief Executive, The Guardian; Pete Cashmore, CEO & Founder, Mashable; and Greg Coleman, President, Buzzfeed; in which they discussed the future of the news and advertising’s role.

The Future Of Measurement

CBS’ Chief Research Officer David Poltrack, CMO of AOL Advertising Erika Nardini, and IPG Mediabrands’ Global CEO Matt Seiler came together this morning to talk about the future of audience measurement in a hyper-connected, multi-platform world. Representing the three key facets of the market (media companies, digital advertisers, and agencies, respectively), the three panelists debated shifting consumer behaviors and how the industry is adapting to such changes.

Future. Video 3.0

As part of our continuing Advertising Week coverage, this morning we attended a discussion on breakthroughs in audience targeting in cross-platform video advertising. Moderated by Scott Donaton, Global Chief Content Officer & Head of UM Studios, the panelists consisted of Bryan Gernert, CEO of Resonate; Jamie King, CPO of Keek; Andrew Snyder, Video Sales VP of Yahoo; and Matt Van Houten, Ad Sales Director of AT&T Adworks.

Proximity Marketing and Its Future

Continuing our coverage of New York Ad Week, today the Lab attended “Proximity Marketing, Wearables, and the Art of the Possible”, focusing on disruptive technologies and their impact on customer experience marketing. Led by Moderator Andrea Fishman from PwC, the panelists consisted of Fishman’s colleague David Clarke; Andrew Markowitz, Global Digital Strategy Director, GE; Mark Donovan, Chief Operating Officer, Thinaire; and Jordan Grossman, US Head of Sales at Waze.

Reimagine Retail for the Connected Shopper

“Reimagine Retail for the Connected Shopper” is the second Ad Week seminar we attended earlier today. Presented solely by Michael Dill, Managing Partner of Match Marketing Group, the seminar explored the various facets that today’s digitally connected shoppers are reshaping the retail market.