Innovative technology made easy
To innovate is to constantly reinvent one-self. It means questioning everything we do with the goal of finding better ways. This requires maintaining a lively curiosity towards new trends. Some emerge to accompany us as part of our daily routines – like checking Twitter every morning or using Shazam on your way home to pick up the name of your new jam. Some are just fads that fade in a couple of days.
While we as individuals try to keep up with technology driving changes in our personal lives, companies are looking to adapt to tendencies that could in turn increase sales or motivate brand awareness, and institutions are trying to adopt new tools to improve their services. However, there is a process of adjustment that is difficult to overcome when new technologies are way too innovative. That is what has been happening with the iBeacon. You have probably already heard about this great new approach to smart communication. It has invaded media coverage since 2013 when Apple uncovered the product during its Keynote. Now, it is starting to conquer retail spaces, museums, and more.
For those who might feel a little out of the loop, let us step back for a moment and explain what in this world an iBeacon is. An iBeacon is a small piece of hardware, powered by a coin battery and attachable to any surface. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy connection to automatically prompt content directly to a smartphone or tablet based on a user’s location. The main difference between this technology and the ones based on GPS is that iBeacons are capable to localize users indoors or outdoors in order to facilitate information according to their specific position inside a store, or in a park for example. The capability to share micro-localized information and seamlessly present it to users represents an invaluable opportunity for any company, organization, or institution looking to communicate with a specific user, at a specific moment and place.
For commercial purposes it is ideal, as businesses can now directly influence customers’ decision-making process exactly when and where purchases are made. In fact, companies such as Macy’s and Nordstrom have already started to test this technology in their stores looking to obtain more information ab out their visitors and ultimately improve customer relations, services, and well… sales. According to an article in Business Insider, messages triggered by iBeacon technology could impact up to $4.1B of the total U.S. store sales this year, with an increase of $40B by 2016.
Likewise, it is an excellent opportunity for those in the recreational industry as easing information is more practical than ever. For example, a museum can now assist a visitor with additional information on a specific piece of art simple by prompting content based on levels of interest. As the visitor spends a certain period of time in front of an art – say 10 seconds – interest is recognized and creative content, like a video of the artist explaining the inspiration behind the piece, is automatically shown on the visitor’s smartphone.
However, as we previously stated, innovative technologies are not always easy to adopt. In this case, what makes it a little difficult is the fact that an application needs to be developed to serve as the channel to deliver the content on the target’s smartphone or tablet. For any organization this not only represents a rather high development cost, but also significant marketing costs as nowadays there are so many new apps being advertised that important efforts have to be invested to achieve a satisfactory number of downloads.
Apps like OnSpot by VOR Marketing are one solution to this obstacle. OnSpot is one application that serves as a unique channel for all organizations looking to take advantage of the iBeacon technology. The idea behind it is to give users the capability to obtain information from their favorite stores while in the mall, but also receive meeting reminders from co-workers while in the office; the digital menu and special drink offers when in a restaurant; coupons for discounts on their favorite team’s gear during a ballgame; or interesting facts on a striking art piece while at the museum – all in one. This kind of applications offer a value added for both the user and the client (the organization, store, museum, etc). The user doesn’t have to download one app for every purpose, and every client benefits from the participation of others as any initiative to advertise the application is a gain for all. Check them out at www.onspot.me
The beacon technology offers many benefits. From what we can predict, apps basing their functionality in prompting personalized, demographically segmented, and micro-localized information will be trending very soon, and will most probably become useful tools adding value in our daily routines.
