Proximity Marketing: Here I am!

Digital , Social Media , Industry News Jul 21, 2010

Where are you?

Something you may be asking your friends while using your favourite location-based app. Or perhaps more of a rhetorical inflection...where am I when it comes to proximity marketing? You may also hear it labeled as "geo-targeting", "location-based marketing", or "location-based social networking". For a marketer it all means the same thing...delivering the right information, to the right person, at the right time, in the right place in such a way that the message inspires action. That action of course is to purchase your product or service!

Proximity Marketing affords the marketer the unique opportunity to engage their target on one of the most personal mediums available - the mobile device. This engagement can also occur without knowing the intended target's mobile phone number.

On the more technical side of proximity marketing, let's take a look at how it actually works. It is essentially the localized distribution of marketing communications based on location and user preferences as defined by location activity/traffic. Transmissions can be received by anyone who has the technology, is in the desired location, and wishes to receive the message.

The location of a device equipped to receive can be determined by:

A mobile device being in a particular location
A Bluetooth or WiFi device being within range of a transmitter
An Internet enabled device with GPS enabling the device to request localized content from a server

Target communications could include for example:

Tourists - communications received as a result of device registered outside the local area and referenced against their origin
Time + Place specific - Content defined by location and an event in progress. (i.e. the Air Canada Centre on a specific date plays host to a rock band. 3 hours prior to the show, mobile device found to be located within a designated physical radius are transmitted coupons for a local restaurant
Distributed communications can also include: additional information pertinent to an area [i.e. tourism industry, gaming/gambling (think Niagara Falls casinos), Social Applications and "traditional" digital space advertisements

Now how can all this magic take place? Through location-based apps...and there are a ton out there. Essentially the all work the same - here's a quick user synopsis:

User registers with their preferred location-based app
User checks-in to their favourite locations
The more times you check into a location the higher your "status" within a give location
Based on your status level and activity at the location, retailers can offer up incentives and promotions

Here is a brief look at some of the most popular apps:

where
foursquare
Gowalla
Radar
Loopt
Google Latitude
Google Buzz for mobile
Bliin (Dutch Service)
Twinkle (Twitter client)
Plazes (Gerrman Service)
Toai (Portugese Service)
Parallel Kingdom
Brightkite
You can even Tweet your location in Twitter! Here's how
Facebook...a social media list of any kind wouldn't be complete without it. CNN was reported advising that Facebook will soon be adding a "Places" feature on their site. Here is the CNN report for more information.

This certainly isn't an exhaustive list, I have come across listings of over 50 different Location-Based Apps. There are additional iPhone apps which include "Usonar", "Hear Planet", "Whrrl", and "Traffic". Surely there are others. See how many you can find? What are their merits and pitfalls?

So, have I convinced you yet of the power of and importance of what I would like to call "Narrowcast marketing 2.0" - the new age of digital proximity marketing?

No?

Consider some of these facts (source http://www.cwta.ca):

At the end of March 2008, Canadian wireless phone subscribers numbered 20.1 million, representing a national wireless penetration rate of 62%. Recent CWTA research estimates wireless penetration in major urban centres has exceeded 70%, with some greater metropolitan areas approaching the 80% mark.
Despite the atypical distribution of Canada's relatively small population across our vast land mass - and perhaps because of it - Canada has been and remains a world leader in communications networks and technology. And for an industry that is just two decades old, Canada's wireless phone industry, in particular, has made remarkable progress. Together, Canada's wireless carriers now offer coverage to more than 98 per cent of Canadians.
Customers in Canada continue to enjoy prices that are below or close to the average wireless prices across the 30-member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). According to the OECD’s recently published biennial Communications Outlook 2007, Canadian customers fare significantly better than their neighbours in the US and Mexico in almost all usage categories.
Two-thirds of Canadian households have access to a wireless phone.
Canadians send 63.7 million text messages per day.
Each year, Canadians place more than 6 million calls to 9-1-1 or emergency numbers from their mobile phones.
Wireless revenues in Canada totaled $12.5 billion in 2007.
Half of all phone connections in Canada are now wireless.

If you have any thoughts I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, you'll have to excuse me...I need to check in at my favourite bike shop. A few more check-ins and I'll be eligible for a 20% discount on a new pair of bike shorts and clips...sweet!