Minority Report 2008
In the Power Panel: Tales from the Bleeding Edge—Game-Changing Opportunities for Tomorrow’s Marketer attendees were shown just how close we are to Minority Report style personalized marketing today.
This panel discussion featuring Jason Goldberg of MTI Interactive, Bruno Uzzan of Total Immersion, Alan Schulman of imc2, and Michael Mak of bCode, shared live demonstrations and examples of true one-to-one marketing in action.
First up, Jason Goldberg described how their company is working to change the retail shopping experience, and allow marketers an unprecendented level of insight into consumer behavior. The challenge, according to Jason, is how to get customers engaged and involved. Half of all retail visits result in no purchase, he says, so this is a challenge worth taking.
MTI Interactive customer PEP Boys is addressing that challenge through an RFID keychain. This $5 device allows in-store kiosks to remember your personal preferences (like your car make and model) and display appropriate data as you approach. “Do people like this, or does it freak them out?” asked the moderator Lori Schwartz. “Both” was Jason’s answer—“if the value proposition is good enough, people love it”.
Alan Schulman of imc2 described some of the trends in the skyrocketing personal GPS market. Unit sales were up 488% over the past year this holiday season, and GPS products currently occupy 2 of Amazon.com’s top 5 sellers.
Alan highlighted the recent installation of interactive map kiosks in 14,000 New York City cabs through TaxiTech.com that allow advertisers to provide location-specific offers and brand messaging to consumers. “Touch the map to see the nearest Starbucks” for example. That particular service would not be necessary in San Francisco where you are never more than a block from a Starbucks.
Michael Mak described their solution to make mobile coupons work today. They’ve built a real-world system tying together broadcast SMS message offers, an optical scanner and flash-based web apps for in store for coupon redemption and messaging. IKEA is has already implemented their system. Michael also addressed kiosk usability. “If your kiosk has to sell itself, it won’t work”, he says. “An airline ticketing kiosk is a perfect example of a kiosk that doesn’t have to sell itself - I’m already sold when I approach it.”
The “wow” factor of the session came from the final presentation by Parisian Bruno Uzzan. He demonstrated an innovative tool they call “augmented reality”. It allows detailed 3D rendered images, video or other content, to be superimposed on a box or product printed sheet. You simply hold a box in front of an in-store camera, and a video display will show a rendered image on the box you are holding.
In the case of client LEGO, they have an in-store “magic mirror” that allows kids to see how the completed toy will look and move by holding the box up to a display. The live demonstration elicited an audible “whoa” from the audience.
These were just a few of the next generation tools demonstrated in the session. And, despite the “bleeding edge” title, every panelist emphasized that these are real-world applications available today. Minority Report? We may already be there. Fortunately for us, this time we get to keep our eyeballs.
