Image by Deutsche Bank AG via Flickr
The idea of location-based marketing has certainly gained traction since the announcement by Facebook, in a recent report by market researcher Borrell Associates highlighted where they currently believe we are:
“Mobile marketing is where Web marketing was in about 1996: plenty of excitement, lots of experiments, general agreement that it will be Really Big, but not much facts to give visibility into how it will all unfold.”
The news that such retail giants as Starbucks and L’Oreal have entered into a 6 month agreement with O2 signals that mobile marketing; especially location-based is now potentially about to explode.
Who would not want coupons/offers sent to them at the point of sale that would cut the transaction costs?
Unlike other ‘new’ ideas it seems that the first wave of adoption will be taken up by organisations who have multiple outlets, which will i believe benefit them greatly. For smaller companies and late adopters there should be no fear in adopting the technology as a number of third-party providers that can make the adoption of this technology easier because they have the pre-populated databases and opt-in lists. Even technology such as geo fencing can be supplied by such businesses, thus allowing companies to see if the technology can deliver on its promises. We will have to wait and see and really watch this space, however I believe that this is just the start and other adjacent technologies will enable business to really maximise the opportunity.
Posted by david ricketts 
