Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0039 Luxury Brands

Luxury brands have been on my mind recently with the release of the new iPhone 5S alongside the new iPhone 5C (that some refer to as the iPhone "cheap").

It seems to me there is much to think about marketing a luxury brand and there are lessons to learn there to apply to next generation loyalty as well.

Retail Online Integration has a fairly common sense article up about how to market luxury brands in the digital marketing world, the Participation Age.

digital-strategies-luxury-brands

Here is a snippet from that article:

Luxury brands by their nature must approach digital marketing in a far different manner than brands that appeal to the masses. This includes everything from targeting to customer service. Luxury brands must be able to take the services their customers expect in-store and provide them in the digital space.

...

1. Provide exclusivity, even in the digital space. Companies looking to reach high net worth individuals need to take special care to provide consumers with exclusive content. Individuals spending large amounts of money don't want the couch they just bought to show up as the first result during a Google search for "furniture."

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE**
Bit of a write-up about this was posted on Gigaom a month after this post:
why-is-apple-hiring-luxury-fashion-execs-it-wants-to-be-a-lifestyle-brand/#

**UPDATE #2**
This is a worthy addition to this line of thinking:
the_art_of_attracting_the_affluent

Good reading all together.

Major League Baseball - Mobile and iBeacons

Major League Baseball has announced work to utilize the iBeacon technology in Apple's flagship device, the iPhone.  This will be rolled out as a coupon experience first then more to come later.  2014 should see this capability generally available at ballparks.

MediaPost has a short write-up on this:

mlb-tests-ibeacon-app-feature-to-send-mobile-coupons

Here is a short snippet from the article:


On Thursday, Major League Baseball Advance Media (MLBAM), the league’s interactive unit, demonstrated a prototype integration of iBeacon in its At The Ballpark app at Citi Field in New York. MLB officials showed how coupons can pop up on a fan’s iPhone as soon as they walk into a souvenir shop. And other features appear when fans are near landmarks, according to an AP report.

Do you have the "At The Ballpark" app yet?

Here is a short write-up of the app:

http://blog.laptopmag.com/mlb-at-the-ballpark-app-will-let-you-buy-better-seats-from-your-phone

Look pretty fun for you?  I like the idea overall and this is certainly a trend we are seeing in major league sports in the United States.

When will this be available for Fenway Park??  I'd love to play around with it.

Have a great weekend,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE**

Very good article on this at CNet:

http://news.cnet.com/baseballs-beacon-trials-hint-at-apples-location-revolution/

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0038 Excellence

Econsultancy.com has an excellent article up titled:

10 Inspiring Uses of Mobile in Retail

This is really a great piece.  The examples are fantastic.

One really stood out to me:

Meatpack: Hijack

This one is genius and resulted in the 'hijacking' of more than 600 customers from rival retailer's stores, who must have hated it. 

Meatpack is a shoe store in Guatemala, known for its edgy style and for being down with the kids. 

It used GPS technology to detect users of its app when they were in competitor stores, before sending them a message with a discount. 

It would start at 99% and drop by 1% every second. So, the faster users got to a store, the better the discount. 

Are you kidding me??!!??  Customers were literally running out of the store to go to Meatpack, sprinting across the mall to get their discount.

Brilliant!

Here is the complete article including a YouTube clip of the Meatpack example:

http://econsultancy.com/tn/blog/63446-10-inspiring-uses-of-mobile-in-retail

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0037 The Participation Age

Google is out with another study.  If you haven't begun doing so you should really check out Google Think.  I've linked to the best articles and studies from there already, in my blog for your convenience, but you may find other articles interesting as well.

This is the first of a three part study on how to build an engagement engine, or a way to engage with your customers.

build-your-engagement-engine-part-1

Here is a bit from the article:

Marketing has changed. Once, offering killer creative was enough. Now that’s just the first act. In the participation age, consumers want an opportunity to tell brands what they think of their content — and expect brands to prove they’re listening. In the first article of a three-part series, David Mogensen, Head of Brand Engagement for YouTube and a former brand marketer for a Global Fortune 500 company, highlights some of the ways marketers are prioritizing engagement in their media planning through a combination of nimble media, ads consumers choose, and longer campaign windows.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

Google Wallet Not Just NFC

News from yesterday that is of considerable impact to both ISIS and NFC in general is Google Wallet will no longer be exclusive to Android devices carrying the NFC chip.

http://googlecommerce.blogspot.com/2

Here is a bit from Google:

Today, we’re introducing a new version of the Google Wallet app, which is rolling out this week to all Android phones (version 2.3 and higher), available this week in the U.S. The updated app helps you easily send money on the go, store all your loyalty cards, save money through offers, and view all your Google Wallet activity - all in one place.

ISIS can perform their national rollout but with no support from Apple, no longer exclusive support from Google & Android, the only thing they have left is the EMV chip requirements.  Something no merchant wants or needs.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE**

Capital One, one of the three founders of ISIS, has pulled its support.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/apple-paypal-mobile-payments-gains-weaken-isis%E2%80%99-future

The end of ISIS is now clear in my opinion.  The effort this summer to create momentum was really an effort to stave off the end.

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0036 Showrooming

An outstanding new study has just been released.  This was authored by a partnership of Columbia Business School and AIMIA.

Showrooming and the Rise of the Mobile Assisted Shopper

Econsultancy has a pretty good write-up of the paper and drew my attention to its release:

http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/63411-how-can-retailers-deal-with-showrooming

Here is a snippet from that article:

The report contains some valuable insights into what motivates mobile users to buy online instead of in-store, and how retailers can respond to the challenge. 

I've been asking report authors David Rogers and Matt Quint about the study...

Here is the study in its entirety (well worth reading):

https://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/filemgr?&file_id=7313935

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0035 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

The latest iteration of Bluetooth technology goes by a few names:

• Bluetooth 4.0
• Bluetooth Smart
• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

Now two companies are referring to it as "Beacon" technology.  Actually Apple is calling it iBeacon but that is pretty much the same thing.  PayPal is working on Beacon technology as well.  What is Bluetooth and what is BLE?

Bluetooth is a wireless technology for exchanging information over short distances.  This is similar to Near_Field_Communication but is now available in most phones on the planet in one form or another.

A key strength of Bluetooth relative to NFC is the range of functionality.  This has also been an area of weakness as Bluetooth commonly drew heavily on battery power and raised security concerns.  With Bluetooth Low Energy, a subset of Bluetooth 4.0, these concerns seem to have been addressed.

PayPal - Beacon

The eBay owned payments company has publicly announced plans for an in-store payment mechanism using BLE.  Here is an excellent article on the subject, though the title quite overstates the case:

http://www.internetretailer.com/2013/09/12/paypal-and-apple-drop-mobile-payments-bombshells

Here is a snippet from that article:

“PayPal Beacon opens the door to a fundamentally different way to use technology to make shopping more valuable and more personal for consumers and retailers,” says David Marcus, president of PayPal, which is owned by eBay Inc. “We challenged ourselves to find a better experience than swiping a credit card. We figured the only better way to pay would be to do nothing. Just walk in a store, and, like magic, when you’re ready to pay, money is transferred securely. No wallet. No card. Nothing to do. Not even touching your phone.”

Apple - iBeacon

Apple's announcement of iOS 7 very quietly pointed to iBeacon.  The September 10 keynote made no mention of the technology.  However, it may become something as big or bigger than the features and functionality highlighted in those announcements.  This article speaks well to Apple and how this decision completes the company's dumping on NFC:

http://gigaom.com/2013/09/10/with-ibeacon-apple-is-going-to-dump-on-nfc-and-embrace-the-internet-of-things/

Here is a snippet from that article:

Using Bluetooth Low Energy(BLE), iBeacon opens up a new whole dimension by creating a beacon around regions so your app can be alerted when users enter them. Beacons are a small wireless sensors placed inside any physical space that transmit data to your iPhone using Bluetooth Low Energy (also known as Bluetooth 4.0 and Bluetooth Smart).

For example, imagine you walk into a mall with an iPhone 5s (comes with iOS 7 and iBeacon). You are approaching a Macy’s store, which means your iPhone is entering into Macy’s iBeacon region. Essentially iBeacon can transmit customized coupons or even walking directions to the aisle where a particular item is located. It can prompt a customer with special promotions or a personalized messages and recommendations based on their current location or past history with the company. 

NFC and iBeacon

One more article speaks to this subject and is also worth reading:

http://www.retail-week.com/

Here is a snippet from that article:

NFC may yet take off with or without Apple - most other mobile devices on the market contain the technology. But having Apple on board would certainly make things easier for NFC’s proponents.

Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum says: “Apple still doesn’t have NFC in its phones, which is how other device vendors have supported payments, and it looks like it won’t anytime soon.”

Excellent reading overall.  I hope you will take the time to scan through all 3 articles.

Final Thoughts

The mobile internet is in its infancy.  The changes we are seeing are going to continue and are going to impact the way we do things every day, often every moment of every day.  Mobile payments is coming, the so-called "internet of things" is also coming (more on that later).  This past week we learned a bit about what the next few years will look like (iBeacon, M7 chip, Touch ID), and what it won't look like (NFC).

Have a great weekend.

Happy reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE**

This article is a good addition to the above reading list on the topic.

Why Apples Indoor GPS Plan is Brilliant

Happy reading.

**UPDATE #2**

Third party vendors are working on solutions to provide "beacons":
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1518059

**UPDATE #3**

EConsultancy has some information on how marketers can use iBeacon technology:
http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/63633-a-marketer-s-guide-to-ibeacons-and-bluetooth-low-energy

**UPDATE #4**

Aisle411 is using beacon technology for in-store mapping:
aisle411-partners-estimote-indoor-retail-mapping