I was going to review an article on engagement, then while listening to my regular morning NPR station I heard an interesting story on a new technology UltraViolet. It is so new it’s hard to find much on this new technology. I found three articles, but one is just a press release reprinted in Home Theater Magazine.
At first I wasn’t sure if it related to our e-marketing class, but while reviewing the details it relates in many ways. It is trying to resolve the splinternet issues related to viewing and sharing movies and video. It can create another way to social network and it can even relate to customer profiling.
So what is UltraViolet? According to NPR it is a new standard for buying entertainment online. This standard allows you to buy a movie and replay it via multiple types of devices, such as DVD players, Computers, or Apps for web enable devices. It will give you the ability to buy the movie and move it for one device to the next, as well as share it with a select group of friends or family.
UltraViolet, related to Sony, is also expecting to break into the music industry with this product in the future.
There are 60 entertainment companies, not including Disney or Apple, that have agreed to adopt this new format. This will give them the ability to gain a larger market at the start by having the buy-in of several large consumer product providers at the first kick off of the standard.
Social Networking comes in when people start to share the media with others. I expect this will develop new online site like UTube, where people can invite other to view their online libraries and then provide additional space for commenting of the movie and socialize.
Upon purchase of the media that is UltraViolet enabled, the customer will provide basic detail about themselves and most likely be asked to join a membership of a site to host their library. This will give the provider the opportunity to do some customer profiling and in return advise the customer on future purchases that might interest them.
Now to the other article from the Chicago Sun-Times. This article goes into a little more depth on the details, but what do you expect when NPR has only minimal space to review a product on the radio.
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Andy Ihnatko reviewed this new technology in his article “A movement toward reasonable DRM Management?” He started with stating the basic problem that lead to the development of UltraViolet. He states it as “buy once, play anywhere” problem. Why should we have to buy multiple copies just to view a movie on any of the multiple devices we already own?
Andy Ihnatko goes on to explain that UltraViolet is more of a central service that works with DECE (the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem), the consortium of 60 entertainment companies I mentioned earlier. UltraViolet will provide a free service to consumers by hosting their video libraries. A customer can buy from any video provider and house the content in their library and latter load it to any of their devices since they already own a copy.
The interesting addition from the first article is the mention of cable providers’ involvement. You can buy a pay per view movie and then decide you want to own it. Then you just but it with a click of the remote and add it to your library. An additional charge for the purchase will be added to your cable bill. Then you can latter watch in on your Ultra Violet enable phone. This can also be done while on the road at a hotel with just an internet enabled device.
And now for the hold-outs! Apple, Disney, and Amazon are not joining in on the consortium. This doesn’t surprise me much when it comes to Apple, who like to do their own thing and doesn’t play well with others. Disney has always had a thing about trademarks, copyrights, and other property ownership issues. They don’t like to share much. But I thought Amazon would join in on the fun and games. I could see them easily adopting this down the line.
In the end after reviewing these articles, I find myself looking forward to UltraViolet and maybe I will start buying the new devices I’ve held off on since I didn’t want to invest in all new formats for media I already have on Record, CD, DVD, and now BlueRay. I just might get that smart phone to watch Doctor Who, House, and Boondock Saints where ever I want. But I still won’t buy that iPhone.
References:
Fleischmann, Mark, “Cloud Content Access Coming,” Home Theater Magazine, http://www.hometheatermag.com/news/072310ultraviolet/, (accessed July 2010).
Ihnatko, Andy, “A movement toward reasonable DRM management,” Chicago Sun-Times, July 25, 2010 http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/2530662,ihnatko-drm-ultraviolet-dece-072410.article , (accessed July 2010).
Ulaby, Neda, “Introducing UltraViolet: Buy Your Digital Movie Once, Play It Anywhere?”, NPR, July 20, 2010, http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/07/19/128626624/introducing-ultraviolet-buy-your-movie-once-play-it-anywhere , (accessed July 2010).
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Just Getting Started: Location Based Marketing
Elizabeth Churchill article for Interaction Magazine , Today’s Flaneur: From HCI to Place-Based Interaction and Human-Place Interaction, is an analysis of how Location-aware devices are such as smart phones, GPS car devices and handheld GPS devices are quickly changing the way we interact and view the world around us.
Churchill discusses the current uses of such devices and touches of some of the possibilities these devices could hold for us in the future. People are already commonly using GPS devices in their car to get locations and advise on places of interest. We also have started to use them to locate our friend and acquaintances by incorporating social media to our smart phones. Going forward they expect to start these devices will also give interesting details on the history of the surrounding locations. This could make a tour guide a thing of the past as people start to use sites as apps such as “Locative Learning Project” offered through http://banff-mobilehistory.ca/ through their mobile devices.
Churchill touches only slightly on the negative side of location-aware devices by commenting on a woman who believed her GPS more than her own eyes and drove off a bridge. As she states towards the end of the article she wanted to avoid the discussion of privacy and security. This seems to be an attempt to focus the article towards the opportunities location based devices could hold going forward into the future of this technology.
Regarding the marketing side of location based devices, she comments on the current use of locating restaurants and other entertainment but makes note that currently the details on these locations are not provided. Some locations are already using this technology to direct customers to their establishments by offering free drinks or discounts.
The use of location based marketing will expand as the technology becomes more utilized by the general public and as new apps become available. Some marketers have already started to use location based marketing, such as taxicabs in New York City, as noted in E-Marketing by Judy Strauss and Raymond Frost.
We can foresee a future of location based device users walking the streets and getting notified of their options for a quick drink here, a simple snack there, and a recommend book available in the book store around the corner.
These devices can become an excellent mechanism to promote products and businesses if utilized correctly. Currently they will direct customers to a location but marketers have an opportunity to pull customers in by offering more entertaining. For example, if you walk down a certain street your device notifies you of a comedy club around the corner and shows a recent act in a quick video, but you can only get the details when in the vicinity of the comedy club. By not offering it online and having the content be entertaining enough to start a buzz, they could bring more people to the general location with the created opportunity of pulling more customers through the buzz. This could make location based marketing more than just a location finder but help it go viral.
Goggle has just launch a new app available for Android user to locate parking. This new location based software allows Android users to advise other Android user where parking is available and even give up to the second advice as the user pulls out of their spot. New apps for location based devices are being developed all the time. Marketer must find a way to utilize this up and coming technology.
If you need advice on how to get started in the location based marketing realm, Mashable/Mobile has an article to get you started, “9 Killer Tips for Location-Based Marketing”. It includes nine steps to get started and advise on common mistakes.
The nine steps are as follows:
1) Learn the platforms
2) Determine your goals
3) Establish your presence
4) Customize
5) Implement compelling promotions
6) Engage with you customers
7) Track everything
8) Be prepared to adapt
9) Avoid common pitfalls
There are several social networking platforms currently available for location based devices to start you on your path to promoting your business or product, such as Gowalla, Loopt, Google Latitude, and Foursquare.
Currently businesses are utilizing them to increase foot traffic to their stores by offering promotions for checking in on the location. For example free cup of coffee with every ten “check ins”, is a common promotion.
The future is bright for location based devices and apps. Marketing groups are just starting to exploit this new technology that brings together GPS and social networking. Who know what interesting buzzes will develop as this technology become more popular.
References
Churchill, Elizabeth, “Today’s Flaneur: From HCI to Place-Based Interaction and Human-Place Interaction,” interactions, July + August 2010, http://interactions.acm.org/content/?p=1389 , (accessed July 2010).
Frost, Raymond and Strauss, Judy, “E-Marketing” Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009
Snow, Shane, “9 killer Tips for Location-Based Marketing,” Mashable/Mobile, http://mashable.com/2010/03/15/location-based-marketing/ , (accessed July 2010).
Warren, Christina, “Google Launches App to Help You Find Open Parking,” Mashable/Mobile, http://mashable.com/2010/07/09/android-open-spot/ , (accessed July 2010)
Churchill discusses the current uses of such devices and touches of some of the possibilities these devices could hold for us in the future. People are already commonly using GPS devices in their car to get locations and advise on places of interest. We also have started to use them to locate our friend and acquaintances by incorporating social media to our smart phones. Going forward they expect to start these devices will also give interesting details on the history of the surrounding locations. This could make a tour guide a thing of the past as people start to use sites as apps such as “Locative Learning Project” offered through http://banff-mobilehistory.ca/ through their mobile devices.
Churchill touches only slightly on the negative side of location-aware devices by commenting on a woman who believed her GPS more than her own eyes and drove off a bridge. As she states towards the end of the article she wanted to avoid the discussion of privacy and security. This seems to be an attempt to focus the article towards the opportunities location based devices could hold going forward into the future of this technology.
Regarding the marketing side of location based devices, she comments on the current use of locating restaurants and other entertainment but makes note that currently the details on these locations are not provided. Some locations are already using this technology to direct customers to their establishments by offering free drinks or discounts.
The use of location based marketing will expand as the technology becomes more utilized by the general public and as new apps become available. Some marketers have already started to use location based marketing, such as taxicabs in New York City, as noted in E-Marketing by Judy Strauss and Raymond Frost.
We can foresee a future of location based device users walking the streets and getting notified of their options for a quick drink here, a simple snack there, and a recommend book available in the book store around the corner.
These devices can become an excellent mechanism to promote products and businesses if utilized correctly. Currently they will direct customers to a location but marketers have an opportunity to pull customers in by offering more entertaining. For example, if you walk down a certain street your device notifies you of a comedy club around the corner and shows a recent act in a quick video, but you can only get the details when in the vicinity of the comedy club. By not offering it online and having the content be entertaining enough to start a buzz, they could bring more people to the general location with the created opportunity of pulling more customers through the buzz. This could make location based marketing more than just a location finder but help it go viral.
Goggle has just launch a new app available for Android user to locate parking. This new location based software allows Android users to advise other Android user where parking is available and even give up to the second advice as the user pulls out of their spot. New apps for location based devices are being developed all the time. Marketer must find a way to utilize this up and coming technology.
If you need advice on how to get started in the location based marketing realm, Mashable/Mobile has an article to get you started, “9 Killer Tips for Location-Based Marketing”. It includes nine steps to get started and advise on common mistakes.
The nine steps are as follows:
1) Learn the platforms
2) Determine your goals
3) Establish your presence
4) Customize
5) Implement compelling promotions
6) Engage with you customers
7) Track everything
8) Be prepared to adapt
9) Avoid common pitfalls
There are several social networking platforms currently available for location based devices to start you on your path to promoting your business or product, such as Gowalla, Loopt, Google Latitude, and Foursquare.
Currently businesses are utilizing them to increase foot traffic to their stores by offering promotions for checking in on the location. For example free cup of coffee with every ten “check ins”, is a common promotion.
The future is bright for location based devices and apps. Marketing groups are just starting to exploit this new technology that brings together GPS and social networking. Who know what interesting buzzes will develop as this technology become more popular.
References
Churchill, Elizabeth, “Today’s Flaneur: From HCI to Place-Based Interaction and Human-Place Interaction,” interactions, July + August 2010, http://interactions.acm.org/content/?p=1389 , (accessed July 2010).
Frost, Raymond and Strauss, Judy, “E-Marketing” Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009
Snow, Shane, “9 killer Tips for Location-Based Marketing,” Mashable/Mobile, http://mashable.com/2010/03/15/location-based-marketing/ , (accessed July 2010).
Warren, Christina, “Google Launches App to Help You Find Open Parking,” Mashable/Mobile, http://mashable.com/2010/07/09/android-open-spot/ , (accessed July 2010)
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