A few weeks ago, I went a little further, and bought a Rachio, a lawn sprinkling system that integrates with the Nest. It tracks the weather via the Web, and adjusts my backyard watering stations based on precipitation and heat. And then I jiggered it, so that I can use its iPhone app to turn on the lights on my stairway when I am arriving home after dark.

I don’t have a self-driving car yet, or keyless home entry. And I don’t get too close to the military’s drone program. But those are all in the family, too. As are the Apple Watch and Google Glasses.

The Family, of course, is known as “The Internet of Things.” What it consists of are devices that combine tools with automation and radio sensors and data from the Cloud and the Web.

The Nest story became especially interesting to us in business when Google bought it for $3.2 Billion last February, and its leaders became the head of Google’s new Internet of Things division. At the time, it seemed like a stretch. But the Nest division keeps growing (Carbon Monoxide detectors, etc.) IoT might just be driving the next generation of efficiencies. Intel and other tech giants have similarly-named divisions.

Samuel Greengard, a writer for CMO.com and other thought-leader publications, has penned a handy new book for MIT Press called “The Internet of Things.” It nicely covers the history of IoT’s development from the Industrial Internet to the Internet of Humans to the Internet of Everything. The book connects the dots on where IoT can go, and also provides fair warning on the things that can go wrong (and we aren’t just talking about Google car crashes in San Francisco).

The 210 page paperback ($15.95) has a good glossary, a nice bibliography and is a fast read. And you’ll see why BIA/Kelsey conference speakers in coming years are perhaps as likely to come from Honeywell and Rain Bird as they are from NBC-U, Comcast, Google, Facebook,Intel and Microsoft.

(Here’s a question: If you worked for Google, would you rather work for Nest or AdWords?)

The post BIA/Kelsey Bookshelf: 'The Internet of Things' appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

A lot of us were glued to our screens today to watch or catch the feeds on the Apple announcements re iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. (To me, the best coverage was on Re/code). What will the new announcements mean to our local ecosystem? To date, Apple’s focus on local has mostly been geared to Apple Maps. But here are a few things:

1. More content for larger screens. When the iPad was introduced, vendors such as Matchbin bet the bank that it would lead to higher paid subscriptions and new types of advertising. It didn’t really happen. But more content is behind the firewall now than before. The intro of the larger iPhone 6 and the really big iPhone 6 Plus — on top of other Phablets by Samsung et al might push this evolution further — and spur the develop of new tablet-ready and phablet-ready local content.

2. A jumpstart for Digital Payments. Apple Pay is being launched as an NFC wireless payment mechanism. Unlike the struggling Google Wallet, it is being supported by most of the industry’s payment processors and financial institutions; allowing consumers to tie their payment cards to their phones. The introduction of Apple Pay won’t turn plastic extinct overnight — the payments card infrastructure is extremely deep. But it does validate NFC as a wireless payments technology, and should help build acceptance for digital payments. The challenge here: It is not converting Apple users. It is converting Millennials.

3. Enter the Apple Watch. It may take a while for iWatch and other wearables to really catch on beyond the early adopters, who do not really impact local outside of tech centers such as San Francisco. But combined with Apple Pay, the Apple Watch should help build acceptance for local store payments, public transport and other services (and impulse cash less buying.) Again, their immediate importance is in Apple’s validation of both wearables and NFC. See how LevelUp is excited about the prospect .

Apple’s system appears to be overloaded, but don’t forget to download the free U2 album, Songs of Innocence, which will be available on iTunes until 9/13.

The post Quick Thoughts on Apple's Big Announcements appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

A lot of us were glued to our screens today to watch or catch the feeds on the Apple announcements re iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. (To me, the best coverage was on Re/code). What will the new announcements mean to our local ecosystem? To date, Apple’s focus on local has mostly been geared to Apple Maps. But here are a few things:

1. More content for larger screens. When the iPad was introduced, vendors such as Matchbin bet the bank that it would lead to higher paid subscriptions and new types of advertising. It didn’t really happen. But more content is behind the firewall now than before. The intro of the larger iPhone 6 and the really big iPhone 6 Plus — on top of other Phablets by Samsung et al might push this evolution further — and spur the develop of new tablet-ready and phablet-ready local content.

2. A jumpstart for Digital Payments. Apple Pay is being launched as an NFC wireless payment mechanism. Unlike the struggling Google Wallet, it is being supported by most of the industry’s payment processors and financial institutions; allowing consumers to tie their payment cards to their phones. The introduction of Apple Pay won’t turn plastic extinct overnight — the payments card infrastructure is extremely deep. But it does validate NFC as a wireless payments technology, and should help build acceptance for digital payments. The challenge here: It is not converting Apple users. It is converting Millennials.

3. Enter the Apple Watch. It may take a while for iWatch and other wearables to really catch on beyond the early adopters, who do not really impact local outside of tech centers such as San Francisco. But combined with Apple Pay, the Apple Watch should help build acceptance for local store payments, public transport and other services (and impulse cash less buying.) Again, their immediate importance is in Apple’s validation of both wearables and NFC. See how LevelUp is excited about the prospect .

Apple’s system appears to be overloaded, but don’t forget to download the free U2 album, Songs of Innocence, which will be available on iTunes until 9/13.

The post Quick Thoughts on Apple’s Big Announcements appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

The most notable similarity is that both genders make the majority of local purchases in person. According to BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor™, 66.6 percent of men and 65.2 percent of women purchase products and services in person from local sources.

Because consumers make most purchases at physical locations, reaching them at or near those locations is a good bet; enter mobile marketing. How to reach them on mobile devices, however, is where we see differences by gender.

Women are socially engaged, so social advertising is essential. According to Nielsen, the majority of mobile social network users are female, so it’s understood that a lot of their social network usage is done via mobile device.

Because Facebook is the most used social media site for local shopping by women, it is important for local businesses to establish a Facebook page and form relationships with female consumers. This could include promotional opportunities on Facebook pages that female consumers can redeem at physical business locations.

Men, as we’ve discussed, are more engaged with mobile devices. They also interact more with traditional media than women do. TV in fact is men’s most used source for local shopping (women’s is online search), according to Consumer Commerce Monitor.

To effectively reach men, local businesses should therefore maintain advertising through traditional media. But when doing so, traditional media can be used to drive traffic towards digital opportunities. This is especially true for mobile, given that the data indicate men are highly engaged there.

CCM data also indicate that local businesses can benefit from mobile advertising and innovation at their physical locations. This includes smartphone scan loyalty programs.

(Click image to expand)

The post Men vs. Women: How to Reach Local Shoppers Based on Gender appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Now ranging in age from 18 to 34, Millennials are the first digitally native age group. They are also America’s most racially diverse generation. The Hispanic subgroup of this generation in fact are trailblazers when it comes digital media consumption.

According to BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor Study (CCM), Hispanic Millennials report higher likelihood of digital shopping activities than non-Hispanic Millennials. For example, they’re more likely to go online to qualify local purchases than non-Hispanic Millennials (33.3 percent vs. 26.1 percent).

Hispanic Millennials also report using devices when shopping for local products and services more frequently than non-Hispanic Millennials, with 30 percentof Hispanic consumers reporting they use a tablet daily for local shopping, and 40 percent report using a smartphone

Other Key findings from the study include: Hispanic Millennials:

— Used an average of 6.3 app for local shopping activities versus 3.4 app that non-Hispanic Millennials used for local shopping.

— Reported checking into a local business at least once within the last 6 months at a rate of 76.1 percent versus only 57.7 percent of non-Hispanic Millennials who checked in at local business.

— Reported increases in their social media use for local shopping in the last 6 months by 55.3 PERCENT Hispanic Millennials vs. 31.6 percent non-Hispanic Millennials.

The Hispanic Millennial Generation is the intersection of two groups which over index on digital and mobile technology adoption. Further understanding the Hispanic Millennial Consumer will help marketers and SMBs understand how early trends in our digital shopping future will go. Hispanic Millennials are on the forefront of digital.

The post Hispanic Millennials are on the Digital Forefront appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Baby boomers — those aged 55 plus — are often stigmatized for being behind the times when it comes to technology and the digital world. According to the results of a new survey conducted by Thrive Analytics and released by the Local Search Association, this generation — including Boomers and Seniors — are embracing mobile as a local shopping companion.

Our Consumer Commerce Monitor? survey data supports many of the results highlighted in that study. When it comes to smartphone use, according to the Local Search Association’s study, 69 percent of baby boomers and seniors use their smartphone at in-store locations for local shopping. Our CCM data supports their find with 61 percent of our respondents using smartphone for local shopping at in-store locations.

Our CCM results also showed that 47 percent of baby boomers and seniors use their smartphones at least once a week for local shopping. The Local Search Association’s study outlined that baby boomer and senior smartphone users said that price comparisons and discounts were their top reasons for searching via their mobile devices while shopping in-store (50 percent of baby boomers & seniors).

According to CCM, Baby boomers are also far more likely to use mostly search engines on smartphones or tablets when compared to mobile apps for local shopping (66 percent vs. 4 percent). They’re also more likely than other age groups to shop in-person.

SMBs and national brands need to retire the notion that baby boomers are not a “connected“demographic. Our data shows that advertisers need to learn how best to adapt their mobile strategies to reach this older and more experienced demographic. Mobile continues to shake up the local shopping chain but and leaves opportunities for SMBs to engage with their customers in a new innovative ways.

Learn more about Consumer Commerce Monitor here.

The post How Baby Boomers Are Embracing Mobile Shopping appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

It’s been a busy few days for Twitter since announcing 15 New Types of Ads to users’ feeds. Word has traveled quickly during this period of uncertainty around Twitter’s sustainability as an advertising player. Now Twitter has continued the flow of news by announcing this morning it will acquire Cover, an Android-based lock-screen app. This extends the social media giant’s mobile ambitions.

Cover is a lock screen replacement that provides users with quick access to apps based on a contextual information and user history. For example, Cover will fill the lock screen with email, Instagram, Twitter and news apps because those are the applications that are checked first in the morning. The app utilizes data it learns for prior usage and behavior to predict which applications will be used in a given moment.

Cover has yet to specify what the acquisition means for the company but Twitter’s current crop of promoted advertising products haven’t resonated with mobile game and e-commerce companies. These entities’ advertising decisions are driven by app downloads and purchases Cover may be an answer to that problem. Twitter also has been testing a mobile-app install ad product as well. It is similar to the popular Facebook product which has been successful in pulling mobile advertising revenues.

In fact, this move parallels to what Facebook has done with Home, in carving out user engagement on the home and lock screen. That effort has been somewhat anemic so far for Facebook , but Twitter clearly sees some opportunity in a parallel effort.

Cover’s post-acquisition future could involve revenue through application discovery and promotion. Twitter could leverage the app by suggesting third party apps for the right occasion that users haven’t downloaded or purchased yet. Coupled with Twitter’s geo-targeting capabilities it could suggest apps based on nearby events or or other geographically relevant tie-ins.

Twitter has always possessed some aspects of “mobile-first” (140 characters is born from carrier-dictated SMS character limit). Through last week’s new ad products and today’s acquisition, it further cements itself as mobile player. Through this, we’ll see Twitter to ratchet up the share of ad it dollars — currently 75 percent — coming from mobile

The post Twitter's Cover Acquisition: The Continued March Towards Mobile-First appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

It’s been a busy few days for Twitter since announcing 15 New Types of Ads to users’ feeds. Word has traveled quickly during this period of uncertainty around Twitter’s sustainability as an advertising player. Now Twitter has continued the flow of news by announcing this morning it will acquire Cover, an Android-based lock-screen app. This extends the social media giant’s mobile ambitions.

Cover is a lock screen replacement that provides users with quick access to apps based on a contextual information and user history. For example, Cover will fill the lock screen with email, Instagram, Twitter and news apps because those are the applications that are checked first in the morning. The app utilizes data it learns for prior usage and behavior to predict which applications will be used in a given moment.

Cover has yet to specify what the acquisition means for the company but Twitter’s current crop of promoted advertising products haven’t resonated with mobile game and e-commerce companies. These entities’ advertising decisions are driven by app downloads and purchases Cover may be an answer to that problem. Twitter also has been testing a mobile-app install ad product as well. It is similar to the popular Facebook product which has been successful in pulling mobile advertising revenues.

In fact, this move parallels to what Facebook has done with Home, in carving out user engagement on the home and lock screen. That effort has been somewhat anemic so far for Facebook , but Twitter clearly sees some opportunity in a parallel effort.

Cover’s post-acquisition future could involve revenue through application discovery and promotion. Twitter could leverage the app by suggesting third party apps for the right occasion that users haven’t downloaded or purchased yet. Coupled with Twitter’s geo-targeting capabilities it could suggest apps based on nearby events or or other geographically relevant tie-ins.

Twitter has always possessed some aspects of “mobile-first” (140 characters is born from carrier-dictated SMS character limit). Through last week’s new ad products and today’s acquisition, it further cements itself as mobile player. Through this, we’ll see Twitter to ratchet up the share of ad it dollars — currently 75 percent — coming from mobile

The post Twitter’s Cover Acquisition: The Continued March Towards Mobile-First appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Millennials sometimes get a bad rap for being the disinterested and out of touch generation. But BIA/Kelsey survey data actually pegs them as the most in-touch (literally). When it comes to smartphone, tablet, and social networking they blow their gen-x and baby boomer forbearers out of the water.

Millennials — those between 18-34 — use digital devices more than ever. According to BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor™ survey, 56 percent said that they have interacted with social media in the past 6 months at some point in the purchase funnel. 32 percent made purchases online.

Generation X — those between 35-54 — report that among types of local businesses, they rely heavily on social media for restaurant choices, but trust family and friends most for local shopping decisions. They also reported online search as their number one source for information on local shopping.

Baby boomers — those 55 and older — are more likely than other age groups to own printed yellow pages. However, yellow pages are not among their top five sources of information for local shopping (i.e. retail and product info). They’re also more likely than other age groups to shop in-person.

Many SMBs are still trying to understand how to deliver content to consumers at various age groups. All three age groups reported to have purchased more in store than online. Along with e-commerce efforts, it is essential that local businesses incorporate social strategies to get consumers into the store. It’s often forgotten that 93 percent of U.S. retail spending is done offline (as opposed to e-commerce).

Social campaigns are effective for SMBs to drive in store purchases when targeting both 18-34 and 35-54 year-old age groups. Marketing campaigns must include traditional media: 55 and older consumers use devices to inform local shopping decisions; but they’re more likely to use traditional media for local business information.

Learn more about Consumer Commerce Monitor here.

The post Millennials Are More Connected Than They Get Credit For (and Other CCM Takeaways) appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

We have all gotten used to looking at our phones and seeing several notifications on our home screens. From text messages, to emails, to sports updates, we are able to receive notifications for almost anything. More than ever, local businesses have apps that provide push notifications to consumers to encourage traffic.

— According to BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor ™, 35% of consumers who use smartphones when shopping locally regularly use apps to assist with their shopping experience. Most are not just using one shopping app either. On average consumers have 3.5 different apps they regularly use when shopping locally.

Push notifications have contributed substantially to app use in relation to local shopping due in part to the increase in engagement that happens once a consumer joins. According to the “Good Push Index” released by Urban Airship, on average mobile application users who have opted in to push messages have a long term retention rate that is 92% higher than those who have opted out of the messages. Not only is app retention substantially increased, but app engagement is also increased. Opt-in app users open retail apps 12.5 times per month on average compared with only 9.0 opens for those who opted not to receive push messages.

For marketers, the challenge is converting these consumers to buyers. In the local shopping space, according to BIA/Kelsey data, promotion and sales for local shoppers close the loop. Coupon reminders are a popular use of push notifications for retail apps.

According to BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor, 43% of local purchases made by smartphone users within the last six months were made through promotions or sales, such as discount deals, “daily deals”, coupons, or similar types of discount offers. Thirty-six percent of respondents to RadiumOne’s survey of women and their use of coupons on their mobile devices felt that push notifications of mobile coupon offers were useful.

Geo-targeting these coupon push notifications is important to drive purchases from local shoppers, especially smartphone users who are using their phones for local shopping in a variety of locations. Most importantly this includes 68% of smartphone users using their phones in the store, according to BIA/Kelsey data. We can also see that smartphone users are often on their phones when they are out and about. With 68% of smartphone users using their smartphones in public and 60% using them in transit, geo-targeting would prove to be highly effective in encouraging nearby consumers to pay more attention to the local businesses around them.

While the future of mobile push notifications is uncertain, BIA/Kelsey’s Mike Boland gives us his prediction in his blog post, BIA/Kelsey Mobile Outlook: 5 Predictions and a Wild Card.

The post Push Notifications Prove to be Impactful in Consumer Use of Shopping Apps appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.