The impact of data on local marketing was Topic #1 during Street Fight’s Local Data Summit today in Denver. Speakers addressed the wide range of data issues that have begun to enhance local marketing and shift local marketing — and even diminish the spending and influence of marketing.

Mobile is the real driver of the new environment. The new era of big data is largely spurred by the technology in the phone, especially radios, said Qualcomm’s Aidoo Osei. In the near future, it will be further driven by sensors in stores , such as Apple’s iBeacon. The combination of in phone tech and in store sensors will create a “continuous user experience,” added Intel’s Greg Turetsky.

Turetsky said the data environment will be greatly impacted by the growing role of indoor intelligence, such as the sensors, which can react to consumers as they walk by with personalized promotions. Just last week, indoor got a huge boost when the FCC mandated that the e911 system should be upgraded to include indoor as well as outdoor. Commercial applications for indoor sensors should follow, he said.

But technologists can’t get too far ahead of themselves. Even at the Local Data Summit… not a single member of the audience said they had yet used iBeacon.

Other views focused on the nascent efforts to leverage location. Major progress has been made since some of the technology began rolling out in 2012, said Placed CEO David Shim. It used to be entirely experimental, said Shim. But now brands are coming in with predefined problems. “They ask: can you solve the problem for me?”

Many data issues directly relate to mobile marketing — especially in terms of audience measurement. It used to be all about projecting audiences based on panels, said PlaceIQ’s Drew Breunig. But now — thanks to the influx of mobile users — “we have populations. And we have the computing resources to deal with the data coming off the populations.” Breunig noted the new environment is enormously richer to today’s focus on geofencing, which tends to underdeliver.

The post Street Fight’s Local Data Summit: The Impact of Data on Local appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

The impact of data on local marketing was Topic #1 during Street Fight’s Local Data Summit today in Denver. Speakers addressed the wide range of data issues that have begun to enhance local marketing and shift local marketing — and even diminish the spending and influence of marketing.

Mobile is the real driver of the new environment. The new era of big data is largely spurred by the technology in the phone, especially radios, said Qualcomm’s Aidoo Osei. In the near future, it will be further driven by sensors in stores , such as Apple’s iBeacon. The combination of in phone tech and in store sensors will create a “continuous user experience,” added Intel’s Greg Turetsky.

Turetsky said the data environment will be greatly impacted by the growing role of indoor intelligence, such as the sensors, which can react to consumers as they walk by with personalized promotions. Just last week, indoor got a huge boost when the FCC mandated that the e911 system should be upgraded to include indoor as well as outdoor. Commercial applications for indoor sensors should follow, he said.

But technologists can’t get too far ahead of themselves. Even at the Local Data Summit… not a single member of the audience said they had yet used iBeacon.

Other views focused on the nascent efforts to leverage location. Major progress has been made since some of the technology began rolling out in 2012, said Placed CEO David Shim. It used to be entirely experimental, said Shim. But now brands are coming in with predefined problems. “They ask: can you solve the problem for me?”

Many data issues directly relate to mobile marketing — especially in terms of audience measurement. It used to be all about projecting audiences based on panels, said PlaceIQ’s Drew Breunig. But now — thanks to the influx of mobile users — “we have populations. And we have the computing resources to deal with the data coming off the populations.” Breunig noted the new environment is enormously richer to today’s focus on geofencing, which tends to underdeliver.

The post Street Fight's Local Data Summit: The Impact of Data on Local appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Last month we released a white paper in tandem with Verve Mobile on the emerging art of mobile and cross platform ad attribution. It’s the holy grail of advertising in being able to track campaign effectiveness post ad engagement (cue John Wanamaker quote).

One thing I’ve been thinking of a lot is how all of the innovations in location based ad targeting and attribution will collide with the parallel advancements in indoor mapping and engagement (a la iBeacon). Getting mobile users to stores is one thing… what about after they get there.

Verve and others have already begun to answer that questions by correlating ad effectiveness to sales lifts and other metrics like location tracking and purchase data. To add another dimension, the company announced yesterday it will plug in to Apple’s iBeacon and Passbook standards.

From the press release:

Apple, Inc.’s Passbook is a pre-installed application on iPhones that allows users to save marketing messages, coupons, store cards, and other items in a “virtual wallet.” Apple’s iBeacon technology works with Bluetooth Low Energy devices (‘Beacons’) that enable iOS devices to react with a marketing message in close proximity.

For example, on behalf of a major national CPG manufacturer and in coordination with its retail partners, Verve is targeting specific users who, based on their location and context, are optimal recipients for the CPG brand message and the specific offer in a ‘drive to retail’ campaign. Consumers engaging with the ad have the option of saving the offer to Passbook. At retail, the offer is re-activated via Verve-supplied iBeacons. The solution then provides engagement, location and other analytics back to the Verve ad server.

This will clarify ad effectiveness in seeing what campaigns led to in-store sales. And the purchase data gathered can in turn plug back into the targeting engine for iterative campaign optimization. Indeed, Verve’s new integration plugs into it’s “Foot Traffic Index”.

Additionally for marketers, this solution enhances the already significant utility of Verve’s proprietary “Foot Traffic Index” a method of measuring the amount of lift in foot traffic attributable to a specific campaign. In combining Bluetooth LE beacon technology with device location observations, Verve is extending FTI’s usefulness to scenarios where location data are unavailable or imprecise, for example, indoor shopping malls or multi-story retail environments.

Verve’s unique combination of device location and beacon proximity intelligence makes FTI a much more effective tool for gauging a campaign’s performance in more challenging and densely populated retail locations. Marketers working with Verve on this new solution may either deploy low-cost beacons supplied by Verve specifically for the campaign or leverage existing beacon programs.

The Passbook tie in is interesting too. As we’ve written, Passbook has lots of potential in its standardization of coupon and ticketing formats. Planting it at the OS level fights the fragmentation that currently holds back user acclimation and developer adoption.

But it hasn’t taken off as fast as I expected: its value will be a function of network effect and how many developers build on it. I still believe that is coming and integrations like Verve’s will shine a light on its value and start that ball rolling.

Meanwhile iBeacon will sink or swim based on the same developer adoption (see shopkick’s play). But there’s great deal of momentum behind indoor location/engagement, and it’s the next logical step in the progression of mobile advertising.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTUnFXh3Enw

The post Verve Takes Mobile Ad and Attribution Strategy Indoors appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Like we do every January, BIA/Kelsey analysts huddle to formulate predictions for the coming year in respective areas of domain expertise.  Earlier today, we released a report that highlights picks across local media coverage areas, and Thursday we’ll do a webcast.

For more color on the predictions that pertain to mobile, below is the “director’s cut”. These are areas I’ve been watching most, and where I think they’re moving. It’s pretty clear from the momentum in these areas that it’s going to be an action packed year for mobile.

1. U.S. Mobile Ad Market Exceeds $10B

We expect the U.S. mobile ad market to exceed $10 billion this year. And the location targeted portion of that ad spend will approach 40 percent. This includes all mobile ad formats including developing areas like social native ads (i.e. FB mobile news feed ads).

Our figures also take into account the growth of search ads (currently the largest share of mobile ad revenue) and what Google’s Enhanced Campaigns will do. This was one key growth driver in our forecast, as Enhanced Campaigns will accelerate mobile advertiser adoption.

The more populated search bid marketplaces that result will also raise bid pressure and increase cost per click rates for certain keywords and in certain locales. Higher CPCs will in turn boost mobile ad revenue further for Google and mobile publishers/developers alike.

What to watch for: The longstanding lag in mobile ad rates will begin to reverse as sources of premium ad rates continue to be found. That includes native social ads on places like Instagram, attribution, and higher performing location targeted ads from companies like xAd.

2. The Discovery Channel

Big data will continue to collide with mobile, inspiring app layer innovation in the form of personalized local discovery tools like Google Now. These will tap growing sources such as email, weather, location and behavior, to become better predictive engines for content delivery.

This discovery paradigm will also compel different user interfaces than the SERP based format that ruled the desktop. Push alerts will engage users outside of apps and swipeable card-based interfaces will replace traditional SERPs within many apps. We’re already seeing this.

Push alerts are executed well by Find & Save, and card based interfaces can be seen in local discovery (weotta, Google Now), social (Tinder), and multimedia (Swell). These more intuitive engagement points boost user inputs (sentiment) by which to base ongoing discovery.

What to watch for: This data-driven content delivery “push” won’t just apply to apps but also ads. Data will be a key driver in more effective ad delivery and thus squeezing more value out of mobile advertising, per the numbers in the above prediction.

3. How Much is That Dongle in the Window?

Real time product and transaction data will be a key battleground in the continued evolution of mobile local shopping. This will come into play at the app layer (shopping apps, product finders) as well as location targeted ads that specify product availability.

The key here will be data. Retailigence has done some impactful stuff with data sets that take form in an API for app developers and advertisers to add product inventory to mobile shopping experiences. This will become vital over time.

What to watch for: The next inflection point will be in indoor location and shopper engagement apps and technologies built around iBeacon. “Demand pricing” will be the wild card when big data can segment audiences for yield optimization via personalized offers.

4. SMB-Facing Mobile:

The local media sector will slow down it’s enamored view of consumer-based mobile apps as the shiny new thing; and take a more measured approach to mobile adoption and product development. This will involve turning attention to business-facing apps

Tools that help SMBs acquire new business and run their business on the go will be the name of the game. This will include operations like appointment scheduling and payment processing; and other back office tools accessed and managed in a mobile interface.

What to watch for: Merchant-facing mobile tools will shine and grow most within local business categories like restaurants and home services, where proprietors are in constant motion. This will be a key component of the “OS for SMBs” trend we’re covering.

5. Mobile Value Lies in MAUs (for now):

Seemingly illogical valuations will continue for mobile apps without revenue (Snapchat anyone?). This will be based mostly on the premium for user acquisition and engagement — due in turn to escalating competition in app marketplaces to sustain active usage.

The most successful and highly valued apps will continue to be those that inherently lock in users for active and recurring engagement (i.e. Tinder, Instagram, Snapchat). Foreseeable revenue models be damned; scalable and recurring active usage is the name of the game.

What to watch for: These success factors will continue to rule the mobile app marketplace in the near term, but could begin to deflate later in the year as app fatigue compels a shakeout and consolidation (read: Facebook) of apps oriented towards social sharing.

Wild Card: The Internet of Things Goes Local

The Post-PC era will continue to broaden beyond smartphones to include wearables, biometrics, in-auto and all the sensor driven technology that surrounds us in the Internet of Things. This will change development paradigms around what we consider “mobile”.

Local implications abound, considering the personalized commercial needs that the internet of things uncovers. Think home services (the connected home), auto (in-car diagnostics), and local search (Google Glass). Local will be a big benefactor of the Internet of Things.

What to watch for: The biggest challenge will be developing apps with consistent brand experiences across myriad form factors, yet optimize native experiences for each one. Best practices in multi-screen product design so far can be seen from Netflix, Spotify and HBOGo.

The post BIA/Kelsey Mobile Outlook: 5 Predictions and a Wild Card appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.