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Big Brother fears 'should not hamper location-based advertising'
Marketing News |
07/09/2010
The next few years will see a rapid expansion in the use of location-based advertising, it has been forecast.
Consultancy firm ABI Research has predicted that the market will be worth £1.2 billion by 2015, as companies realise the benefits of targeting mobile users with marketing based upon where they are situated.
Enabled by GPS, Wi-Fi, and mobile ID technology, location-based advertising enables firms to send promotional messages to customers' smartphones and other mobile devices when they enter a particular vicinity.
ABI Research says the most successful campaigns currently use a mix of these technologies, depending on the product or service, the region, the consumers and the location accuracy required.
However, practice director Neil Strother said it is "still early days" for the burgeoning sector, and it is not yet an exact science.
"There's no single 'right' approach to location-based advertising. This remains a very fragmented market that is full of experimentation," he added.
Mr Strother did suggest that some consumers may not want to have their movements tracked by advertisers, even if it does allow them to offer special deals.
"Some might be put off by the 'Big Brother' aspects of this," he suggested.
"But it's really about the value-exchange: if you care about getting discounts or being rewarded for shopping, is the value-exchange high enough so that you'll accept having your whereabouts known to these companies in return for the benefits?"
If marketers do wish to tap into location-based advertising, ABI Research has urged them to establish a clear set of campaign goals, as they would when using any other channel.
Businesses should also analyse their customers' habits and develop a location approach, choose appropriate business partners and determine the best technologies for their brand, and measure the results of any geo-targeted campaign, the firm advised.
Posted by John Lynes
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