It’s good to see that discussions
around beacons are moving well beyond the experimenting and trial phases and marketers are starting to learn some of the ins and outs of beaconing.
One of the more interesting questions posed
during the MediaPost IoT: Beacons at Internet Week conference yesterday was what unexpected things have brands and agencies found out, now that beacons have been deployed.
The question came
during the panel “Sensitivity Training: The All-Sensing World of Beacons and Beyond.”
It turns out that while the larger strategies have been a primary focus, once beacons are used
in the field in real life, other lessons are learned. Here are some highlighted by the speakers:
- “The nitty-gritty operations are the challenges,” said Lisa Bradner, SVP,
managing director at Starcom.
- “The maintenance side was something we underestimated,” said Connor Brady, chief creative officer of Critical Mass. “We had focused on the
user experience.”
- “A lot more trial and error is required,” said Tim Dunn, director, strategy, at Isobar.
- “We see some people getting kind of
annoyed,” said Josh Shabtai, creative director of IPG Media Labs.
As to the context of where beaconing plays in the grand scheme of marketing, speakers tended to agree that it is
yet one more method to be used, a leading edge one at that.
“Beacons are a fantastic sharp edge of the marketing toolkit,” said Dunn, who suggested beaconing at companies should
reside within areas responsible for customer relationship management.
Shabtai of IPG had a similar view, suggesting they are yet “another tool to start pinpointing
advertising.”
The larger point made in various ways by the speakers is that beaconing is not about the actual beacon but rather about the engagement and location-based interactions a
technology such as a beacon can trigger.
And that is a discussion about beaconing.