Location Based Mobile Marketing Becomes a Reality

You either love the idea or you loathe it - location based social marketing (LBS Marketing).  Depending on which side of the fence you sit, you're going to love or hate the latest trend in mobile marketing as LBS services become a reality, thanks to the plummeting costs and increasing power efficiencies of GPS chip sets.  Most new devices include a GPS device these days which allows apps to accurately and quickly identify your location. Gone are the days where GSM triangulation was the only technique available which was not entirely accurate, relied on a strong mobile network signal and was subject to, arguably, extortionate per look-up charges by the mobile operators ("you do surprise" me I hear you ironically say).


Retailers in the US seem to be leading the way in the West (Korea and Japan have been doing this for years) with many large supermarket giants and restaurant chains combining mobile social networking with GPS positioning to attract increased foot fall to their bricks and mortar sites.  Customers register with the store or restaurant via its Twitter account or Facebook fan page and when they arrive at an outlet they are delivered content tailored to their likes, the time of day and their current location.  Maybe a synopsis of the new coffee bean blends offered at breakfast or a voucher for a free pre-dinner drink and so on.  Potentially, supermarkets could know which aisle you're currently in and in what direction you're heading, perhaps pushing product information and offers relevant only to the store department you're in...

Some will see this service as intrusive, but providing retailers continue to adhere to the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) guidelines on mobile marketing, those not wishing to take part won't have to and will be able to opt-out at any time.  Of course the real risk, which has always been the case for Mobile Marketing from simple SMS ad campaigns upwards, is that some retailers won't abide by the rules and SPAM could become a regular feature of our SMS and App Notifications in boxes on our smartphones.  Email SPAM is a nuisance as every so often you have to wade through your Junk email folder and delete stuff you don't want.  SPAM mobile marketing is a degree worse because the very nature of mobile is that it's with you all the time, wherever you are so SPAM becomes potentially intrusive.  Also, no matter how advance touch screen technology becomes, sifting through pages of junk mail on your phone screen is never going to be as easy as on a computer monitor.


So, get ready for another step change in the mobile marketing industry.  If any brand owners or marketers out there want to explore this, or any other mobile marketing opportunity in more detail, do drop me a line.