Los Angeles takes beacons to the streets with pilot-program launch
potentially providing municipalities, museums and other parties the opportunity to spread information and content to individuals based on their proximity.
The program will see a secure, closed network of Gimbal Bluetooth Smart beacons affixed to Martin Outdoor bus benches, to explore how the city can provide timely and personal information to residents and visitors based on their proximate location, expanding the possibilities for beacons in city use despite potential privacy challenges. The program shows how in just over a year and a half, beacons have become a significant tool in mobile marketing, leading to ever-more ambitious experiments with the technology.
?The pilot beacon technology program in Los Angeles is our first endeavor but more cities are looking to create smart cities that provide relevant and timely information based on proximity to become more connected and deliver a greater experience to its residents and visitors,? said Randall N. Smith, CEO, Martin Outdoor Media, Los Angeles.
?The pilot program in Los Angeles could well serve as a model for other cities and we hope to explore the opportunity in the future.?
Opportunity knocks
Other parties gaining the opportunity to disseminate information and content to individuals based on their proximity if they have opted-in to the Los Angeles pilot beacon program include social media mobile applications, brands, service providers and retailers.
City of Los Angeles' Web home page.
Given that the pilot program is in its infancy, an opportunity exists for application developers in a range of services to provide individuals who have opted-in to receive more personalized, targeted services and information.
LA?s pilot program seeks to better understand how proximity can be used to benefit the consumer through apps that have consumer-controlled privacy with up-front opt-in, comprehensive and easy-to-digest privacy controls, and the ability to opt-out at any time.
The program will use Gimbal Bluetooth Smart beacons that cannot store any consumer information and operate solely in a transmit-only mode, somewhat similar to GPS.
?Gimbal is a leader in the proximity marketing landscape,? said Sheryl Kingstone, Toronto-based research director for Yankee Group. ?They have successful pilots and a broad understanding of not just the value of the beacon, but the overall goal of creating a mobile platform for real-time engagement.
?From a marketing standpoint, it will be very important to understand timing and context to avoid blanketing customer with irrelevant offers,? she said. ?However, the biggest challenge will be education of the end consumer that it?s not about watching and using personal information.
?There is a big fear about privacy,? she said. ?All these platforms require opting-in, but consumers may need to understand how and why the information is being used. Consumers will opt-in if the information is valuable.?
Personalizing city life
The entire outdoor or indoor experience can become a learning opportunity with a mobile app that displays personalized location information, product information, pop-up coupons, video demonstrations and more.
Community information for mobile users.
In August, dozens of Kansas City retailers joined the beacon bandwagon to deliver personalized targeted in-store communications and content to mobile customers in a program that leverages an existing application with a loyal user base.
?While the majority of highly visible projects have been around coupons and rewards in the retail vertical, beacon-enabled mobile platforms can be applied more broadly,? Ms. Kingstone said.
Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York.