Brief:
- Freckle IoT, a multi-channel offline attribution company, released a blockchain-based app called Killi that pays consumers cash for sharing their data and location, or for providing insight about what ads they'd like to see, per Ad Age.
- McDonald's, GM, Danone and Staples are among the brands that have signed up to participate in the Killi app, which currently has about 70,000 users since its launch on May 25. Freckle recently started a $5 million campaign to boost discovery of the app through Apple Search, Facebook and Twitter, among other promotional venues.
- Brands can buy the consumer data, which is automatically transferred from the consumer to an advertiser's designated data or buying platform. Freckle has integrated its service with global demand-side platforms (DSPs), ad servers and data management platforms (DMPs), per MarTechAdvisor.
Insight:
Freckle’s Killi app is rolling out as privacy laws like the European Union’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) takes effect and consumers read numerous headlines about data breaches and Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. Paying consumers to answer surveys, watch ads or provide more personal data is an idea that could gain traction amid this atmosphere of distrust, while digital ledger technology like blockchain provides the ability for brands to reward consumers for performing certain actions.
Brands are trying out apps that offer rewards to customers. Johnson & Johnson boosted the purchase intent of several brands with campaigns on Dabbl, a mobile app that lets marketers reward consumers for sharing their opinions. Canadian messaging app Kik lets users collect the cryptocurrency Kin for watching video commercials or answering surveys. Its users can collect Kin in a digital wallet and redeem it for rewards from brands such as Domino's, Nike, Gamestop and Sephora. Red Bull and Swarovski are among the brands that are testing out Kin.
Comcast's NBCUniversal is said to be developing a promotional app called Watch Back that will reward people who watch its programming. Viewers can earn points to redeem for gift certificates, unnamed sources told The Information. The Watch Back app will be free to download and will have clips and single episodes, not exclusive content or full series, to drive viewership on the company’s broadcast and cable networks, per Variety.