Owen Geddes
VP Market Development, Devicescape
“Giving any access point the ability to function as a beacon allows for in-venue engagement and measurement which is not dependent on the consumer logging-in or connecting to venue Wi-Fi. The result is far wider consumer reach across a huge footprint of locations.” – Owen Geddes, VP Market Development, Devicescape
The best thing about Wi-Fi from a consumer’s perspective is that it’s everywhere, giving them great utility wherever they go. This is also the best thing about Wi-Fi for any organization keen on using it to better understand or engage with those consumers.
Location-based advertising and insight has tended to rely on the mobile network to provide approximate targeting, as with geo-fencing, and the deployment of Bluetooth beacons at indoor locations to provide precise in-venue services. The two are complementary because the mobile network lacks in-venue precision, while beacons lack availability at scale.
The unique power of Wi-Fi for proximity marketing services is that it can offer both.
The problem is that Wi-Fi is a hugely fragmented resource. So to be effectively harnessed it needs to be understood on the same great scale that it is available; effectively viewed as a single network.
Devicescape has used crowd sourcing to identify, and give context to, over 500 million Wi-Fi access points worldwide. That context – which includes geographic information and, in very many cases, the name and type of venue – enables all of these APs to function as proximity beacons which can be used to trigger messaging and collect data.
Giving APs the ability to function as beacons allows for engagement and measurement which is not dependent on the consumer logging in or connecting to in-venue Wi-Fi, creating a wider consumer audience.
The result is a huge proximity network which leading brands are using to engage consumers with highly targeted smartphone messages based on their presence in specific locations.
Universal Pictures – Fast & Furious 8
(In June 2017, Devicescape and Universal Pictures UK announced a strategic partnership focussed on innovation in proximity engagement and data analysis)
In 2017 Universal Pictures UK created an exciting experiential installation to promote the eighth film in the hugely successful Fast & Furious franchise. A replica of a Dodge Charger car featured in the film would appear at high footfall locations, including the concourses of Britain’s two busiest railway stations; London Waterloo, and London Victoria.
Universal Pictures wanted to alert passengers coming through the stations, as well as consumers in the local area, to the experiential event to help maximize visits.
Universal Pictures UK used the ‘Nearby’ configuration of the Engage solution to message consumers in venues in the vicinity of each site, informing them about the events and activities relating to the movie and encouraging them to book tickets to a screening.
Transport locations, including Wi-Fi enabled buses, taxis, and the London Underground were key to capturing incoming foot traffic for the installation, while retail, service, and hospitality venues within the area ensured consumers within easy walking distance of the event were aware of what was happening.
Messages were also delivered on the station concourses themselves.
- Consumer engagement for the Waterloo and Victoria campaign was very high, with CTR in excess of 12% across all locations.
- Engagement on London Underground was strong, with an average CTR of more than 15%, hitting 17.8% on one day of the campaign.
- On other transport was 16.9% at Victoria and 9.9% at Waterloo
- Engagement on the station concourses themselves was 14.2% at Victoria Station and 12.45% at Waterloo Station
UK Grocery – In-store and ‘Nearby’
A leading UK grocery brand needed to promote a time-limited multi-buy discount offer at a number of stores. The brand was keen to engage consumers within the stores, but also wanted to reach consumers at certain other neighbourhood locations, in a bid to stimulate foot traffic.
Notifications were delivered to users as they entered selected supermarkets as well as key locations within a specific radius of the target stores, including coffee shops, malls, and transport networks.
- The Nearby element of the campaign delivered a strong performance, with a CTR of 9%.
- The in-store element of the campaign performed almost twice as well — delivering CTR of 16%
- 5% of consumers who received the Nearby campaign notification subsequently visited a target store within 2 hours, while 6.3% visited within 48 hours.
- And when notifications were received closer to the stores, performance improved dramatically.
- Of the consumers who received the notification within 50m of a store, 14.9% visited within one hour, while over 20% visited within 48 hours.
Cancer Research UK – World Cancer Day
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) recently used the Devicescape Engage proximity marketing solution to promote its World Cancer Day campaign and encourage supporters to visit its website.
“With 60% of our website traffic coming from smartphones we are very keen to explore ways to maximise the mobile channel,” said Sam McAllister, Cancer Research UK’s Brand Activation Lead. “Location-based technology is particularly appealing as it enables easy giving in a context that is relevant to the individual.”
In the run-up to World Cancer Day, CRUK used Engage to deliver location-specific messages to consumers’ smartphones across a very large footprint of high-footfall retail, service, leisure, and transport locations.
Average click through rate (CTR) was 9%, with some locations as high as 17%.
- The campaign returned extremely high levels of engagement across transport networks. Seven of the top ten performing location types were in the transport sector, with Heathrow Airport topping the CTR table at 17.8 per cent.
- Intercity coach operators Megabus and National Express saw strong CTRs, as did a number of top public transport brands, including Arriva, ScotRail, Great Western Railways, Stagecoach and First Buses.
- Passengers in Addison Lee taxis, who returned a CTR of 8.5%, showed that it is not only on mass transit that consumers are willing to engage with compelling messages.
- Among retailers Waterstones emerged as the clear leader, with customers returning a CTR of 15.5%, with Boots and John Lewis also making a strong showing.
- Customers of high street banks were also keen to engage with the campaign. Natwest led the field with 12.8%, closely followed by HSBC and Barclays.
Learn more on how industry can capitalise on Wi-Fi advertising and location services, download the whitepaper:
