location marketing

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

For your customers, it matters. For you, it should too.

September 2016

2September 2016 | Location, location, location.

Within 75 metres of a prominent department store on London’s

famed Oxford Street, a woman’s smartphone vibrates. She looks at her screen and

sees a picture of a mannequin wearing the season’s latest fashion. When she notices

that the text message—describing who designed the clothes and how much they

cost—originated from inside the department store, in fact from the mannequin itself,

she enters the store to take a closer look at the merchandise.

An office worker goes to his favourite fast food restaurant for lunch. The restaurant

is short staffed so his order of a burger, fries and soft drink takes an unusually long

time to get to him. He’s a regular customer, so he doesn’t openly complain. But he’s

annoyed. When he gets back to the office, he’s about to tell his boss why he took

so long when his phone makes a noise. He looks at his screen and sees a message

from the restaurant apologising for the long wait. The restaurant thanks him for his

continued patronage and offers him a coupon for a 10% discount off his next visit.

Three friends are seated in a stadium for their annual sojourn to a Premier League

match. At half time, one of them volunteers to go and get food and drinks. He goes

to the snack bar and sees a queue that seems like a 45-minute wait. But then his

smartphone alerts him: it turns out there’s a much shorter queue at a kiosk three

sections away, with an expected wait of only eight minutes.

Twenty years ago, none of these customers could have

envisioned any of these scenarios. But marketers and

retailers have been planning for them. And now, with

beacons and other location-based technology, the

future has arrived.

‘Beacons are being used, considered or tested by

nearly every major retail, hospitality and sports brand

internationally,’ says Alex Bell, CEO of Signal 360, a New

York-based beacon technology firm.1

Beacons are devices that use Bluetooth Low Energy

(BLE) signals to push product notifications to

customers’ smartphones while they’re shopping in a

store. The device, which works only when a customer

has downloaded the retailer’s mobile app, can offer

targeted recommendations, up-to-date product

information, coupons and discounts based on a

shopper’s preferences and where they are in a store.

For the customer, it’s like having a personal shopping

assistant in a handbag.2

Between July and September 2014, 30% of shoppers

who received a ‘push ad’ from an in-store beacon used

that offer to buy something, according to a survey by

Swirl, a marketing technology company that works

with retailers. 60% of shoppers opened beacon-sent

messages, and over half of those surveyed said they

would do more holiday shopping at the stores as a

result of their beacon experience.3

Deerfield, Illinois-based snacks company Mondelēz

International recently completed a pilot programme

that placed beacons at either end of the cookie and

cracker aisles in supermarkets. Shoppers walking near

the beacons received a special offer on Ritz Crackers.

Those who received the notification spent three times

more on Ritz Crackers than those who didn’t.4

‘It hasn’t taken long at all for retailers and brands to

understand the intrinsic value that beacons bring to

mobile engagement,’ says James Meckley, CMO at

Mobiquity Networks, a New York-based proximity

network provider.5

Already, Macy’s has deployed beacons in most of its

stores, and American Eagle, Lord & Taylor and Kenneth

Cole, among others, have done the same. Major

League Baseball has adopted beacon technology

for many of its stadiums to offer seat upgrades and

merchandise coupons. And Starwood Hotels & Resorts

ran a pilot programme in two of its hotels that allowed

guests to skip the check-in process and go directly to

their rooms with keyless entry.6

So while the technology is still in its infancy, it has

demonstrated value to both consumers and retailers—

and expectations for its growth are bullish. Beacon

installations will expand from 30,000 active units at the

end of 20147 to a projected 4.5 million by 2018, with

3.5 million in use by retailers, according to Business

Insider.8

It’s not hyperbole to suggest we’re at the beginning of a retail revolution.


For more than 50 years, marketers have invested heavily to understand the human

mind. Their quest? Find new ways to persuade shoppers to make purchases. Now,

instead of trying different combinations of colours, words and images on packaging,

they’re looking for ways technology can help.

Retailer’s circumstances are different today than they were 50 years ago. The idea

that brick-and-mortar retail is in a fight for survival, struggling to win the hearts and

minds of consumers—and lure them away from the internet—is not alarmist. It’s

based in reality: e-commerce sales between 2009 and 2014 rose at an average

annual rate of 16%, compared to an average annual rate of 5% for total retail sales,

according to a May 2014 US Census report.9

And with more than a third of the world’s population expected to own smartphones

by 2018,10 marketing agencies and corporations predict vast opportunities with in-

store beacon-enabled targeted marketing.

‘There will be a lot of devices that are connected and talking to each other,’ says

Kevin Hunter, COO of technology firm Gimbal. ‘In this future filled with digital noise,

in order to stay relevant with consumers, it will continue to be important for business

to discover the relevant experiences and interactions a user desires.’11

Signal 360’s Bell says: ‘The question shouldn’t be “Will beacons be a part of our

strategy?” But “How will beacons be used to support our long-term, integrated

marketing strategy?”’12

By leveraging data behind consumer behaviour—the places people shop, the

products they prefer, etc.—brands and retailers using beacon technology report

more frequent and higher value sales. A recent report, which looked at five apps

used in ten stores with different consumer profiles, revealed that beacons drove as

much as three times the open and conversion rates of a typical banner campaign.13

The technology of OPPORTUNITY.

The excitement surrounding beacons—if not their adoption, which remains less than

1% among retailers—owes a lot to how the technology has improved. In particular,

the emergence of BLE beacons, whose radio waves can penetrate any surface,

are making the in-store experience better for customers.14 And the fact that the

technology is compatible with wearables, a consumer phenomenon that has massive

implications for healthcare and many other fields, holds much promise for the future.

‘Be it a retailer, a hotel, a transportation authority or airport, they’re all trying to make

sure that customers can get the most of the experience when they’re there,’ Gimbal’s

Hunter says.15

Other retailers, preferring a wait-and-see approach—and perhaps still smarting

from the disappointment of retail tech’s last ‘next big thing’, QR coding—have found

beacon technology difficult to ignore because of the companies supporting it. When

Apple quietly announced in the summer of 2013 that iBeacon would be part of the

iOS7 update (any iPhone 4 or later is now beacon compatible), followed a few weeks

later by Google announcing that its Android OS starting with 4.3 would be similarly

enabled, beacon sceptics took notice.16

‘Many businesses are waiting to see how the big brands handle location-based

marketing before they begin,’ says Ray Pun, strategic marketing lead for mobile

solutions at Adobe. ‘But if they don’t step into the mix, there’s always the possibility

that a competitor will provide an amazing experience and they’ll be left behind.

The right way to look at this situation is to say, “What is the opportunity cost of not

participating?”’17

The question shouldn’t be ‘Will beacons be a part of our strategy?’ But ‘How will beacons be used to support our long-term, integrated marketing strategy?’

MIKE LEE Adobe


There are limitations to location tracking using GPS.

It requires a clear view of at least three of the two-

dozen satellites orbiting the Earth to determine

position. And because satellite reception inside

buildings is poor to non-existent, GPS is ineffective

indoors.

‘GPS is a problem in parts of the country,’ says

Brandon Rhoten, vice president of digital and social

media at Wendy’s. ‘We have more than 6,000

restaurants, and if GPS is off, we don’t know if a

customer is inside or outside.’18

But BLE uses radio waves, which, unlike Wi-Fi and

cellular signals, can broadcast through just about

anything. And since BLE uses very little battery

power, it can be installed easily and remain out

of sight, behind or inside an object, on an endcap

or in a car park19—even in an LED light bulb, a

technology that GE is developing.20

Once installed, the beacon, which is about the size

of a 10p coin, recognises smartphone users as they

walk past or through the store. If the retailer’s app

has been installed on a phone, it can detect the

signal and send a targeted message. All the beacon

really does is constantly broadcast radio signals. Put

more simply, the beacon is always talking, and the

downloaded app is always listening.

In this way, the beacon acts as an inexpensive

and always-available sales associate—the kind of

sales associate who never needs a lunch break.

Plus, this electronic sales associate has an intuitive

understanding of a shopper’s profile: that she’s visited

the store six times in the last year; has two primary

school age children; drives a hybrid; holidays in

France; has bought only blue towels in the last four

years; bookmarked a recliner and couch set on her

home computer two nights ago; and spends most of

her time in the store split between the housewares

and appliances departments.

If the shopper regularly stops to look at a particular

piece of furniture in the store, for example, the retailer

can send her a push notification when that piece is

on sale or when it’s being phased out of the store’s

inventory. Similarly, if the shopper has, in the past,

looked at evening dresses, either in the store or

online, she’ll get a notification when she approaches

one on a rack in the store.

To some, this conversation between retailer and

shopper signals a return to the halcyon days of

retailing, of intimacy and personalisation, when the

local grocer knew the names of every customer and

their family members, or when the pharmacist was

acutely aware of your very personal health issues.


Radio waves REBORN.

Serve customers relevant notifications at the proper time in their buying cycle and you improve brand loyalty and increase the lifetime value of a customer.21

KEVIN HUNTER Gimbal

For retailers, the most intriguing aspect of beacon technology is that it’s designed to

maximise the single largest investment they’ve made—their actual brick-and-mortar

retail location.

In the past, all a retailer knew was a vague sense of foot traffic in the store, what

inventory was selling and the end-of-day sales receipts. Now, beacons represent a

new source of information—the type of actionable customer data that e-commerce

retailers have used for nearly 20 years through website analytics.

For example, retailers can use beacons to track the number of people in the store,

traffic flow patterns and ‘dwell time’—how long people linger in a particular spot.

This data can instruct retailers to staff more efficiently and determine how many

sales associates should be deployed in specific areas of the store. It also helps them

merchandise, allowing them to change store displays based on how consumers

are engaging with them. And dwell time data can yield more revenue. If a retailer is

charging £30 per square metre to a brand or manufacturer for a specific space in their

store and the beacon data says that area is the highest trafficked spot, the retailer can

negotiate higher rates.25

Another tool available to marketers through beacon technology is ‘micro-

targeting’—offering different shoppers different promotions. If, for example, a

shopper in a department store goes to the belt department where he regularly buys

a specific brand, a retailer might not push him a huge discount. But the retailer might

push a different promotion with a smaller discount to someone who shops for belts

infrequently.26

In another scenario, marketers can push notifications to customers based on their

buying behaviour. If a shopper had recently purchased a computer, the next time he

was in that store near the cables and connectors section, he’d get a push notification

from a beacon with product information or a coupon to buy a monitor cable.

Retailers have long faced the problem of customers distracted from the brick-

and-mortar experience by their phones, or worse still, customers engaged in the

practice of ‘showrooming’, which amounts to checking out an item in store and then

purchasing it online at a lower price. One way to effectively harness a digital in-store

solution is by using in-store beacons to provide targeted information to help shoppers

without their phones leaving their pockets.

Developed by Boston-based digital advertising agency SapientNitro, in-pocket

beaconing was initially targeted to speciality retailers.22 The approach is quite different

from having a customer staring at their phone in the store, where they would typically

get push notifications for coupons, discounts, sale alerts or reward points.

Instead, in the SapientNitro approach, the focus is not on the phone but on digital

displays in the store. A beacon near a large video screen triggers a shopper’s

downloaded app and identifies her loyalty profile. As she approaches a video screen

near an endcap, she is shown an item that she’s either expressed interest in previously

or that is targeted to her based on customer segmentation insights. She can then tap

the screen to see the product in different colours and sizes. As she adds items to her

trolley, a message is sent to a nearby sales associate’s mobile device so he can see

what the shopper is looking for and offer assistance.

Besides enhancing the shopper’s in-store experience with product displays targeted

to her, this in-pocket beaconing offers the added benefit of distracting shoppers from

the one item that frequently interrupts the buying experience: their smartphone. It also

provides a differentiating experience for shoppers, which can breed loyalty towards

that retailer or brand.23

‘Passive iBeacon options are key for retailers and venue operators,’ says Chip Foley,

vice president of sports & entertainment at High Point Solutions, technology partner

for some of the world’s largest IT vendors. ‘In-pocket beaconing takes proximity

marketing to a whole new level.’24

Pocket POWER. BACK TO brick-and-mortar.


For digital marketers, beacons are also changing

mobile display advertising. By cross-referencing a

smartphone that enters a store against smartphones

that received an ad from a mobile campaign, the

brand or retailer can get a more precise metric on

the number of customers who visited the location

after seeing the ad to determine if the campaign

was actually successful.27

Sporting events and festivals are another

opportunity for marketers to leverage beacon

technology. When a fan enters a music festival, for

example, beacons can notify their app to help them

locate a bathroom or point them to the shortest

queues for food and drinks. The app can also reveal

where fans are seated. This feature enables beacons

to push different pieces of a large montage, where,

if everyone holds up their phones, the screens

combine to look like a banner or maybe an ad for

a soft drink.

Beacons can generate a higher quality of customer

interaction and satisfaction. Pizza Hut’s in-car

ordering and payment system, announced at the

recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, uses

beacon technology to alert restaurant staff when a

customer pulls into the car park.28

In 100 of its stores, Wendy’s is experimenting

with an ordering technology enabled by beacons.

Customers can place their food order through their

Wendy’s phone app anywhere. Then, when they

enter the restaurant, a beacon triggers an alert

to staff to begin preparing the food. The patron

doesn’t need to wait in a queue. ‘There’s not a lot of

confusion with this, unlike other technologies where

you have to click a button that says you’re in store,’

says Wendy’s Rhoten. ‘The goal here is to make the

Wendy’s experience better for everybody.’29

Beacon technology is not limited to in-store

shopping experiences, of course. Cyriac Roeding,

CEO of Shopkick, says his shopping-rewards app is

being used two-thirds of the time outside the store.

With shoppers looking at the app at home to plan

their next shopping trip, the ‘couch mode to shop

mode’ represents a tremendous opportunity for

marketers.

‘It can tie at-home browsing to in-store benefit,’ he

says. ‘If they ‘like’ a specific product in the app, a

beacon can remind them when they enter the store

that sells it, and show them location-specific deals,

discounts, recommendations and rewards around

that product, without them having to remember to

open the app.’30

Of course, beacons by themselves don’t constitute a

proximity-marketing programme. They merely send

signals to apps. Those retailers and brands that have

adopted beacon technology think of it as one tool in a

toolbox that works alongside point-of-sales solutions

and database creation and management.

It takes an infrastructure to maximise beacon technology. It’s the stuff around the beacons in the retail theatre that people are now thinking about.31

CRAIG CRAWFORDIT Strategist


Beacons in the WILD.

For any new technology, especially one that deals

with data, obstacles are bound to surface. In the

1990s, the introduction of computer-tracking

cookies created privacy concerns. They soon

dissipated, though, when users began realising the

benefits of content specifically targeted to them

based on browsing activity.

Today, with beacon technology, even though a

shopper might have opted in to receive offers

by downloading the store app, he might get

annoyed by unsolicited messages popping up

on his smartphone, especially for items he’s

never expressed interest in. ‘When engaging with

consumers on their mobile devices, marketers face

a delicate balance between value and intrusion,’

Mobiquity Networks’ Meckley says.32

After a customer downloads an app, the retailer has

one chance to show value. ‘If that user fails to see

the value the first time you try and message them,

the likelihood of them changing their preferences

is high,’ says the Cleveland Cavaliers’ VP of digital

Michael Conley. ‘If it’s valuable and meaningful, they

become stronger brand advocates.’33

The fact is consumers have a long history of

providing personal information for valued

benefits—a phone number in exchange for a free

product sample, an email address in exchange for

an eBook, etc. So while the technology is new,

these types of relationships have long been in

place.

And not every business feels comfortable adopting

beacon technology without first understanding

how it will impact their business and their

customers. ‘Wendy’s invented the drive-through

in 1970, and back then we had to explain how to

use it,’ says Wendy’s Rhoten. ‘This is similar. We’re

aware that it’s going to take time for people to

understand how to use it.’34

In fact, with the adoption rate among retailers

at 1%, it’s fair to say many are wary of pushing

promotional messages on shoppers. For these

companies, a ‘pull marketing’ solution—where

beacon-powered devices sit directly on store

shelves, much like a coupon booklet—can

be more appealing. Customers can access

discounts and rewards only when they wave their

smartphone in front of the beacon.35

This beacon-enabled pull marketing is the preferred

tactic in museums. When a patron walks past a Van

Gogh painting, he swipes his smartphone in front

of a nearby beacon to receive more information

about the painter’s life and work. As the patron

is only being served what he asked for, privacy

concerns are non-existent.

But with the sheer amount of consumer data collected,

privacy concerns are nonetheless rampant. A recent

study by location-based retail app Retale found that

71% of mobile app users don’t like the idea of being

tracked in store, while 56% say they’re not interested in

push notifications while shopping.36

Though most apps require users to give permission

before granting access to the beacon, there are also

concerns that some consent forms don’t adequately

explain the amount of data that can be culled from

mobile tracking.

It makes sense, then, to make sure your terms and

conditions are easy for people to understand. Simple

language in the end-user license agreement helps

eliminate any confusion. Opt-ins put consumers in

control, and it’s important they understand that you’re

collecting data to give them a better experience. Pick

the right initiative and always ask permission first.

For the digital-native millennial audience, there are

fewer concerns around privacy issues. They’re more

accustomed than previous generations to give their

data in exchange for a personalised experience—

access to the shortest queue at a sports venue, a better

price on their next purchase, or just being more ahead

of the curve than their peers.


A place for EVERYTHING (including privacy).

EVERYTHING in its place.

Consider these guidelines to make implementation of location-based

marketing easier.

EducateYour entire staff—not just the mobile marketing team—needs to understand

the principles of how beacons work. This training will help them better serve

your customers through the shopping process with upsells, cross-sells and

general troubleshooting.

Communicate. When it comes to customer communication through location-based marketing,

less is more. Now that you have a direct line of contact to shoppers wherever they are,

use it in smart ways to prevent customer drop-off or frustration. Think about

this in the same way you did email promotions in the early days of the internet.

Innovate. Your customers want an impactful experience. Location is the starting point, but

there’s much more that can be offered. Think about the customer experience—

improved services and features, like the ability of customers to use their phones

to unlock in-store dressing room doors without the help of an employee.37

One major pharmacy chain, while testing in New York City, found that by offering

relevant promotions, they could induce customers to spend six times their normal

purchase amounts.38

Integrate. Your location-based marketing efforts should be integrated with all your other

marketing efforts—digital media, website, social media and brick-and-mortar stores.

Make sure everything is linked together for a consistent, impactful message.

‘The next generation of integrated beacon services will blend neatly into the

omnichannel customer experience,’ says Mobiquity Networks’ Meckley.39

Measure. Start thinking about measurement from the beginning. This will help you use the data

to make decisions around which use cases work best for your customers. What kind

of messaging resonates with your audience? Think of what to embrace and what to

avoid.


For retailers and brands that are hesitant adopters, think about the possibility that

a competitor will come along and develop a fun, engaging experience for your

customers. ‘While most brands are still learning about beacon technology,’ says

Adobe’s Pun, ‘smart marketers are testing and measuring the success of the user

experience through focus groups, surveys and app store reviews and ratings.’40

Independent research from a provider of mobile shopper marketing solutions

reinforces these findings. During a 30-day study from April to May 2014, a controlled

sample group of 25,000 shoppers had beacon-enabled interactions with a variety of

retailers. Among users who received a location-based message, product sales were

19 times higher than average and in-store app usage was 16.5 times higher than

average. Shoppers were also 6.4 times more likely to keep the retailers’ apps on

their phone.41

‘This trend will likely continue as mobile increasingly becomes the dominant screen

users interact with,’ says Gimbal’s Hunter.42

Retailers including Apple, Coca-Cola and Hudson’s Bay Company43 are employing

beacon technology and using buyer behaviour data to assess the success of their

location-based marketing strategies. As you define the metrics for success, your data

should help you answer questions such as:

Is beacon technology making it easier for customers to engage with your brand?

• Does it help customers save money?

• Is it delivering a best-in-class experience?

• Are beacons driving customers to research product details, reviews and

recommendations on in-store screens?

• How many leads are converted to sales?

• How much time are shoppers spending browsing in-store product displays?

While most brands are still learning about beacon technology, smart marketers are testing and measuring the success of the user experience through focus groups, surveys and app store reviews and ratings.

RAY PUNAdobe


Is the world ready for highly targeted beacon

technology? Although adoption rates among

retailers for this nascent technology are currently

low, the promise it holds is more than intriguing—

it’s exciting, even revolutionary. For decades, since

at least the introduction of the rolling shopping

trolley, retailers have been searching for ways to

enhance the in-store shopping experience for their

customers, build a level of trust and differentiate

themselves from their competitors. Beacon

technology does that. By providing customers with

real-time information and special offers as they’re

shopping, retailers have found something that

colourful billboards, celebrity endorsements and

DJ-inspired in-store dance music can never do:

understand customers’ intent and serve them real-

time solutions to their problems.

Alongside those benefits, beacons also provide

retailers with the kind of customer data only

e-commerce sites have previously enjoyed, such

as analytics on the flow of traffic through their

stores and where shoppers tend to linger—data

with implications on everything from staffing

and merchandising to the price per square metre

charged to manufacturers.

Beacons are not limited to retail applications, of

course. They’re already being used in airports,

hotels and hospitals, as well as at concerts and

sporting events, transforming the customer and

fan experience, making navigation easier, easing

friction and generally making the interaction

between venue and patron more seamless and

communicative.

Regardless of the technology’s value proposition

for retailers and customers, challenges do exist. But

challenges have always gone hand in hand with

progress and change.

With beacon technology, the issues of customer

data and privacy are echoes of obstacles that

emerged decades ago with tracking cookies on

websites, or more recently, with Facebook and

Twitter using customer data as a revenue source.

The fact is that consumers have always been

willing to supply their information—as long as

they perceive the value exchange is worthwhile.

Retailers can ensure this happens by treating the

technology as first and foremost a means to better

customer service, as opposed to merely a way to

generate more revenue.

Should you look into adopting beacon technology?

Only you and your team can answer that. Many

pilot programmes have already been successful and

major retailers like Macy’s and fast food restaurants

like Wendy’s have invested in the technology on a

national scale as part of their overall marketing mix.

So instead of thinking about what the price will be

to invest in beacon technology, think about what

the price will be if you don’t.


Beacons BEYOND.

Copyright © 2016 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.Adobe and the Adobe logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

1. Interview with Signal 360’s Alex Bell.

2. Kristin Laird. ‘The Mobile Shopper: Follow the Beacon.’ Marketing Magazine, 29 May 2014. http://www.marketingmag.ca/media/the-mobile-shopper-follow-the-beacon-112554. Accessed 18 August 2015.

3. Mae Anderson. ‘Beacons Point the Way in Stores.’ Los Angeles Times, 7 December 2014.

4. Kate MacArthur. ‘Oreo, Ritz maker Mondelez incubating ideas to change the way your shop.’ Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2015. http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-mondelez-laura-henderson-shopper-futures-bsi-20150623-story.html. Accessed 18 August 2015.

5. Interview with Mobiquity Networks’ James Meckley.

6. ‘15 Companies from Airports to Retail Already Using Beacon Technology.’ Umbel.com. https://www.umbel.com/blog/mobile/15-companies-using-beacon-technology/. Accessed 18 August 2015.

7. ‘Infographic: Why Beacons Are the Future of Custom Engagement.’ Beaconstac.com, 18 September 2014. http://blog.beaconstac.com/2014/09/infographic-why-beacons-are-the-future-of-customer-engagement/. Accessed 18 August 2015.

8. Cooper Smith. ‘The Beacons Report: Growth Forecasts for the Most Important Retail Technology Since the Mobile Credit Card Reader.’ Business Insider, 19 August 2014. http://www.businessinsider.com/beacons-are-the-most-important-new-retail-tech-2014-7. Accessed 18 August 2015.

9. Deborah M. Todd, ‘Beacon Technology Senses Shopper’s Habits to Make Advertising Personal.’ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 21 January 2015. http://www.post-gazette.com/business/tech-news/2015/01/21/Beacon-technology-senses-shoppers-habits-to-make-advertising-personal/stories/201501200190. Accessed 18 August 2015.

10. Ray Pun. ‘Two Inspiring Examples of How Mobile Is Driving Digital Transformation (Part 2).’ CMO.com, 17 April 2015. http://www.cmo.com/articles/2015/4/16/two-inspiring-examples-of-how-mobile-is-driving-digital-transformation-part-2.html. Accessed 18 August 2015.

11. Interview with Gimbal’s Kevin Hunter.

12. Interview with Alex Bell.

13. eCommerce: The Crucible of Customer Engagement. OgilvyOne Worldwide. http://www.slideshare.net/ogilvyone/ecommerce-the-crucible-of-customer-engagement; slide 54. Accessed 18 August 2015.

14. Stephen Abram. ‘The Pipeline: Next Up—Beacons!’ [email protected], 1 May 2015. http://www.internetatschools.com/Articles/Column/The-Pipeline/THE-PIPELINE-Next-Up--Beacons!-103670.aspx. Accessed 18 August 2015.

15. Interview with Kevin Hunter.

16. ‘The Mobile Shopper: Follow the Beacon.’

17. Interview with Adobe’s Ray Pun.

18. Interview with Wendy’s Brandon Rhoten.

19. ‘The Pipeline: Next Up—Beacons!’

Adobe Marketing Cloud is the most comprehensive and integrated marketing

solution available, enabling marketers to measure, personalise and optimise

marketing campaigns and digital experiences for optimal marketing performance.

With its complete set of solutions, including Adobe Analytics, Adobe Target, Adobe

Social, Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Media Optimizer and Adobe Campaign,

as well as real-time dashboards and a collaborative interface, marketers are able to

combine data, insights and digital content to deliver the optimal brand experience

to their customers.

20. Lyndsey Gilpin. ‘How GE Created Smart Lights by Integrating Beacons into LEDs.’ TechRepublic.com, 6 June 2014. http://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-ge-created-smart-lights-by-integrating-beacons-into-leds/. Accessed 18 August 2015.


22. Chuck Martin. ‘In-Pocket, Phone Beaconing: Tapping into the Store Shopper.’ MediaPost, 14 January 2015. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/241674/in-pocket-phone-beaconing-tapping-into-the-store.html. Accessed 18 August 2015.

23. Interview with SapientNitro’s Ryan Scott.

24. Interview with High Point Solutions’ Chip Foley.


26. Michele Chandler. ‘Apple iBeacons Push ‘Proximity’ Marketing.’ Investor’s Business Daily, 21 May 2015.

27. Michael Boyer. ‘iBeacons: How They Work and How They Can Increase Leads for Franchise Brands.’ Franchising World.com, 21 November 2014. http://franchisingworld.com/ibeacons-how-they-work-and-how-they-can-increase-leads-for-franchise-brands/. Accessed 18 August 2015.

28. Kim S. Nash. ‘Strategic Infrastructure for Pizza Goes High-Tech.’ CIO Journal, Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2015.

29. Interview with Brandon Rhoten.

30. Interview with Shopkick’s Cyriac Roeding.

31. Interview with Craig Crawford.

32. Interview with James Meckley.

33. Interview with Cleveland Cavaliers’ Michael Conley.

34. Interview with Brandon Rhoten.


36. Ibid.

37. Ray Pun. ‘Four Steps Toward Your First Beacon Pilot (Part 3).’ CMO.com, 27 February 2015. http://www.cmo.com/articles/2015/2/24/four_steps_toward_yo.html. Accessed 18 August 2015.

38. Ibid.

39. Interview doc with James Meckley.

40. ‘Four Steps Toward Your First Beacon Pilot (Part 3).’

41. Ray Pun. ‘iBeacons: Guiding In-App Customers Toward Shopping Carts (Part 1).’ CMO.com, 30 January 2015. http://www.cmo.com/articles/2015/1/29/ibeacons_guiding_in_.html. Accessed 18 August 2015.


43. ‘iBeacons: Guiding In-App Customers Toward Shopping Carts (Part 1).’


location marketing

Internet