Automotive
‘Augmented-reality’ windshields and the future of driving
Las Vegas (CNN) — Imagine a future in which icons flash on your car windshield, hologram style, as your car approaches restaurants, stores, historic landmarks or the homes of friends.
Simply point your hand at them, and the icons open to show real-time information: when that bridge over there was built, what band is playing at that nightclub on the left, whether that new café up the street has any tables available. Wave your hand again, and you’ve made a restaurant reservation.
Mercedes-Benz showed off this vision of the future of driving — complete with augmented-reality and gesture-controlled features — this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show.
CES is the world’s biggest technology trade show, and carmakers are becoming a bigger presence here. Visitors climbed into a little cockpit at the Mercedes booth and took a brief, interactive and virtual ride through nighttime San Francisco — with the high-tech windshield as a guide.
The technology is still crude, and at least several years away from finding its way into Mercedes vehicles. But it illustrates how automakers, while embracing current computer innovation such as dashboard touchscreens and voice-control interfaces, also are keeping an eye further down the road as well.
As digital tech — and our expectations for it — becomes more mobile, carmakers are taking notice. Many automotive designers here seem to have taken inspiration from smartphones, with their promise of being always connected and their vast menu of apps for every purpose.
“Cars are becoming platforms to participate in the digital world in a fully networked sense, just like your tablets can and your phones can,” said Venkatesh Prasad, a senior technical leader with Ford Motor Co.’s innovation division. “It’s our job to take those computing services people are used to at 0 mph and make them available at 70 mph.”
Yes, that sounds a little scary. And with escalating concerns about the hazards of distracted driving, automakers must walk a fine line between convenience and safety. Automotive engineers are continually trying to simplify their interfaces to cut down on the precious seconds that a driver’s attentions are diverted from the road ahead.
“All of our technology is voice-powered,” Ford product manager Julius Marchwicki told CNN’s sister network HLN. “So instead of fumbling with your phone … you keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.”
Sascha Simon, head of advance product planning for Mercedes-Benz USA, agreed: “We determine which apps should be in the car and which shouldn’t. We have these apps integrated in such a way that they’re actually relevant to you.”
For example, say you’re running late to a meeting and can’t call or text while driving. Mercedes’ messaging app will create a menu of logical missives based on your location and your car’s speed — “I’m stuck in traffic,” or “I’m just north of Bakersfield” — and display them on the screen.
You scroll through them and push a button to post the one that fits, instead of having to manually type the words.
Ford this week introduced five new apps for its pioneering Sync hands-free entertainment system, including Roximity, a daily-deals application that provides real-time discounts relevant to a driver’s location. Ford is so committed to morphing its vehicles into digital platforms that the company is recruiting developers to create apps for Sync and plans to open a research lab in Silicon Valley this year.
Meanwhile, Mercedes launched the second generation of its mbrace system, which connects drivers with the Web via customized apps that can be controlled by voice commands or on a dashboard touchscreen. Mbrace is now cloud-based, meaning it’s always connected and its software can automatically update itself.
Not to be outdone, Audi and Kia also have big presences at CES, and both announced updated versions of their Web-based dashboard entertainment systems.
The boldest advancements in automotive tech, however, may be a few years away. All the major car companies are working on systems that would allow vehicles to talk to each other about road conditions, weather and traffic snarls. For example, a car swerving to avoid a tire in the road could send an instant message alerting surrounding vehicles to the hazard.
Ford also is developing technology that takes a more holistic approach to driver safety and welfare. Instead of focusing on preventing collisions, for example, a car could help diabetic drivers by employing wireless sensors to monitor their glucose levels, said Gary Strumolo, Ford manager of vehicle design and infotronics.
Or a car could help allergy sufferers by monitoring for high-pollen areas, then recirculating air within the vehicle instead of pulling it in from the outside, he said.
Kia is testing something called the “user-centered driving concept,” which would emphasize safety by employing an infra-red LED and camera to monitor the driver’s face for alertness. The system would recognize whether the driver’s eyes are opened or closed, safeguarding against an accident caused by the driver falling asleep.
All these advancements may make driving more interesting. Or they may spoil one of modern society’s last refuges from the hyper-connected digital world.
Either way, they are coming soon.
“We’re working on a new generation of vehicles that truly serve as digital companions,” said Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, in a keynote speech at CES. “They learn your habits, adapt to your choices, predict you moves and interact with your social network.”
Can tablets and smartphones create a better in-store experience
Our two cents:
While tablets and mobile devices aren’t relegated to luxury brand retailer experiences, read story on Mazda dealerships they do add an err of sophistication to the overall shopping experience. However, it’s unlikely that the average sales associate is going to significantly boost bottom line sales by sending out personalized text messages to shoppers asking them for appointments. That being said, the idea of a CRM driven strategy using mobile is still valid—when done right. The main thing retailers should keep in mind is that any type of CRM program, whether it be mobile, email or traditional mail, takes several months to foster. So even though mobile maybe hot, it does not guarantee instant success. That comes from good, old-fashioned marketing know how.
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From Kayla Hutxler, Luxury Daily
August 22, 2011
Luxury brands can significantly increase their CRM and deepen customer relationships by enabling employees to use mobile devices and applications in-store.
Brands that implement a mobile strategy for their employees have the ability to cater directly to each customer’s needs and increase customer retention. Mobile is becoming the best way for luxury brands to deliver superior experiences since affluent consumers expect a higher quality of service for the high price-points they are paying.
“Brands should use mobile in the store to help the salespeople collect and use data to create relationships,” said Milton Pedraza, CEO of theLuxury Institute, New York.
“Say the store is empty, employees can use the mobile device to send recent customers information and deals and offer to make them an in-store appointment,” he said.
“Every employee with a mobile device can be far more effective at creating customer relationships.”
Check it out
Luxury brands can use mobile in-store in a variety of different ways that increase the salesperson’s ability to better serve each customer.
“The mobile medium is particularly effective when used as an extension of the luxury sales associate that is capable of synchronizing the on-premise and off-premise experience with the brand,” said Scott Forshay, Dallas-based director of mobile strategy atMorpheus Media, a Createthe Group company.
Mobile devices can be effective for checking inventory without leaving the customer’s side and can also allow salespeople to easily order the item to the store or direct the customer to a nearby retailer that has the product in-stock.
By providing employees with detailed product information at their fingertips, they immediately become experts on every luxury good in the store.
In addition, the salesperson can show the interested consumer any videos or campaigns relating to the product.
Mobile apps can allow salespeople to seamlessly make a transaction without having a customer wait on a register line.
Furthermore, mobile devices can allow salespeople to look up a returning customer so that they can access spending habits and offer appropriate product suggestions.
If a customer chooses to share details such as family members and important dates, employees can also cater direct marketing approaches revolving around birthdays and anniversaries.
“Luxury brands, by and large, are highly personalized, deeply consultative and fanatically service-oriented,” Mr. Forshay said.
“Brands should use the mobile medium in ways that accentuate what makes them, by definition, luxurious,” he said. “It is this innovation that luxury shoppers expect from the brands they most covet.”
Lighting the way
Brands such as Nordstrom, Benefit Cosmetics and Burberry along with many luxury hotels are already using the iPad to increase CRM.
For example, luxury department store chain Nordstrom recently revealed plans to start using iPod touch devices to quickly and effectively help customers check-out and find products in-store (see story).
In addition, Benefit Cosmetics is using an in-store-only iPad app that educates users about services and products through videos, reviews and comparisons, as well as serving as an in-store shopping assistant.
Also, Burberry used the iPad in-store to let VIP customers view a livestream of the Fall 2011 runway and immediately pre-order the items (see story).
Furthermore luxury hotels are using the iPad to help with traveler check-in as well as with concierge and in-room services.
The St. Regis hotel in New York’s e-butler app acts as a virtual concierge for hotel guests, allowing them to browse restaurant, shopping and event suggestions as well as make reservations through the app (see story).
Taking it one step further, The Plaza hotel in New York implemented a digital concierge service that allows guests to order room service, book spa appointments, contact a concierge and make dinner reservations through in-room televisions, laptops and iPads (see story).
Overall, mobile usage in-store is all about increasing CRM and providing a luxurious shopping experience.
“CRM is absolutely critical, especially when there is a fear of an economic downturn,” Luxury Institute’s Mr. Pedraza said.
“Companies that have consumer data and the ability to go out there and build a relationship have an advantage over companies that have no data and are going to have to resort to deep discounts,” he said.
Global mobile research on the smartphone user and the mobile marketer from the MMA and Google
Natalie Rojowsky, Google Mobile Ads Research
Thursday, June 16, 2011 | 3:43 PM
Today, in collaboration with the Mobile Marketing Association, we shared the initial findings from an exciting global research initiative at the MMA Forum in New York City. The research, “Global Mobile Research: The Smartphone User & The Mobile Marketer”, was conducted by Ipsos GmbH and TNS Infratest and sought to better understand mobile usage trends and business’ readiness for mobile marketing strategies. The study was comprised of two surveys: an online survey of thousands of mobile consumers in 30 countries, and the other, a telephone survey of 1,000 marketing decision makers, 200 in five key markets. Today we presented a subset of the data which focused on five countries: US, UK, France, Germany and Japan. Here are just a few of the key findings.
We gained some new insights about global smartphone user behavior:
Smartphones are a frequently used gateway to the web:
- A significant number of smartphone users accessed the internet via their smartphone every day of the past seven days: US-58%, UK-55%, France-59%, Germany-45%, Japan-78%
- And many users go online via their smartphones multiple times a day: US-53%, UK-49%, France-47%, Germany-42%, Japan-68%
Smartphone users are engaging in a variety of activities on their phone:
- Smartphone users have looked for local information on their mobile devices: US-90%, UK-81%, France-83%, Germany-85%, Japan-90%
- And these local information seekers have taken action after looking up local content: US-87%, UK-80%, France-83%, Germany-79%, Japan-80%
The smartphone is playing a critical role in shopping:
- Across the board, consumers are using their smartphone while in a store: US-82%, UK-68%, France-82%, Germany-65%, Japan-75%
- Not only are smartphone users using their mobile phones while shopping, they are also making purchases on their mobile device: US-29%, UK-28%, France-17%, Germany-28%, Japan-45%
We also gained some directional visibility into the mobile activities of marketing decision makers:
- Only a fraction of businesses in the five countries report having mobile optimized sites: US-33%, UK-17%, France-12%, Germany-37%, Japan-43%
- Fewer than a third of businesses surveyed have an app: US-19%, UK-15%, France-18%, Germany-26%, Japan-10%
- Mobile commerce strategies of the businesses we spoke with primarily target upper funnel activities: 65% reported that their mobile strategy targets the research phase of the shopping process
While the mobile revolution is moving at different speeds across the globe, it is evident everywhere. This research underscored how consumers are using their mobile devices to access the web, look for local information, and purchase products and services. Businesses seem to be lagging behind the consumer in terms of use and support of mobile marketing which represents a significant opportunity.
The full presentation is available here. In the coming months we will be releasing additional data and insights from other countries surveyed as part of this project.
Posted by: Natalie Rojowsky, Google Mobile Ads Research
Why Behavioral Targeting is the Future of Mobile Marketing
While behavioral targeting is nothing new in the online world, it’s still something of a novelty for mobile. Mostly because we still lack the scale, tehcnology and inventory to do this effectively. However, the growing trend of using behavioral targeting techniques continues to gain traction across the entire spectrum of mobile, not just advertising. Simple demographic profiling, which is how media is traditionally purchased, seems flat and one dimensional when looking at mobile users. Take the retail sector for instance. In our experience, retailers don’t care so much that their target may be men 25-34, they care about why they walk into a store, scan a product with a barcode scanning app and then buy the product in the store itself. That type of behavioral understanding, which addresses the “why” vs. “who” approach to shoppers is the core of why behavioral targeting so effective.
How Ethnicity Affects Behavioral Differences in Consumers
Everyone behaves differently when it comes to media usage and buying behavior. As the all sectors (not just retail) move towards personalized shopper experiences, it’s importnat to understand the differences in behavior at an ethnic level. Nielsen reveals how consumers use the same resources differently. The findings show that African Americans watch the most TV, Hispanics are savvy smartphone users, and Asians are online centric. When it comes to retail, African Americans shop most frequently; Hispanics shop less often but spend more than others; and Asians take the most advantage of deals and promotions. Read More
Millennial Media Campaign for Hyundai Proves Double-Digit Lift In Brand Favorability
Source: Mobile Marketing Watch, Posted on 11 April 2011
In its recent “Millennial Monthly” update, Millennial Media showcased a recent campaign developed for Hyundai that shows how brands can leverage advanced targeting techniques and engaging creative to create a highly successful integrated mobile marketing campaign.
Hyundai has been aggressively promoting its new “Equus” luxury sedan and wanted to take its efforts to the mobile channel. Its goal was to create an engaging mobile experience that effectively built awareness and consideration for the new sedan, and chose Millennial Media to execute the campaign.
Leveraging Millennial’s “Smart Targeting” capabilities, Hyundai utilized demographic targeting and Millennial’s cross-platform network to reach its audience. They also chose to target BlackBerry users as its the highest segment of device owners earning more than $100,000 according to Nielsen. This was a smart strategy considering these consumers closely mirrored the target audience for the luxury Equus.
In addition to the ad-unit, Hyundai’s target audience was able to engage with the new sedan via an innovative “Hyundai Greetings” BlackBerryapplication, designed and produced by Millennial Media. The application enabled these “socially-savvy and personable consumers” to create customized greeting cards in various themes (birthday, love, congratulations, etc.) that could be sent to friends and family via email, Facebook or Twitter. Users could customize the card with their own message, recorded audio and/or photo. This unique mobile experience delivered both value and extended engagement with the brand to their target audience.
According to a post-campaign brand study, Hyundai realized a substantial double-digit lift in the brand’s favorability with its target consumers. In addition, the Blackberry application will continue to engage consumers well after the initial mobile campaign has ended.
NFC Technology and What it Means to Marketers
From: Michael Ahearn, VP Strategic Marketing, iLoop Mobile
4/12/2011
Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot about how NFC technology could be the QR code killer. See recent article. Since iLoop is not invested in either one of these technologies directly, it affords us the luxury of objectively examining implications and impact.
In short, this is all technology centric.
Market deployment for NFC has yet to be established. It will happen, but standards, formats etc. are predating consumer adoption. Like many things in mobile, marketers ambition to use the technology is outweighing adoption. Actually, we’ve had image recognition technology for years, but without any real kind of mass deployment. What is important to remember is there has to be a business case for any technology adoption, and just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it will be used. NFC is no different. Although nowhere near critical mass in the U.S., it will happen (it’s already deployed in Asia) but requires the consensus of the U.S. market to validate its value. The adoption is the critical, missing piece and NFC is changing so fast and so non-intuitive for mobile phone users, that it is still inhibits use from marketers and consumers alike.
The critical concept, as with any mobile technology, is that it exists as a way for people to initiate an experience. All formats, whether SMS keyword, QR code, picture recognition, AI, NFC, they are ways for the consumer to initiate an interaction with a commercial interest. Before marketers and brands get too excited about NFC they should look at how many phones have NFC readers on them. Moreover, how many people would know how to use it if they do? Can the information provided on the NFC chip embedded in the ad be changed after deployment? Which chips will work with which phones and who will pay for and deploy advertising on the NFC chips are issues yet to be even thought about.
Let’s not jump on bandwagons, there’s a lot of hype out there and many articles are written so the reporter can proclaim “I’m on the leading edge, I know the future”. Yes it’s significant that Google and other members of the NFC forum are investing in NFC, but frankly, we’re not surprised. What it means to the market is a completely different, unanswered question.
Oracle survey reveals people of different ages experience mobile differently
from Connected Planet Mar 22, 2011 1:51 PM,
The 35-to-54 age group shows the fastest rate of growth in terms of researching and transacting online
After talking to more than 1,000 mobile phone consumers in the United States, Oracle released information about how people today use mobile devices for shopping and commerce-related activities, as well as what they hope to do with mobile devices in the future.
In the study, it became apparent that consumers increasingly rely on their mobile devices to do comparisons and research before purchasing products or services. About 48% of consumers conceded they use their mobile devices to look up product ratings or to find promotions. One of the more surprising findings in the survey was that the 35-to-54 year old segment is the age group with the fastest rate of growth in terms of researching and transacting online. While the 18-to-34 segment still dominates for actual use, the usage in the 35-to-54 bracket nearly tripled.
For those older than 35, it was twice as likely they’d leverage a mobile device to research products and services than their younger brethren (growing from 19% to 36% for users aged 55 and older and 23% to 44% for those aged 35-54 from the previous year’s research). Of the younger respondents in the18-34 bracket, 60% said they use their mobile device to research products and services (up from 41 percent the previous year).
In addition, more than two times as many consumers aged 35 and older have made a purchase via a mobile phone since 2009, compared to a 74% increase for consumers aged 18-34.
“We found that the perception of the experience also varied in these two groups, as the younger demographic wants more self-service on the Web and more online access to information about their plans and accounts, while the older bracket prefers to learn about plans, devices and accounts directly from a customer service representative. While the younger people feel comfortable connecting via chat or click-to-call, the older people prefer to be able to talk to someone on the phone immediately,” said Kelly O’Neill,
product strategy director for Oracle-ATG.
What is also remarkable is that most carriers, according to O’Neill, fail to tailor their sites to accommodate those disparate preferences. “The younger generation is more likely to churn, so to fail to personalize or make things relevant to their desires means there is a higher chance of losing them to other competitors,” added O’Neill. She believes telecom providers have to continue to evolve to think more like retailers, which consumers increasingly want them to do. “Rather than compete with products and services alone, carriers have to embrace the idea that customers want their telecom providers to give them the same type of attention and personal experience they get in other industries,” said O’Neill.
That is particularly true as mobile technology continues to invite new business models for merchants and retailers seeking to partner with communications companies. “You cannot overstate the importance of streamlining mobile and retail services to enhance sales and the customer experience,” said Kelley, noting that the survey showed that mobile devices are enhancing the in-store shopping experience, with 28% percent of respondents admitting to using their mobile device for comparing products with competing brands, as well as visiting Web sites to acquire more product information, research product reviews and coupons.
