Sonic Notify and Apple's iBeacons are the Future of Mobile Marketing

Read MyersBizNet39s Full New Media Tech Coverage here Part 1 Internet of Things Overview and DescriptionPart 2 Glyph Goes Beyond Google GlassPart 3 Wanelo amp8211 A Retail Social HubPart 4 Wearable Tech to Watch Neptune PineAlso read MyersBizNet39s coverage on Mobile Advertising and Mobile Media Congress New Media Tech Part 5 PampampG Apple Sonic Notify and Google39s Project Tango Battle It Out for Control of Retail ShelvesThe New York Times calls beacons quota monthsold technology that could change how brands of all sorts market to their customersquotBeacons are the connective technology between you and the Internet of Things IoT which we described in an earlier report Cisco estimates that the IoT will bloom to involve quot50 billion connected things in the world with trillions of connections among themquot By various measures the IoT is currently generating more than 1 trillion in revenues and this hyperconnected future could represent a 14 trillion annual business within ten years The leading beacon is Apple39s iBeacon an indoor geolocation application that allows stores to track user preferences and provide users with customized directions and shopping guidance While Apple has downplayed the importance of the iBeacon it39s currently available in an estimated 200 million iOS devices globallyBeacons are implemented using Bluetooth Low Energy BLE which triggers precise microlocation events in iOS7 apps A BLE enabled iPhone will be able to receive exact location signals from an iBeacon enabling a retailer to connect to you not only at its front doors but down the aisles and straight to the shelf with the exact targeted item Combine iBeacon with BLE and new data gathering software and suddenly your personal retail experience is a marketer39s promotional and datacollection dreamMarketers especially those who focus on retail and shopper marketing have realized that mobile is a critically important medium for their trade and consumer marketing Today39s mobile advertising is generally triggered by the user39s browsing history or the context of a web page But the business has focused too heavily on traditional advertising message exposure and too little on promotional and experiential communications Marketers have not been able to take advantage of the truly unique shopper marketing opportunities that mobile advertising offers The cost per click CPC mobile advertising business represents just a fraction of the investment that marketers will make in personally targeted beacon advertising at the pointofsale With iBeacon and sBeacon technologies marketers will refocus their mobile programs to promotional and experiential communications opening the medium for exponential growthSonic Notify is Creating New Possibilities in Mobile AdvertisingLike iBeacon Sonic Notify39s sBeacon technology is offering marketers new mobile communications opportunities sBeacons combine both highfrequency audio waves and Bluetooth Low Energy BLE to send signals from beacons to nearby mobile devices Highfrequency audio waves which are inaudible to the human ear have been around for several years and are old news in the technology world By pairing them up with BLE though Sonic Notify is keeping their beacons on the cutting edge BLE which is branded as Bluetooth SMART is the next generation in Bluetooth Through sBeacon marketers can send messages coupons product data competitive intelligence and pricing to brickandmortar shoppers At check out consumers with connected apps installed in their smartphones can be sent coupons to be embedded in the mobile devices for future use recipes using the products they39ve purchased promotions for that night39s TV shows with links for second screen apps and incentives to visit other nearby stores and restaurantsBeacon Implementationamp183 A retail location store can be outfitted with Beacons for about 150 whereas installing a comparable instore WiFi system costs up to 10000amp183 While ShopKick also enables marketers to send instore messages to consumers Sonic Notify provides a comprehensive marketing solution that includes both instore and outofstore experiencesamp183 Unlike Shazam which has some similar capabilities to Sonic Notify and iBeacon the quotalways onquot beacons do not require users to open up an app once the app is installedCan Sonic Notify Take on AppleThe obvious difference between Sonic Notify and Apple is that Sonic Notify is not Apple and Sonic Notify is not bound exclusively to iOS devices their beacons can reach people who use Android and other mobile devices There is no reason that the iBeacon BLE signals could not be received by Android phones except for the intentional restrictions imposed by Apple Both companies employ BLE technology in their beacons but Sonic Notify39s use of highfrequency sound waves gives Sonic Notify an edge over Apple in the rush to place beacons Business Wire reported in December that quot Rouse Properties Inc a national owner and operator of premium regional enclosed malls has entered into a partnership agreement with Sonic Notify to install beacons in all 34 of its mall locations across the country amp8220This partnership with Sonic Notify reflects our continuous efforts to modernize and enhance the shopping experience across our entire portfolio by leveraging the latest cuttingedge technologyamp8221Rouse39s installation of Sonic39s beacon technology in its malls will allow retailers and advertising partners to instantly send personalized greetings product recommendations and instore discounts and coupon offers to consumers in precise locations in the mallquotThe Sonic Notify API is at the application level and not within the Operating System amp8211 that means it is not really a notification but instead is a short range invisible messaging application to a Software Developer Kit SDK that a developer elects to embed in their appApple has just released Made for iPhone MFI specs for iBeacon developers This may start a tidal wave of inretail programs and momentum for the iBeacon standards Today retailers and marketers who already have a plan to get their apps loaded into consumers phones and want both Android and iPhone Sonic Notify is a working and useful technology But if the iBeacon specs contain a restriction on app developers limiting the inclusion of competitive short range IE audio or generic BLE it will force app developers to make a choice between Apple and Sonic Notify The lack of a single standard that enables apps for both Apple and Android will slow investments I expect Google itself will be heard in this competitive battle if Apple does in fact impose closed standards on iBeacon app developers The access to beacon data is too important to the company Through the combination of sound and BLE Sonic Notify is able to not only offer a comprehensive mobile marketing package but they also provide unparalleled analytics tracking consumers from their initial ad exposure through to the conversionSonic Notify39s History and Connection with PampampG and GoogleSonic Notify cofounder with Alex Bell Jonathan Glanz founded FlyBy Media earlier this year and is involved with Google39s Project Tango On Glanz39 LinkedIn page he explains quotAt FlyBy Media I am leading a group that39s focused on creating a ZERO hardware indoor localization technology with cm level accuracy based on CV technology created over the past several years Now that it39s public our technology is at the core of project tango for Google httpwwwgooglecomatapprojecttango At the Project Tango site the company39s mission is described quotWhat if you could capture the dimensions of your home simply by walking around with your phone before you went furniture shopping What if directions to a new location didn39t stop at the street address What if you never again found yourself lost in a new building What if the visuallyimpaired could navigate unassisted in unfamiliar indoor places What if you could search for a product and see where the exact shelf is located in a superstore Imagine playing hideandseek in your house with your favorite game character or transforming the hallways into a treelined path Imagine competing against a friend for control over territories in your home with your own miniature army or hiding secret virtual treasures in physical places around the worldquot Glanz was also a founder of the SitOrSquat app which was acquired by Procter ampamp Gamble Sonic Notify CEO is Aaron Mittman the former VP global sales for Medialets Glanz is not mentioned at the Sonic Notify site but he explains the arch of Sonic Notify39s development as follows quot In mid2011 during a meeting with Procter ampamp Gamble at my prior venture my colleagues at PampampG made a request amp8211 quotHow can we differentiate in the aislequot Back in my lab I ran a digital agency in NYC we had been developing an imperceptible audio signal for tracking buses with a colleague and friend that I share the patents with Alex Bell and at that moment I had a small epiphany that the same signal could be broadcast via battery powered emitters on store shelves Alex and I immediately prototyped what later became sBeacons and via our relationship with Apple we later combined the tech with iBeacons to create uBeacons Bottom line is that sonic uBeacons work with iOS and Android devices and can wake a device from a dead sleep completely in the background creating amazing marketing opportunities in the retail space The company39s arch was quite straightforward I invested 400k as a seed in mid2011 we developed a prototype and had quite a bit of initial success At SXSW in 2012 we raised an additional 425mm from Raptor Ventures AGrade Eniac DEV and several others which propelled us into a growth phase The team quickly grew to 20ish employees and the product was brought to the market in January of 2013 Sonic now leads the way in the Beacon market far ahead of Qualcomm39s Gimbal Estimote and Roximityquot The HeadacheTech experts who have been working with sBeacon however report headaches and other physical effects from constant exposure to Sonic Notify39s audio signals which if proven could slow wide scale adoption or require Sonic Notify to eliminate the audio technology from its service making the Sonic vs Apple competition even more an issue The key advantage of highfrequency sound waves is that Sonic Notify is not limited to BLE39s limitations BLE is not compatible with standard Bluetooth so older smartphones will miss any signals sent by BLE from beacons More importantly Sonic Notify can now send messages through any medium that uses sound For instance they can send a message to a person39s smartphone through a television commercial The targeted audience could be sent more information a special deal or just the fact that he or she saw the commercial could be loggedMusic and Fashion IndustriesIn July 2012 Tech Crunch reported on Sonic Notify39s expansion among musicians looking for new ways to make their shows more interactive and to connect with fans The company struck a partnership with Interscope Records which will make its technology more widely available to musicians to use the technology in their apps during concertsSonic Notify was the technology behind Twitter39s interactive Feed house at SXSW and was used at New York39s Fashion Week to sync up photos of different outfits on the event39s mobile app as models walked down the runway It39s also partnered with Spotify and Turntablefm to let DJs share setlists and mixes with users who attend their showsIn any context beacons are a reality and represent the future of shopper marketing This is just one more technological advance that marketers retailers agencies and media sellers need to understand and build into their business modelsIf you are receiving this report you are a registered member to MyersBizNet or are receiving it as part of a registered corporate membership As a member Jack responds personally to your emails requests and comments He is available to speak at your company events In addition to Jack Myers Media Business Reports your membership underwrites MediaBizBloggerscom Women in Media Mentoring Initiative Jack Myers Wall St Report Jack Myers Video Media Report plus our exclusive industry economic forecasts trend forecasts and corporate performance research Redistribution in any form except among approved individuals within your company is prohibited As a member you have full access to all archives and reports at wwwjackmyerscom If you require your ID and password contact maryannjackmyerscom

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Sonic Notify and Apple's iBeacons are the Future of Mobile Marketing

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