dimanche 21 octobre 2012

Local-Based Services: LBS = O2O + Maps

..
LBS stands for Local-Based Services. It covers all that is related to local marketing and mobile. More than a trend, it is the logical consequence, a synthesis of the evolution in the digital industry: social, mobile, real-time, hyperlocal and search converge in LBS. Two components illustrate this emerging marketing culture: the maps and the strong bonds between on- and off-line.

The battle for maps is going on. Between Apple and Google of course but not only. In China alone, a dozen map companies fight for market share: among them, Baidu Maps develops many LBS. Maps are at the center of many services : local listings, street view, traffic, indoor location, public transportation schedules, etc.
Checking in, introduced first by social networks (Facebook, Foursquare, etc.), is now a sign of the times. Location is by default with smartphones ("xyz would like to use your current location") and most of the apps ask à la Facebook "where are you? (often you sign in for these apps with Facebook, your location is shared on your timeline).
All analytics produced by smartphones include geographic data, leaving most traditional off-line media in the dark, without precise geomarketing. To say "a store or a theater near you" is no longer enough.

Online to Offline (O2O) redimensions the hyperlocal and enriches it with mobile marketing using local discounts, vouchers, indoor maps, daily deals, mobile payment, group buying, loyalty cards... and drive. Recent examples:
  • From app to an event for which the app sells tickets or distributes coupons (cf. IUV.NY)
  • From crowdsourcing to mobile social networks (Weibo) to recommendations for restaurants (a new startup, HaoYouMeiShi in Beijing). 
  • With recently launched Evzdrop - what a name! - a place goes social ("listening to places through people"), targeting people who are in a store or who have already been there (retargeting).
  • The Tencent group is launching a new mobile platform in China which will incorporate maps, street views (SoSO, 搜搜), messaging (Weixin, 微信), mobile payment, LBS and mobile advertising.

7 commentaires:

Bird_face a dit…

One question is: who is going to pay the data? In the years to come it is likely that mobile date is going to be more rare and expensive, but the LBS is based on the consumer technically downloading that information, voucher... The next step could be to invent a system where either the consumer really want to spend HIS data on ads made more attractive, or a system where data used for ads is paid by the advertizer.

TessGirard a dit…

Un exemple intéressant dans cet article dans lequel le O2O fait une boucle : Online to Offline to Online (O2O2O). http://blog.reallifeconnect.com/best-practice-concept-for-an-o2o-marketing-strategy-by-providing-an-infinite-brand-experience/

@didoumartins a dit…

This post raisan interesting question, chat is the psycholical price people are ready to spend for an item? In fact, it is harder to estimate it since people always compare online what they have offline.

Lola J a dit…

Allowing mobile users to get directions from one place to another or finding the nearest pizza place in cold winter night through their handsets is terribly convenient.

While Geolocalisation of individuals via their mobiles is undeniably one of the biggest advancement in the telecom industry; its development is no longer oriented towards the user but rather in the companies' favour; the user is therefore no more localised and assisted, he is tracked and monitored so that consumption behaviours can be identified. This drastic change of perspective, forces upon us a new focus of discussion;

When is it ethical to make use of users' whereabouts data collection?

The following article explores the issues linked with LBS.

http://www.roseindia.net/technology/LBS/security-and-privacy-issues-lbs.shtml

Patrizia Lamprecht a dit…

To get local information f.ex. via google adwords is really convenient if you're looking for something close by. Adwords are linked with a phone number, so the searching time can be reduced, you can get easily some information or buy directly with your phone.
On the other side, the question is raised if we're getting more and more controlled in our perception of what we need (companys deliver us information and ads regarding to our profils). But also on Facebook people get more and more observed (also by other people) by using the "location button". What happens if these information get abused?

Simona Candrian a dit…

Lola and Patrizia mentioned an interesting point. Is it the consumer or is it the company that benefits more from apps with geographical data? At the end, I suppose that the benefits are mostly split equally . I don’t like the idea of me being tracked and information about me being sold. On the other hand, companies spent a lot of money, to offer the services that we like to use and I understand that this money has to be paid back. Sometimes we need to accept that there is nothing for free. I wonder if it would work out, if those apps and services were offered for money and then the provider had to guarantee that the data won’t be sold. That could be a market niche, if I think of all the people that are scared of being tracked. If you pay a specific amount of money for your Facebook account, you don’t get to see ads and your data is not allowed to be used, for example.

Wenpeiyu ZHANG a dit…

Pour célébrer (au moins pour une chinoise) l'arrive de Tencent aux Top 5 des entreprises plus puissants dans le monde, je reviens sur cet article de 2012. Cet année, WeChat a été lancé récemment et son système du paiement mobile restait sur la papier. "Pourquoi il peut vaincre Facebook? " Aujourd'hui, tout le monde (plutôt les occidentaux, mais pour eux, c'est "tout le monde", donc oui, TLM) pose cette question.
WeChat possède 980 millions de utilisateurs dans le monde, par rapport 1,23 milliards chez Facebook, évidement que l’avantage de Tencent n’est pas la qualité des utilisateurs. En plus, les géants Web chinois sont créés et sont succès plutôt “grâce au” Firewall crée par le gouvernement.
Aujourd’hui, ils devient les seuls qui peuvent rivaliser avec les américains, parce que, d’une part, WeChat devient un outil indispensable pour la vie d’un chinois, c’est grâces à la innovation des fonctions sur cet application. Comme WexMap bien sûr, qui équipe la géolocalisation, et surtout, le WexPay, le système paiement mobile de Tencent. Avec ce système, autant qu’une plateforme d’information, Tencent acquis à la foi l’information et l’argent, les deux ressources les plus importants aujourd’hui.
D’une autre part, comme les utilisateurs sont plutôt chinois, pour Tencent,et aussi tous les autres chinois, l’exploitation le marché étranger devient un challenge, sa fonction d’un réseau social n’est plus le rôle important, par contre, les services comme le système paiement, les outils de divertissement comme le jeux vidéo, sont des marchés que Tencent fonce sur. Aujourd’hui, Tencent devient l’entreprise qui gagne plus dans le monde grâce aux jeux vidéo, par exemple.
Enfin, l'inversement à l'étranger est aussi un stratégie important de Tencent(aussi Alibaba). Snapchat, heirloom,whisper, Fab.com, Watsi, AltspaceVR, Tapzen etc. etc. ont tous un trace de Tencent.