Tag: Geolocation

Koozoo developing new service that could revolutionize geo-marketing

Koozoo, a start-up based in San Francisco, California, has received $2.5 million in seed funding that will help it continue developing an ambitious project that could change the face of geo-marketing and online search. Advertisers are becoming increasingly interested in using geographic information to target consumers. This information can go a long way in developing marketing campaigns that have a strong impact on certain demographics. Koozoo may be able to help revolutionize geo-marketing by tapping into consumers to provide their geographic information in the form of videos.

Platform turns smart phones into live streaming devices

Koozoo aims to provide live video information to consumers, which is produced by consumers themselves. In a sense,  the company is working to develop a platform where people can provide geographic information in a very dynamic fashion. This information could be something simple, such as the length of a line at a local restaurant, or more complex, such as whether a particular store is open and what deals they are offering that day.

Video feed could provide information on local stores and other attractions

The Koozoo platform can turn a smart phone into a live video feed, with the approval of their owners, of course. The idea is that consumers can use the platform to provide access to visual information that could influence traffic to physical locations, such as restaurants, stores, and beaches. This information can be freely accessed through a mobile application, which will display a live video feed. Koozoo users can turn off the streaming service whenever they choose. If Koozoo can establish an extensive network, it may be able to provide constant video information to consumers at all times of the day.

Advertisers could benefit from Koozoo

Geo-marketing is not exactly a new concept to the world of advertising. Marketers have long used geographic information to target consumers, but the tools they have access to are beginning to evolve with the advance of technology. Koozoo’s service is not designed solely with marketers in mind, but advertisers could stand to benefit from the platform if it proves popular among consumers and other early adopters.

Customer data gives merchants the ability to make their promotions and offers geographically relevant.

The use of smartphones and geolocation technology is giving retailers an entirely new angle for leveraging the geographical data of consumers so that they can provide them with marketing that will be more applicable to their unique wants and needs.

As mobile device penetration continues to increase, the opportunities for merchants are rapidly expanding.

An ever growing number of consumers is carrying smartphones wherever they go, which is providing retailers with geolocation data that has never been available to them at any other moment in history. However, aside from making it easier to actually reach those customers, these devices are also giving a potentially critical piece of information to companies about their customers and potential shoppers: their actual location.

A McKinsey Big Data report identified some of the larger potential benefits of geolocation.

That mobile marketing report indicated that over the next ten years, geolocation data will have the capability to form a massive $100 billion merely in the value that it offers service providers. An MIT Sloan Management Review editor named Renee Boucher Fergunson, who is also a researcher, explained that “geography is making a comeback.”

The latest in geolocation technologies is giving companies the opportunity to obtain vital data about their consumers, no matter where they may be. This, according to the SAP Retail program principal, Colin Haig. The NGDATA CEO, Luc Burgelman, expanded on this concept by saying that the pressure that retailers are currently facing in order to define themselves as unique within the marketplace is leaning increasingly toward methods that are geographically relevant.

That said, as is the case with other forms of data collection, retailers are being cautioned not to cross a certain line with geolocation techniques, and to steer clear of behaviors that could label them as having a Big Brother style agenda. It is important to collect this mobile commerce data, without overstepping boundaries that would lead consumers to feel that their trust has been abused. The result would only be negative as customers take specific actions to protect their information and block a specific company from being able to access it.