Current reality: Location
Physical location may be the single most relevant targeting attribute for any marketer. As location targeting for ad units becomes more prevalent, the current method of evaluating and buying digital advertising becomes quite antiquated. Audience is great; demographics are helpful guides; but the actual ability to place highly-appropriate marketing in front of a consumer inside a decision-making moment increases the value of interactive advertising immeasurably.
The possibility of so-called "location-based services" has had marketers salivating ever since the smallest iota of computing or digital media became mobile. For the past decade, virtually the same example (just with varying brands) has been used by technologists and marketers alike to describe a mobile, location-targeted campaign. It sounds something like this: "You are walking by The Gap, and your phone begins to shake with an offer of 10 percent off a pair of jeans. You walk in the store, present your phone, and buy your jeans -- along with four other items."
From the introduction of the Palm VII with its pop up antennae to the embracing of the iPhone, challenges to this approach existed on technological and consumer-usage levels. However, within the past three years, both of these have been at least partially solved, making hyperlocal-targeting a reality.
From a consumer usage standpoint, Disney took an early stab at this, with a child-locator service in its now departed eponymous mobile service. But it was the introduction and adoption of mobile apps that created the basis for consumers to proactively use location to their own benefit. Obvious services such as mapping, driving directions, and mobile search use location as a focal criterion. An added category that found significant value with location is social media.
Several platforms including Loopt, Google Lattitude, and foursquare use location as a primary component for users to interact with their network of friends and contacts. Instead of just manual status updates, as on Facebook, automated location updates accompany posts, including displaying friends' current positions on maps. With this interaction as a basis, these services also offer suggestions of events, stores, and restaurants in the area.
The opportunities it brings
A brand advertising in such an environment can significantly heighten its own relevance. In fact, for retailers with physical storefronts ranging from clothing chains to restaurants, this is the specific type of consumer engagement that they have long sought. For example, a consumer having coffee at Starbucks opens a social media app to find friends in the area. He is presented with an exclusive mobile offer in a visual ad unit for the Best Buy within a block from his location. Alternatively, if the consumer is within the proximity of a Radio Shack, he could be served another unique offer pushing him to Best Buy. This location-aware advertising gives brands great consumer influence, hyperlocal targeting capabilities, and reduction in wasted digital media.
Campaigns like this exist today across the different platforms that have location at the core of their service. However, each platform has wrestled with moving that concept into a larger ad buying conversation. This transition is hindered partially by a matter of understanding by the marketer of the mere possibilities and the creativity to use this type of advertising effectively. Equally though, the challenge lies in the age-old scalability issue. That is, many agency buyers want to make large buys. While understandable, the real focus should be to directly address a brand's goals by adapting to the opportunities created by technology.
The seminal moment for advertisers will be when virtually every ad unit can be location-aware. This moves the potential from confined communities to virtually anyone accessing the internet or using an app on a mobile phone. This will enable a marketer to augment the normal buying decision criteria with the assumption of using physical consumer positioning. "Right place, right time" is an old adage, but here is that precise potential for the astute advertiser.
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