The latest technology capturing the public’s eye is “Augmented Reality” (AR), coming soon to a device near you. In essence, it overlays digital information onto a web-connected display. A fun example of this technology is Georgia Tech’s zombie shooter “ARhrrr” in which a mobile device’s camera is pointed at a printed map. Using the special markers on the map and software downloaded to the mobile device, a fully functional video game is overlaid in 3-D on top of the map, in which the object is to shoot zombies.

All well and good, but the savvy marketer will recognize the the opportunity to converge digital information with physical presence. How about projecting “For Sale” information to iPhone users pointing their camera towards a house in a new development? Or allowing mobile users at a conference to point their camera at a name tag and see the wearer’s LinkedIn page?

We are only at the beginning of the process of converging Internet Marketing with the physical world. As more mobile devices support the required software, we could be looking at the start of a golden age in Internet Marketing. At RTP Designs, we are always looking to create unique and compelling experiences that excite people. What AR application would you like to see?

Posted by Paul under Internet Marketing & Internet News & Mobile Marketing & Web Development | No Comments »

According to a Forsee Results survey, a staggering 1/3 of consumers used their phones as a supplement to their in store shopping process. That means that 29% of the shoppers actually pulled their phone while in a store to learn more about a product instead of consulting a sales associate. This shows a significant gap that retailers could fill.

According to the survey, these mobile-enabled shoppers did not head right for the retailer’s website while in the store.

The survey also found that these mobile-enabled shoppers acted almost exactly like non-mobile-enabled shoppers—except that mobile shoppers are a little more likely to buy the product offline. This is understandable, as it wouldn’t make sense to do in store research, drive home to use a home computer for more research and drive back to the store.

This there is definitely evidence of a gap to be filled here. For example, an offline retailer could work on an app for their customers to post and read product reviews and compare prices, then advertise the app in their store, right alongside the products that people will surely be comparing.

Forsee Results had this to say:

“Going forward, retailers should encourage smart phone users to adopt retailer-generated mobile apps, not only to ask about a product or send a picture of a product to a friend, but to compare online prices, remember specs of something they were researching online, and identify the proper model or version of a wish list item.”

Mobile Internet and Mobile Applications have not been widely adopted yet, but will be a major force in the coming years.

Will your business be ready?

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The close of last month introduced the highly anticipated Google Android G1 phone. Motorola is running the software on it’s devices and T-Mobile is selling the phones.

After some thought, I realized there wasn’t anything overly revolutionary about the functions of this phone. Sure it has the ability to create custom applications on it’s platform, but so does the iPhone, which is already 2 releases into the market.

So why release it? To me it looks like another attempt by Google to saturate the market. Sure they have given advertisers the ability to place ads on mobile website before, but they never had their own operating system on the phone displaying the ads/website. That will only expand their capabilities for targeted advertising.

David Aviv, VP of advanced services at Radware agrees:

“What Google is establishing is a way in which to inject targeted advertisements into the phone,”

Aside from displaying ads in the mobile browser, the phone will also display ads within standalone apps themselves.

For example, if you are playing a card game application on the phone, a banner ad can run within that poker application, without having to click back to a Web site. These ads can be sold on a cost per thousand basis and can be updated and targeted based on how a consumer clicks through.

Although the buzz about this phone is relatively low at the moment, I would anticipate it becoming a viable medium for advertising in the near future, especially given Google’s excellent track record for digital advertising releases.

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