Best of Beacons this Week: iBeacon tech at Cannes Lions 2015 helps Attendees Network better, and more

Our roundup this week is packed with informative nuggets and insights, right from how Cannes Lion 2015 is leveraging beacons to help people network to how retailers can boost sales through hyperlocal mobile advertising. So sit back, sip a cup of coffee and check out the stories we have lined up for you.

1. Four Ways Beacons Are Helping People Network at Cannes

The Cannes Lions International Festival recently tested iBeacon technology for the second year in a row, to offer attendees a personalized experience featuring relevant content surfacing and meet-ups with like-minded event-goers. A few of the new beacon-enabled features offered by the official Cannes Lions app are “Around Me Enhanced” and the “Icebreaker” feature. While the Around Me section allows festival goers to find people who have checked into venues and also see which sessions are the buzziest, the latter feature taps into LinkedIn to match users who attend or favorite the same session. Check out this article to learn in detail about the 4 new beacon-enabled social networking features offered by the Cannes Lions app this year.

2. Buy buttons, location targeting advances are biggest mobile achievements so far in 2015

Consumers today, browse, research and purchase items based on location-based advertisements they are served, or via their social media networks. And according to marketers at Mobile Commerce Daily’s Mobile Research Summit: Data & Insights 2015, this strategy will continue to gain traction as the year progresses. Experts also agreed that technology trends such as buy buttons prevalence on social media applications ( such as Instagram, Facebook Twitter etc.) and networks and location-based targeting and ads are two of the biggest mobile achievements so far in 2015. Check out this article to learn how brands can brands can leverage mobile to essentially guide the consumer forward in the shopping journey both in-store and online.

3. House of Fraser Plans Shoppable Windows This Christmas

House of Fraser recently announced that they plan to enable shoppable windows this holiday season, as part of its strategy to turn 70% of its customers who currently only buy in-store into multichannel purchasers. Such windows would build in the department store’s use of iBeacon technology in mannequins thus enabling shoppers to buy from outside when the store’s closed or is busy. The department store was one of the first retailers to use iBeacon mannequins when it enabled them last summer. Check out this article to learn how House of Fraser plans to use beacons to turn the store-only customer into a multichannel customer.

4. How Retailers can Boost Sales through Hyperlocal Mobile Advertising using Beacons

Mobile ads on smartphones and tablets already have a growing impact on driving in-store traffic. According to a recent report from NinthDecimal,in-store visits increased by 80 percent within 24 hours of mobile ad exposure and stayed above average store-visitation benchmarks for the following six days. However,the biggest takeaway from the report is that the mobile ad metrics in the same report are closely linked to not only how users make different buying decisions for various verticals, but also where and when users make them. Therefore it is very important for retailers to think from a customer perspective when creating mobile ads. Check out this article to learn about 5 ways retailers can use beacons to create impactful mobile ad experiences that will in turn help drive sales.

5. Wimbledon reveals experiments with iBeacons, Snapchat, and IBM’s Watson

Wimbledon’s digital boss Alexandra Willis recently revealed their experiments with technologies to further connect with fans, including Snapchat, iBeacons, and Watson, IBM’s artificial intelligence engine, at a launch of its 2015 digital strategy at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC). For the first time, Willis and her team plans to create content for Snapchat users and also encourage fans to share pictures using the ‘Geofilter’ feature where location-specific filters can be used on photos or videos. They also plan to leverage beacons to sent messages with directions and advice on where to queue to fans via the app as and when they arrive at the Wimbledon Tube station. Check out this article to learn more about how Wimbledon plans to use these technologies to engage with more fans across various platforms.

If you are planning a beacon pilot, take a look at Beaconstac, that includes everything you need to get started. Using Beaconstac you can set up your own campaign, without a developer’s help!

Image Source: appleinsider.com