Ever heard of radio frequency identification, or RFID? It's only a new technology that has given marketers the advantage and edge in better communicating with their consumers.
Mini USA has began one of the most innovative advertising campaigns yet. More than a thousand voluntary Mini owners in New York, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco have signed up for the Mini experiment, which uses the radio frequency identification card to deliver personalized billboard messages.
Messages such as, "Mary, moving at the speed of justice," if Mary is a lawyer, or "Mike, the special of the day is speed," if Mike is a chef.
Mini USA calls the experiment "an ever-changing array of unique, personal, playful and unexpected messages."
The billboards are programmed to identify approaching Mini drivers and greet them with a personalized message based on a questioner the owners filled out. The high tech billboard messages are delivered through a coded signal from a radio chip embedded in their key fob.
A New York Times article asks what happens when a Mini is under a sign and traffic is not moving? After running through three personal messages, the sign switches back to the standard Mini advertisement.
"Building evangelists is the holy grail of marketing for a number of industries," said Michael Megalli, a partner in Group 1066, a marketing strategy firm in New York. " This is interesting because the marketing is integrated into the product."
Although the Mini USA "talking" billboard experiment has helped marketers go further in their mission of making consumers feel special, there are factors that may need more research before they can continue with the experiment. Safety experts are concerned that the flashing billboard messages may be hazardous. Corky personalized messages can be distracting to not only Mini drivers, but other drivers as well.
According to the New York Times article, the federal government will soon publish a review of the subject.
"Marketing is like a horse race," said Mr. McDowell, head of North American operations for the company. "We want to start more and more horses down the racetrack and see which ones are winning."
Wow I have never heard of RFID and it sounds like the emergence of a new wave of advertising. Although I'd have to admit that I would be a little creeped out if a billboard displayed my name as I was driving! However, I believe this is great PR for Mini USA because they are showing how they care about their customers and their satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that worries me is the growing comfort regarding RFID use in practically every functioning aspect of our lives.
ReplyDeleteWe have RFID billboards, RFID houses (in order to pull meter information quickly and efficiently), and our cars and keys hold RFID chips. As a natural progression of events, will people ever walk the streets with implanted RFID chips? Hopefully the world never come to that but it's something to think about.