Posters that interact with passersby

Digitization is changing the world. Retail and shopping centers are no exception. "In a few years, more than 75 percent of the workforce will belong to the demographic group of 'millennials,'" says Robert Blum, CEO of Poinz. Early exposure to computers and digital media has shaped this generation's behavior, he says. And it's also having an impact on the way they shop, he adds. "That's why retailers and shopping centers will have to gear their communications to these consumers in the future in a way that is as targeted as it is adequate and individual," explains Blum.

In order to develop, test and implement future applications in the field of "Interactive Campaigning", the loyalty app Poinz, Swisscom and the outdoor advertising company APG|SGA launched a project at the beginning of the year. The aim of this project is to explore other ways of communicating and attracting customers. The idea is to use "interactive campaigning" to exploit the dominant use of the smartphone to link stationary retail with interactive means of communication. The two-week pilot project "Guess why beacons" was implemented from March 29 to April 12, 2016 in cooperation with the fashion label Guess.

23 interactive posters

The pilot project "Guess why beacons" used beacon technology in a new form. Beacon technology is based on mini-transmitters that send certain unique signals based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. In the process, the beacons do not store any data. For the pilot project, 23 APG|SGA billboards in and around the Glattzentrum, which displayed a Guess campaign sujet and referred to the project, were equipped with a beacon. The "Interact platform" launched last year by Swisscom formed the technical basis for this application (keyword location-based services).

However, in order for the communication between the poster and the potential customer to work, an additional transmitter is needed. This task was taken on by the app Poinz. Poinz is the Swiss market leader in digital customer loyalty. The loyalty app enables digital point collection, but also serves as a digital communication channel. In the "Guess why beacons" pilot project, passers-by with the activated app received targeted and automatic cash vouchers for Guess when they passed an APG|SGA billboard. However, the prerequisite for this was that the user actively allowed the Poinz app to access their location in advance.

First step to the Smart Mall

In the future, beacons will make in-store shopping as intelligent as cookies make online shopping, because they bring the advantages of online retailing to stationary retailing as well. The benefits of location-based services also seem to be an issue among Swiss companies. A recently published study of around 130 Swiss companies by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) and the University of St. Gallen shows that around a third are looking into location- and time-based communication services. Dorothea Schaffner, professor at the Institute for Communication and Marketing at HSLU, adds, "Studies also show that consumers are open to such forms of communication as long as a benefit is clearly recognizable to them." Andreas Ziltener, Professor of Entrepreneurial Management at HTW Chur, is convinced by beacon technology: "In the future, I can well imagine that interactive systems like the beacon will optimally guide customers through a shopping mall based on the shopping list they have on their cell phones. Shopping malls are definitely becoming more and more like smart malls." The pilot project by Poinz, Swisscom and APG|SGA is a very innovative, interesting step in this direction, he said.

Pilot test: Satisfied partners

The experience with the pilot project is viewed positively by all partners. "As an innovation leader in the field of digital loyalty systems, we are interested in testing different forms of customer loyalty and communication. The now successfully tested application of beacon technology offers our customers new, equally flexible and dynamic possibilities in addressing customers in the immediate vicinity of the point of sale," sums up Poinz CEO Robert Blum.

Swisscom project manager Joel Agard is also extremely satisfied with the project: "We appreciated the uncomplicated and agile collaboration with the start-up Poinz, with APG|SGA and with Guess. In addition, we were able to gain important insights that we can incorporate into the further development of the Interact platform."

APG|SGA also rates the potential of the interactive poster highly: "Via app and beacon, out-of-home advertising media can be used in an even more targeted and interactive way. Individual infrastructures like these ensure flexible, mobile addressing at highly frequented poster sites. This extension of the communication chain offers customers enormous added value because the advertising message reaches the target group at the right time and in the right place," explains Beat Holenstein, Head of Partner & Product Management.

And Guess? Did the tested form of advertising live up to expectations? "And how," reveals Guess Retail CEO Peder Casanova, "we can well imagine incorporating this innovative form of advertising into our communications strategy." (pd)