Blockchain: The Biggest Thing in Marketing Since…the Last Biggest Thing In Marketing.
Produced By: Morgan Martin
Here we go again. Every few years we hear about the “next big thing” in wireless and mobile technology. I’ve spent a career in the wireless industry, primarily on the carrier side of the business, as a marketing communications and operations hack. In that time I’ve seen a variety of new things come and go, each of which was supposed to revolutionize the way we use our phones in business and in our everyday lives. Everything from Text Messaging (SMS), Ringtones, Ringback Tones, Picture and Video Messaging (MMS), Mobile TV, WAP and HTML5 Responsive Web, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and now…..Blockchain.
As you can see from my list, some of these technologies truly did transform how we use our mobile phones in both our personal lives and in business. Particularly mobile messaging and mobile responsive web apps have had a tremendous impact on how we manage our communications and access information. Some of the others have come and gone or lingered as interesting and fun distractions but have failed to really take hold in any meaningful way.
The true test of these emerging technologies is not how cool they are, but what you can really do with them. Finding meaningful use cases that provide real benefits to service providers, retailers, brands, and consumers is what sets these technologies apart and allows them to accelerate at a rapid pace, often displacing their outdated predecessors. As a marketer, this often times translates into how we can use them to drive the KPI’s that our clients hold us to when we are delivering campaigns and promotions for the latest product launch or call to action to drive sales. If the technology is complicated or requires too much consumer education it can fall flat on its face, no matter how cool it is. I’m reminded of some very early Augmented Reality promotions I launched for A-List artists in 2009 and 2010 that were touted as groundbreaking, first of their kind promotions. And they were. They really were. But in 2009 wireless networks were 3G at best and the technology was very young. This meant that the consumer experience was less than ideal. Participation was low and the campaign under-delivered on our KPI’s. Was it a beachhead for a new technology that would eventually have a place in the promotional marketing universe? Yeah. Did it move the needle? Not really.
Making a splash and telling a new story is often just as important as nailing those KPI’s that our clients and brands are so interested in. The challenge as a marketer is knowing how to balance those priorities. Making sure we find the coolest, hottest new thing that not only gives us a compelling story to tell but actually drives real results for the business. Today, Augmented Reality has come into its own and revealed some tangible ways that it can drive consumer behavior and sales for businesses. Mobile TV is a great example of how the “concept” in its early execution created tremendous excitement (think QUALCOMM’s FLO TV) but it required strides in both processing power and network bandwidth to make the true trailblazers like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime establish a brand new industry in mobile communications and entertainment. They all started with press releases, weak content offerings, and substandard user experiences that have quickly evolved into serious competitors to landline and broadband cable offerings.
So with all this said…..is Blockchain a buzz word or is it an actual “thing”? Well…it’s both. Our team at Greenfence has been building significant retail, brand and consumer platforms on the backbone of blockchain technology for almost two years to solve REAL problems for those constituents. In that time we’ve seen all manner of other agencies, companies, and competitors talk about their plans to enter the world of blockchain. Often these include sweeping promises and vaguely defined projects and initiatives. They also include bids to enter the ICO market to raise capital with even more nebulous strategies for leveraging this new technology. How is the average Joe to determine fact from fantasy? I bring that question back to the earlier litmus test posed in the beginning of this conversation. The true test of these emerging technologies is not how cool they are, but what you can really do with them.
In our business, blockchain provides some very real advantages to standard de-centralized systems of storing data, delivering promotions and processing transactions. It allows our Brand partners to virtually eliminate the rampant fraud in the coupon and rebate marketplace which is estimated at over $1B annually. Brands and Retailers can more closely manage their budgets by eliminating the need to estimate things like delivery, take rate and breakage. And perhaps, most significantly, it unlocks the universe of the unbanked or “underbanked” consumer. This huge market of over 20% US residents and billions worldwide either can’t or have chosen not to have a traditional bank account, and thus have previously been unable to participate in the rebate game. We’ve been using blockchain to solve these very real problems for Retailers, Brands and Consumers. Creating such tangible and significant advantages gives us a message we can use in our marketing efforts that truly does differentiate us in the marketplace. Consumers may not understand what blockchain is or how it’s playing a part in their lives, but that’s ok. They don’t need to. Understanding, acceptance and adoption will grow and in the mean time they will be able to reap the rewards. And that means that blockchain….well, it’s a “thing”. And it’s here to stay.
