06 December, 2012
category: NFC
A recent whitepaper released in Canada has compiled a base of in-depth research and case study analysis in an attempt to characterize the future of NFC technology and its mobile marketing capabilities.
The collaboration between Gaude Mobile, Newad and Astral Out-Of-Home, found that information on NFC technology was no easy task, especially with regards to NFC’s use as a marketing tool.
The goal for the whitepaper is to provide a relevant and informative resource to mobile marketing sector — an important yet complex industry — as well as to illustrate NFC’s potential beyond just payments.
According a recent report compiled by PosterScope and Clear Cannel, roughly 70% of smart phone owners cited that NFC would be an important feature to their next phone, while 60% of those same respondents had NFC already but did not realize it.
Pivotal to expanding NFC’s uses beyond payments, then, will be education, and the whitepaper is certainly a step in the right direction.
NFC tags have already seen use in mobile marketing efforts to give users access to a plethora of data including product information, videos, special offers, coupons, music and ticketing. As the whitepaper points out, however, this is a functionality that since NFC’s inception has been drastically underutilized.
In ComScore’s latest reports, 15.6% of Canadian smart phones are already NFC-enabled, just ahead of the U.S. with a penetration rate of 10%. Both countries are expanding as we speak, but diversifying NFC’s portfolio beyond payments will likely act as a springboard for the technology moving forward.
About the companies:
Vancouver-based Gauge Mobile specializes in the development and deployment of proximity marketing solutions. Gauge Mobile allows its customers to engage directly with the mobile user, through the use of mobile devices and bridge technologies like NFC, QR Codes and SMS.
Maintaining offices in all of Canada’s major cities, Newad is a marketing specialist that offers indoor, experiential, publishing and Web-based marketing solutions.
Operating out of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, Astral is one of Canada’s largest out-of-door advertising firms. With a network of more than 9,500 advertising personnel, Astral operates a number of media properties including pay and specialty television, radio, out-of-home advertising and digital media properties.
The complete whitepaper is available to the public free of charge and can be found here.