Page 4 - AeM_May_2014

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

The SoLoMo

potential and

where it will go

SoLoMo can have many facets as you can easily see Another good example, Pattex, a brand of adhesive by
on the myriad of new SoLoMo platforms. In order to Henkel, goes to Smartphone users and offers them the
show SoLoMo in the present state, as well as possible possibility to scan the QR code (quick response code)
future potentials, I want to illustrate a few practical ex- that is specified on all Pattex products in order to be
amples: able to get further product information. The
Smartphone application points the user directly to spe-
Apps
cific landing pages where the potential adhesive buyer
Apps for smartphones represent the core of location- can learn which materials the adhesive can be bonded
based services on mobile devices. Immonet and Mobile with and how it is applied correctly.
post Apps are here two excellent examples of outstand-
ing Apps showing the use of SoLoMo, and how they Commercial Use
lead the way into an augmented reality. Lufthansa was able to perfectly demonstrate the com-
mercial use of the check-in function through an elabo-
The Immonet app, for instance, is able to show a mobile
device user looking for a new apartment, which apart- rate campaign. The airline, together with Foursquare,
ments are available to buy or rent at his current location. rolled out a campaign just in time for the Oktoberfest
To use the app, the user only needs to film the current season, in which users were rewarded with badges and
street with his cell phone camera. The app then displays coupons when using the check-in function with their
current online offerings in real-time superimposed into mobile App at Lufthansa locations as well as kiosks
the image of his mobile and the user can then decide to spread all over Munich. Lufthansa could take ad-
view the offerings. This way, finding an apartment be- vantage of the seasonal Oktoberfest hype and collect
comes a breeze, like having an online realtor. The mo- friends on the Foursquare platform, as well as record-
bile app also can display the nearest shop, the nearest ing a successful social media campaign and offering
post office, or ATM, in addition giving the user accurate flight specials to Munich.
estimates for distance and time to reach the desired How these different examples demonstrate, the appli-
location. Apps such as Wikitude and Layar complement cation possibilities of SoLoMo are extremely varied and
the Smartphone captured image with information specif- are constantly evolving. It is therefore becoming more
ic to this location with information collected from Wikipe- and more obvious that SoLoMo has a great potential
dia or ratings tools, also making use of the internal com- for commercial exploitation. Companies are increasing-
pass and GPS. The visible reality is therefore also sup- ly attempting to tap into this potential in order to acquire
plemented by virtual online generated content. new customer groups or to maintain existing custom-
ers.
Bar codes
However, the core added value of SoLoMo should al-
Apps such as the Barcoo or Pattex provide targeted
product information, and may be a significant influencer ways be a concrete benefit for the user. As the exam-
in the process of buying a product. By reading the bar- ples illustrate, SoLoMo is used most effectively if it of-
code via the Smartphone camera, Barcoo e.g. enables fers the user a clear advantage, whenever and wherev-
the user to get more specific information about a prod- er the user is at a certain point in time.
uct when shopping. Users can directly make price com- SoLoMo keeps growing with the spread of mobile Inter-
parisons or see reviews of the store. Fact is that Barcoo net use: The more widespread the use of mobile devic-
provides a wealth of product information directly at the es becomes, the more diverse the application fields will

point of sale, and therefore greatly increases the trans- be - and SoLoMo will constitute the core of this devel-
parency of the market. opment.
4 Asian eMarketing May 2014 - Multichannel Marketing— SoLoMo