Marketing 0

REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Has your organization leveraged predictive analytics for
marketing? Explore some new applications of predictive
marketing.
How will you deploy predictive marketing and integrate it
into operations? How will the predictive models be socialized
around the organization?

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CHAPTER 10
Contextual Marketing: Making a
Personalized Sense-and-Respond
Experience
In 2019, Walgreens began testing smart coolers that combine
cameras, sensors, and digital screen doors to display the products
inside as well as a personalized advertisement to shoppers. While the
technology does not recognize faces and store identities for privacy
reasons, it does predict shoppers’ age and gender. The fridge uses
facial detection to deduce the demographic and emotions of a
shopper approaching the cooler door. It also utilizes eye-tracking and
motion sensors to gauge the shopper's interest.
By combining these insights with external information such as the
weather or local events, the AI engine can select specific products
and promotions to push on the screens. The refrigerator also tracks
what the shopper picks and recommends another matching item
once the door is closed. As you might expect, it collects lots of data
about shopper behaviors and which product packaging or campaign
works.
The smart cooler system—provided by Cooler Screens—has brought
multiple advantages. Walgreens has seen growth in traffic and
purchases in stores that have it installed. The chain also gets
additional revenue from placed ads. Moreover, the technology allows
quick changes in prices and promotions for experimentation
purposes. It enables brands to monitor stocks as well as get feedback
on their newest campaigns.
This sort of dynamic advertising and contextual content model is not
new in the digital marketing space. Brands have been using it to push
tailored ads based on customers’ web browsing history. With smart
coolers, the model is brought to the retail space, essentially bridging
the physical and digital worlds. Today, marketers can perform

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contextual marketing in an automated fashion with the help of the
next tech.
Indeed, the long-term goal of the next tech, such as the Internet of
Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), is to replicate human
situational awareness. Well-versed marketers can offer the right
products to the right customers at the right moment and in the right
place. Seasoned salespeople who have built long-term relationships
know their customers deeply and serve each one with a tailored
approach. The mission is to deliver this contextual experience at
scale with the help of IoT and AI.