Marketing 0

Building Smart Sensing Infrastructure
Humans develop situational awareness by scanning the environment
for sensory cues. We can tell other people's emotions by looking at
their facial expressions and gestures. We know if people are annoyed
or if they are happy with us. For computers to do the same, it
requires a variety of sensors to collect all the cues for AI to process.
Using Proximity Sensors for Contextual
Response at the Point of Sale
The first step to create AI-powered contextual marketing is to set up
a connected ecosystem of sensors and devices, especially at the point
of sale (POS). One of the most popular sensors used at the POS is a
beacon—a Bluetooth low-energy transmitter that communicates with
nearby devices. With multiple beacons set up in any physical
establishment, marketers can pinpoint customer locations as well as
track movement. The sensors can also help marketers send
personalized content to the connected devices, for instance, in the
form of push notifications.
Companies need to determine which specific condition will trigger
the sensors to perform location-based actions. The best contextual
trigger is the presence of a customer. The challenge, however, is to
recognize the identity or the profile of the customer to ensure that
the response is truly personalized. For instance, a customer with the
right age and gender profile approaching a retail store aisle might be
an excellent prompt to send customized discount offers.

---

Environmental variables, such as the weather, can also be a
contextual trigger. When it is hot outside is perhaps the best time to
promote cold drinks (see 
Figure 10.1
).
To make it work, marketers need to leverage the device that is always
in the customer's possession as a proxy for the whereabouts. A
smartphone is one alternative. Smartphones have become a very
personal device that customers always keep close. The device is
replacing a wallet, a key, and a camera for a lot of people. Most
importantly, smartphones are abundant with sensors and are always
connected either through Bluetooth or a mobile network. That way,
mobile phones can connect and communicate with the sensors.