A nice perk of being headquartered in San Francisco is our short walk to the Moscone Center, where we recently caught the Ad:Tech and Customer Engagement Technology World conferences.
For those not familiar, Ad:Tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition that takes place in multiple locations across the globe. Customer Engagement Technology World, featuring KioskCom and The Digital Signage Show, presents strategic, marketing and technical business solutions for organizations focused on enhancing their customer engagement programs through digital media.
We enjoy going to the conferences to meet new people interested in mobile, learn more about recent industry developments, and participate in the excitement people have about new technologies. This year, we loved how people’s focus had shifted from traditional, one-way advertising to rich customer experiences derived from interactive, two-way conversations (and avoiding at all costs the one-way, 2-person conversations).
For those that weren’t able to go (or didn’t remember their notepad), here are our “Cliffs Notes”:
QR Codes / 2D Bar codes / Microsoft Tags were literally everywhere. We really couldn’t say it better than Mugatu, so take our word for it: QR Codes, so hot right now. Image: QR Codes have many uses, including surveys.
- SMS CTAs were also ubiquitous at both conferences. Clearly, exhibitors were committed to getting people engaged actively rather than passively.
Image: Long Beach, CA based Insteo had a compelling CTA on their exhibit display where conference attendees could send an SMS message for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Attendees could see their SMS messages posted live to a digital display below the CTA.
- Mobile technology has now entered the vernacular. During last year’s conference run we noticed that most people were uncomfortable with terms we use every day like “short codes”, “MMS,” “WAP”, and “mobile CRM.” This year, the majority of people not only knew what mobile was and how it worked, but also acknowledged the importance of integrating mobile components into their business strategy.
Email Service Providers and Affiliate Marketing Networks were two of the most active segments at Ad:Tech. Representatives from both were actively researching and investigating new technologies and ideas. Image: Microsoft Tags were also in on the action.
- Digital signage (software + hardware), digital kiosks, and POS hardware + software comprised the bulk of the exhibitors at Customer Engagement Technology World. They too were very active in exploring new technologies and ideas in order to figure out how they might fit as part of their strategy.
Overall it’s clear where both advertising and digital signage technology are heading. Companies need:
- A way to engage consumers through their mobile device
An ongoing, interactive communication strategy that stems from that initial mobile engagement. Image: Driving Customer Engagement was the name of the game.
The next show on our list is the Customer Response Summit in Florida the week of May 9th. Our own Matt Silk will be presenting “Watch Out Social, Here Comes Mobile! on Wednesday May 11 @ 2:45 PM.
If you’re going to be at the conference in Florida please let us know – we’d love to meet up!
And if you have other thoughts from Ad:Tech and/or Customer Engagement Technology World that you’d like to add, please post them to the comments section.
(For those “Cliffs Notes” searching students who have – or are almost - finished with school and soon going to be joining us at these shows: First of all, congrats! Secondly, practice those first date and speed date skills, as we have found approaching folks you don’t know in a huge convention center similar to that type of atmosphere : )
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This post was co-authored by Matt Stevenson and Tom Imboden.