Kiosk Cell Phone Interaction Follow Up

As a follow up to my last post, the interaction of cell phones and kiosks or digital signage can be made real by existing technology. Bluetooth and SMS are the most common ways to interact. These can be integrated into many kiosk projects via partners such as BlueFire Digital. I became aware of BlueFire in February of 2007 and have been wanting to integrate their tools into a kiosk project for quite some time. I haven't found a project yet where the client was willing to try this technology, or the budget just didn't allow for the additions. But its a compelling proposition, lets look at some pros and cons:

Bluetooth:
Pros - no cost for messaging, other than battery life. Can send messaging to the phone from the kiosk via graphics such as Jpeg, PNG, Gif, etc., or video or MP3. Text maybe... a smart phone may have software to read a text file, but a regular dump phone may not.
Cons - Requires a bluetooth dongle (antenna) to be added to the kiosk enclosure. That may only be a problem for slim form factors that don't have an enclosure. Connection speeds can be slow, and some users don't fully understand how to use.

SMS:
Pros - Text! Which can be the best way to communicate in some scenarios. And no programming required in the kiosk (generally speaking) and no extra hardware.
Cons - Text! Limited to 160 Characters per message. Also, the kiosk doesn't truly interact, a SMS hosted service does... (Fees vary upon usage). Users may also be charged a fee from their carrier if they don't have unlimited texting.

There are pros and cons to either method. But it may be right for your project. Generally, only a particular market segment will "get it" and be willing to interact this way. But that is growing as people become more familiar with texting their votes to American Idol, or downloading ring tones. If your market target is the younger generation, these tools may be great for your brand.

Also, how you interact is important. Don't think that you can simply broadcast a bluetooth message out to any device nearby. Technically its possible, but frankly, you won't know if that device is in someones purse, or jacket and they may not know you are asking to connect to their phone until they get home from the store and look at their screen. Even if they do see their phone telling them that someone wants to connect, most people are unlikely to allow a connection from an unknown or untrusted source. So you will likely have to prompt them to "opt-in" by having a compelling reason for them to choose to send something to their phone. Perhaps a branded jingle as a ring tone, or a MP3 instructional audio snippet to help them with a task, or a coupon.

Ah... coupons. Now, a bluetooth coupon is compelling, especially in retail. But many retailers are not yet setup to scan a bar code from a phone screen. So your coupon may be a graphic that says "show this coupon to the cashier for 10% off your purchase". If the retailer can work this way, this is a good way to measure usage at the kiosk, and its value to the consumer. If you're giving 10% off of a purchase, simply for interacting with the kiosk or digital signage, I think many consumers would interact.

And then you have their eyes. That is so important in a venue competing for their attention. If they are at your kiosk and you have a compelling brand message, you can get them to do more than just get the coupon... you can get them to change from a passive consumer to an advocate. You could introduce your latest products, you could get them to join you in your green initiatives. But it has to be compelling, and better yet, targeted. Have them give you a contact point such as an email, and you are getting permission to interact again. Send them to your website and you can do very measureable things. So, is that coupon for 10% off of a purchase worth it now? If you integrate a full program with goals and measurements, and a compelling targeted message, I think you come out ahead in the ROI proposition.

What do you think? Click the comment link below to post back a thought or comment.