inMarket Launches Ambient Intelligence Platform for Brands
Beacon proximity and location intelligence company inMarket announced this morning that it’s launching an ambient intelligence platform designed to change the way brands engage with consumers inside entertainment venues across the U.S. Through a partnership with AMI Entertainment, the maker of digital jukeboxes and video systems used at more than 23,000 venues, inMarket expects to deploy its new inBar intelligence platform in a nationwide rollout.
“Our inBar beacons will proactively create physical web and contextual experiences — like connecting you to the jukebox in the bar, or suggesting a safe rideshare deal offer after being in the bar for a while,” explains inMarket CEO Todd Dipaola. “As a consumer, you’ll get more relevant experiences and content at the right times and places.”
Although Dipaola says inBar will be the first ambient intelligence platform that brands will be able to use to engage consumers on mobile devices while they’re physically located inside entertainment venues, he also believes ambient intelligence is already a part of most people’s lives—even if they don’t realize it.
“Any time your phone can ‘magically’ do something — like remind you where you’ve parked, or to check your shopping list — those things are ambient intelligence,” he says.
InBar should already have a leg-up thanks to AMI’s strong foothold in the on-premise entertainment industry. At bars, restaurants, casinos, nightclubs, and other venues where AMI’s multi-screen entertainment systems are deployed, consumers will be able to access “hyper-relevant experiences” on their iOS and Android devices. That might mean someone who has been in a nightclub for three hours may start seeing late-night fast food offers on his device, or that person might gets extra swipes on a dating app.
“In the initial stages, the jukebox will be the first connected element in the bar naturally,” Dipaola says.
Brands will play an integral role in the experiences that consumers can access through inBar, potentially sponsoring freebies for patrons who complete certain actions while they’re inside an establishment (like getting a free beer for checking fantasy football scores while sitting inside a sports bar). Through contextual advertising, brands will also be able to sponsor exclusive playlists or camera filters available only to people physically located inside certain venues.
“From that foundation, other services like ride sharing, content, dating, and eventually ordering and payment are in the future,” Dipaola says. “Those deeper integrations with the entertainment venues are a future opportunity.”
As far as the technology behind this new platform, inMarket has taken a two-pronged approach. The program is available on Android devices via Eddystone compatible beacons, and it will be available across more than 700 iOS apps leveraging inMarket’s SDK.
“For iOS as well as Android, we work with apps to make a deeper connection,” Dipaola says. “If you think about how we’ve set the standard for beacon success at retail, it’s because we’ve focused on third-party apps that have scale and make sense in the store setting.”
Now with inBar, Dipaola says inMarket is focusing on the mobile apps people are using when they’re in entertainment venues or bars. This starts with AMI’s jukebox, but it extends to sports apps, dating apps, and ride-sharing apps. App developers will also be able to work with inMarket to improve their user experience inside bars and other entertainment venues, as well.
Dipaola says inBar will be flexible enough to support the creative campaigns being put together by outside brands, as well.
“Often times, a brand has great creative that has been working really well and we simply amplify it to our hyper-relevant audience. We make this very simple as a turn-key platform,” he says. “Other times, we work together to come up with something special and unique to the medium. In the bar, we can get even more creative. We’re always trying to push things forward and wow consumers because the better the overall experience is, the better our brands will perform.”
Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.
