The Only Specialized Global Intellectual Property News Agency
A Member of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global

RFID Technology Enables Brands to Link Users’ Real-life Experiences with Facebook

22-Mar-2012 | Source : | Visits : 17960
Special to TAG-IT News Agency

LONDON - Social Media World Forum Europe uses RFID solution that bridges real-life experiences with social media.

Next week’s Social Media World Forum Europe will be integrating LifeSynk, a revolutionary social media platform that uses enablers such as RFID, into the event to demonstrate how brands can harness a whole new level of engagement from their customers over social media.

The two-day conference, taking place March 27-28, 2012 at London’s Olympia, will showcase how brands can use RFID technology to get people sharing physical and point-of-sale experiences on Facebook which will drive foot traffic and generate measurable ROI from social media marketing.

Delegates at the event will be able to win a three-month supply of their morning coffee if they retrieve a business card of somebody at the event who they are paired with. A photo will be uploaded to their Facebook wall containing their profile picture as well as that of the delegate they are matched with, and they will be challenged to find the person and retrieve their business card to enter.

The bridge between social media and the physical world LifeSynk works by linking the user’s Facebook - or other social network - account to an RFID card. Physical venues such as stadiums, theatres, shops or cinemas can run promotions that award discounts or loyalty points every time a customer swipes their LifeSynk card at either a terminal (which can be branded), or an existing card reading system.

What are the implications for brands? At present a user can check in to a venue, post a status update or Tweet about their experience, but the brand has to sit powerless without insight or influence over these conversations. 

Brands can now use LifeSynk to engineer online conversations, focusing them on driving foot-traffic and word-of-mouth referrals. For example, John’s Facebook friends can see that he has just swiped his RFID card at a particular cinema outlet to obtain a 20% discount on his ticket, therefore immediately being made aware of the promotion (and hopefully wanting a slice of the action).

The user is able to visit their own admin console to control permissions such as allowing wall posts, but more importantly they can view all promotions that are available, thus allowing brands an effective platform to promote their campaigns. 

How does it work? The LifeSynk system includes an Wi-Fi enabled RFID reader and on-board software that talks to a cloud-based platform.

The brand has access to rich analytics showing locations, who swiped what, how many times, demographics and more. It even calculates how many people were shared to and the click rate, ultimately allowing businesses to track the number of customers drawn to the venue via the sharing and word-of-mouth of their friends.

Digital services such as Spotify are currently benefiting from integrating with Facebook because activity that’s broadcast is immediate and relevant, driving traffic through Facebook shares.

In terms of security, LifeSynk is built on the back of Facebook. It stores no user accounts or personal information - all of this is via a Facebook app, so it is optimally secure using Facebook’s own platform. There is no way to access a user’s account without access to their Facebook account.

LifeSynk will occupy Stand #20 at the event. Delegates will be able to pick up their own RFID card which can be registered via their smartphone. ‘Like Terminals’ will be placed at either side of the auditorium where registered users can swipe to show that they enjoyed the talk and share this, and the fact that they are at SMWF, on Facebook or Twitter.

If registering at the LifeSynk stand, delegates will be randomly assigned to another delegate at the event whose business card they have to seek out and bring back to be entered into a draw to win all your morning coffee paid for three months.
share



Related Articles