Contextual Awareness - Getting Closer to your Audience

Contextual awareness has some really interesting possibilities for the arts sector - in this blog we will provide an introduction and explore some of the possibilities. Responsive technology is not new - for example when you type the first few letters of a contact and their name pops up on your phone - that is responsive, what is new is how this technology is now (and in the future) going to be used.

For example, Google Now Cards and Waze use your location to provide additional useful information such as travel info., appointment notifications, app preferences and the like. Using location-based technology and other sensors allows the device to determine the users' cicumstances and "know" what the user needs and where they are. But what happens when we take this idea further?

Smart Keyboards

One example of new strides in contextual awareness is natural language and keyboards. The idea here is that with a few keystrokes on your smart keyboard, you could kick off a whole series of events. And subsequent keystrokes would kick off those same events when used again. Here are a few examples:

• You text a friend to meet up for drinks. On a contextually aware keyboard - that would kick off an invite to your friend, suggest pubs near you to meet up, provide directions, make a reservation (if you need one), and more.
• On Valentine's Day, you open your contacts for your partner's contact details, and a suggestion for theatre tickets pops up, and allows you to book tickets over your mobile phone.

• A patron types in your theatre's name, and you can target them with offers - just after a few keystrokes.

These sorts of smart keyboards can offer a whole host of features, and can be used in a wide variety of industries.

Smart Visual Search

Other contextualised approaches such as contextual searches can go far above barcodes and QR codes. Companies such as Slyce use image recognition to detect products generated by pictures. These images can then be matched online. So imagine you see a great pair of shoes and snap a picture. The smart image search - which can work automatically or be started by the user - would take the consumer to a website for purchase options, offer a coupon, show demo videos, etc.

While this type of white label technology is being tested with retail brands at the moment, it is not too far fetched to imagine this type of technology working well for the arts sector. Say snapping a picture a poster or billboard, and the search taking you to the online box office.

Personalisation

Contextual awareness is really about personalisation. Passing your dentist? Your smartphone might ping you and let you know you have a free hour and your dentist has a cancellation (and you haven't seen the dentist in a year - tsk, tsk).

Even if the consumer does not action anything or purchase anything, everything is tracked - allowing for a really rich set of data that is real time - not just historical. This allows for an amazing potential to personalise messages, and present offers or options later. Contextual awareness on mobiles and beacon technology will create some compelling opportunities.

Too "Big Brother-ish"?

The big variable in all of this is how consumers will react. While contextual and location based technology is already in use, some of the extensions that are slated for future release may put some consumers off.

Overall, if we can get the balance right between useful information - and marketing push, this could prove very powerful for the arts sector indeed.