Should brands add NFC into the mobile marketing mix?

Both the blog site EConsultancy and the ‘ahead of the curve’ BBC technology programme ‘Click’ have in September featured the mobile marketing technology NFC, (Near Field Technology).

As Clair O’Neill from Econsultancy explains in her blog, ‘NFC is a wireless technology that enables mobile devices to be placed against an NFC terminal in order to access information. It works in a very similar way to ‘contactless’ payments on credit and debit cards: one tap of the card onto the terminal and the payment is complete....

...This also works in the same way for marketers wanting to promote their content using NFC technology. If a customer holds their phone next to a bus stop advert for example, and both their device and the poster is NFC-enabled, the relevant content will then appear on their mobile device instantly.’

Clair’s blog gives examples of brands already using NFC as well as asking the question, ‘Should brands adopt NFC?’  The blog has been well responded to and shows differing views concerning NFC's potential.

Meanwhile last week. presenters from BBC’s Click, flew all the way from London to the city state of Singapore, to see NFC in action.  Singapore due to its relatively small and compact size, as well as it's population's high level of adoption of mobile and digital technologies, is seen an example of how to quickly and easily produce and roll out new 4G technology which larger countries find more difficult.

BBC’s technology programme ‘Click’ provides an interesting and entertaining weekly update of what is new in technology, the applications of which very often have major implications for marketing. The content is light, humorous and easy to follow, even for non-techies. To see the programme, please click on the following link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03gm6nt/Click_26_10_2013/

To read Clair’s blog, please click on this link:

http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/63378-should-brands-add-nfc-into-the-mobile-marketing-mix

I hope you find the content of both interesting and helpful.