New mobile technology set to revolutionise advertising, allowing instant purchasing
UK-based Powa Technologies is gearing up for the launch of its proprietary mobile smart shopping technology, PowaTag, which will allow users to make instant purchases through visual and audio media in response to advertising.
PowaTag is based on Powa Technologies' own intellectual property but despite this, its founders are billing it as revolutionary for the advertising sector. PowaTag is a smart technology that enables consumers to purchase items from any suitable advertising medium, be it a surface, screen or audio feed, with a simple scan, authorise and go.
The company raised $76 million in its first round of external funding last year from a single US investor and already has around 200 retailers around the world ready to take on PowaTag at its launch on 4 March.
Powa Technologies' CEO, Dan Wagner, said only mobile has the ability to act across all other media, offering for the first time a true multi-channel environment. Research from the Online Publishers Association showed that 39% of consumers using a smartphone were driven to take action after seeing an advertisement. PowaTag will enable these motivated consumers to instantly make a purchase, place an order or donate to charity on the spur of the moment with a touch of a smartphone screen.
Wagner commented: 'For the first time companies will be able to gain real time return on investment (ROI) on above the line advertising such as billboards and newspaper ads. PowaTag will revolutionise advertising, enabling brands to target their customers in a more focused way than has ever been possible in the past.'
He continued: 'Brands will be able to create a proliferation of ways through which they can deepen their relationships with their customers. PowaTag will offer brands the simplest most convenient method for their consumers to respond to advertising by buying directly online, straight off the TV screen or through any medium with which the technology can interact.'
Wagner predicted that the technology will allow a deeper relationship with the customer: 'This technology will also transform how brands interact with their customers. While customers benefit from more convenient anytime, anywhere purchasing, the relationship is a two way channel where the brand can collect valuable information about a customer's preferences and shopping habits. This allows for a more targeted and personalised relationship in future.'
Smart Chimps thinks: PowaTag is an intriguing proposition for the advertising and retail markets. For several years now we have been waiting for near field communications (NFC) to take off, but because this technology requires multiple ecosystems to synchronise and work together, its success is something of a juggling act, not least because of the need to embed the technology into mobile devices. If PowaTag is based on something simpler, which it sounds like it might be, this technology, which CEO Wagner has admitted previously in an interview with Forbes is going to be ripped off by other players after launch, could be the 'new' NFC. Smart Chimps will be talking to Powa Technologies on the 4 March launch day, so watch out for more details….
