FBlog

First we had MySpace then Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, each breaking barriers in communication and creating new methods of marketing and B2C outreach, and all together, making the world a smaller place. The next potential phenomenon to come out of the US is Bump.com.

Conceived by American entrepreneur Mitchell Thrower, Bump.com is the latest creation in social media technology that seeks to facilitate users with the ability to ‘become part of the first network that bridges the physical with the virtual’. Think Foursquare, meets Twitter, meets…your car!

To give a very brief explanation, Bump (currently only available in the US) allows users to “claim” their car license plate at Bump.com, doing so turns your number plate into what Bump calls ‘an all-in-one identifier’ (a telephone number, email address, IP address and a shopping reward card), your car becomes a fully integrated communications tool.

Bump links with the user’s Smartphone, the car number plate can be scanned by cameras (mobile phone, car park cameras etc) and can offer the registered user quick-and-easy check-ins at hotels and sporting events, in the future a roadside assistance service and dedicated ‘Bump Advantage Program’. For me however, the most interesting feature of this service is the potential that it offers to brands and marketers to further engage with customers and consumers. Bump.com states that registered users may even get a targeted rewards coupon on their Smartphone and claim that the service is ‘helpful for marketers’, this is the claim that intrigues me the most.

Seeing as users can create a profile of their likes and interests on the service – as well as being able to link their ‘Bump’ account to other social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter – brands could really have the opportunity to engage with consumers while they are on-the-move.

For example, Starbucks could post a tweet saying, “For the next hour, if you’re in ‘x’ area Bump into our car park on ‘y’ street and receive a free cup of coffee” (obviously replacing ‘x’ and ‘y’ with a real location). Or, consumers could be rewarded for their loyalty with other acts of goodwill, such as; if your car number plate is picked up in a Tesco petrol station for the 9^th time (within a certain timeframe) you could receive ‘half-off’ your 10^th fill-up. The opportunities for brands could go even further than this; users could make a pre-order of food, coffee or pretty much anything and when they go to collect it the car number plate could be scanned by a camera in the company’s car park and the items could be brought out to the customer as soon as they arrive, bringing new meaning to the term ‘drive thru’! (Although, I don’t know if this would improve service quality and help the busy individual, or whether it would just increase laziness?).

This service could also allow companies to utilize the benefits of crowd sourcing, as companies could see how many of their ‘fans/followers’ are in an area and what they are saying about the company; i.e. 250 people over 6 months say “I wish there was a Starbucks here” and they are on a main road driving through the centre of Newcastle, the company could see an opportunity to put a store there (and inform all of the Bump users who frequent said area of the new store), or if 10 people in a week complain about the service at a drive through restaurant/bank etc the company could look to improve the quality of their service.

One of the main aims for Bump is to allow drivers to connect with one-another. By scanning number plates using a Smartphone app, Bump users can alert other drivers if they are ‘parked too close’, ‘[have a] tail light out’, or even if a person ‘spots a cutie in a Chrysler’ (Bump.com’s words NOT mine) and wants to get in touch, you can use Bump to send a text or MMS or even make a phone call to the person.

Now, while I think this service has great potential, I do see a few possible flaws…Bump allows users to contact people direct to their mobile phones (via their number plate), so would this provide people with unwanted attention? Also, as Bump has a ratings system (if you drive badly people can post a negative rating on your profile), what would this mean in terms of repercussions? Will the negative ‘rater’ be tracked down and harassed by the negative ‘ratee’? Will people post negative ratings of one another for ‘fun’? Or will no one care? Bump have said they will include some ‘privacy safeguards’ but we will have to wait and see how effective these are.

…But I digress…my real interest in this service is its impact on brands and how brands can use it to further connect with consumers and customers. This service, along with Foursquare, Facebook Places and the like are really bringing location based marketing to the forefront. Location based marketing is becoming such an important tool at the disposal of brands/marketers, as brands can now send relevant and timely information to consumers based on where they are and what they are doing. This provides a new level of access to consumers (access which they agree to), meaning that they can be targeted more frequently, better, and in such a way that means they will be more responsive to the messages. It is especially useful for what messages brands communicate to consumers and means that a brand must be on top of its game to be truly relevant to, and in the mindset of consumers.

Utilizing a service like Bump will allow companies to gaining new customers, sustain existing relationships, and maybe even mend broken ones…the possibilities are perhaps endless (excuse the cliché).

I think it could be great for brands!

I wonder though, when you are in your role as a consumer…would you use it? And, in your role as a marketeer, would you encourage your clients to use it and integrate it into their social media mix?

Bump, claiming to be ‘simple, safe and effective’, will be available for public beta testing in the US in November. There is no word on a release for the rest of the world as yet, but I have a feeling it won’t take too long…