Customized Communications for Captive Audiences

A recent announcement from General Motors piqued my interest—they’ve just unveiled an innovative feature through OnStar, called AtYourService. The service utilizes always-connected LTE technology to deliver hyper-relevant information to drivers. Ask for directions to a point of interest and the OnStar advisor can send offers and provide data. Already on board are coupon providers RetailMeNot and Entertainment Book,
Parkopedia, Audiobooks.com, Priceline and Dunkin’ Donuts.

For drivers, it’s safe way to efficiently gather and sort information. For marketers, it’s a massive opportunity to engage with a captive audience.

Drive somewhere new and before you exit your vehicle, you’ve already got context: where to shop, where to eat, where to sleep, where to park. Sounds like a slam dunk, right?

Maybe.

AtYourServices’s success will be determined by how it reacts not only a driver’s location but also their preferences. Personalization without preference is not only meaningless, it is often infuriating. Siri doesn’t shout from your pocket when she triangulates your location as being near a Dunkin’ Donuts and likewise no driver wants AtYourService urging them toward a hotel when they’re just running to the store for milk.

This is where the principles of effective preference management come into play. Honoring the customer’s wishes about timing, volume, and other matters make a personalized experience truly effective.

The rapid advances we’ve made in connectivity mean that opportunities for communications between consumer and brands are multiplying. Moreover, the information we can share is based on any number of
things – previous purchases, GPS location, who’s in the car, or what book we just read. As long as we keep preference management at the forefront of our communications, I think we’re on the right road.