DOLLARS FOR YOUR DATA AND A SCREEN THAT IMPROVES EYES.
By Adam Cooney.
A couple of interesting developments in data and apps this week have implications and opportunities for advertisers.
How much would you charge to let advertisers have access to your social accounts and bank statements? Take a hard think….positives, negatives, what would you give up and how much are you worth?
Well a US company called Datacoup thinks it would max out at $8 a month. They are beta testing a program which rewards consumers for opening up their data in return for a monthly cheque (who uses cheques anymore?) and some funky visualisations to understand your own habits.
It isn’t the first program to allow consumers to take back control of their personal contribution to big data but is another example of the democratisation of data – knowing that companies profit from use of your data and getting your slice of the pie. Another program Handshake has quoted that you could earn thousands of dollars a year. So is Datacoup off the mark?
Here is yet another way for consumers to quantify themselves – not how far you run, not how many likes/comments/shares your Facebook posts get….but how much can you make by just being you.
Implications for brands could be positive or negative depending on where you stand. Access to richer, structured, more timely and more trusted data means better insights and responses. On the other hand due to the consumer control it could mean that brands with less ethical practices could have the data door slammed shut when they come knocking.
Apps and mobile devices have had an extraordinary and seismic impact on us and our culture in many ways. I’m always fascinated with new ways that mobile technology can transform, augment or replace other tools and devices – many of these with just the download of an app.
Even more interesting is when they impact on our health and wellbeing. Yes there are the running and fitness apps but also the less known perhaps more innovative use of the technology. Think of the app that measures your heart rate by placing your finger over your phones camera and camera light. Your phone can be a thermometer/flu tracker or take a peek at your unborn baby with an ultrasound app and wand.
If you thought all screens were bad for your eyes then this app now proves you wrong. The aptly named app UltimEyes is scientifically designed to improve your vision. It does this through the use of games and exercises that optimise your brain’s visual processing meaning sharper vision and better dim light visibility. The company is working with sporting teams to improve their game and the app sends back the user data for use in a bigger research project on improvements.
Apps like these are real opportunities for branded utility. Innovative technologies needs companies to fund development and the user benefit can rub the right way onto brands that provide these relevant and useful tools we increasingly carry around in our pockets.
via ZenithOptimedia Australia: zoau | Dollars for your data and a screen that improves eyes..
