We sat down with quirky and energetic co-founder of Plot Projects, Paul Everts, for a short interview about the future of mobile marketing. He has some interesting things to say…
What made you want to start your own company?
“Innovation. I used to work in the construction industry and I really liked it because you could build things, but they didn’t want to change anything because they were so used to their old methods. I hated that, so I decided to start my own company so that I could be the innovator instead of trying to force other people to innovate.”
What education or previous experience helped you build Plot Projects to what it is today?
“Lots of trial and error. More error than trial [laughter]. I had a small company before this – the ‘Pixel Store’. It was a really fun experience and I learnt a lot from it.”
Who is your role model and why?
“I don’t think I have any. It’s too easy to say someone like Richard Branson – instead, it’s better to take the best parts of different people and improve yourself because no one is perfect in every aspect.”
What do you see in the future of geofencing?
“It will definitely be more common with less push notifications. People will become more location aware. There are so many things around you that could be of interest, but you don’t know about them. Geofencing is much more than just publicising offers and promotions; it’s also bringing people closer together which is something we initially set out to do as a company.”
Which company would you like to see adopting geofencing or beacons?
“Every company that has location-based products or location-based content, and has users per customers, should adopt geofencing and beacons. I’d especially like to see local businesses more involved.
Currently we’re working with a major European airline and they’re using us to increase their user experience and provide a better service to their customers. If they can do it, then any airline can.
I’d love to work with TripAdvisor or Yelp because I really think we can bring these companies and their users something new.”
Any big plans in 2016 for Plot Projects?
“We’re not doing anything [laughter]. Yeah, very big plans. The main goal is to bring in more partners like Swrve because we think that works really well. 2016 is the year of growth for us.”
Where do you see location-based marketing in 10 years time?
“The next step is trying to make marketing location-based, even when you’re not actively using your phone. So in 10 years, it also depends on the emerging technologies like Google Glass. This will add a lot of information about the users.
We’ve recently started to use location, not just to target people, but segment them based on their location. For example, if you’ve visited a particular store or country, this tells us something about you that can be used to make marketing more relevant to you – in a non-creepy way. Segmenting larger audiences will make a big difference.”
How could geofencing and/or beacons help in a zombie apocalypse?
“That’s easy! The geofences and beacons would point you towards the safe haven. But if the zombies have access to the Dashboard then it’s over. Maybe they could get a notification that says “you’re near the safe haven, click here for 10% off the entrance fee” [laughter].”
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Want to know more about geofencing?Download the Ultimate Guide to Geofencing for Mobile Marketing to find out more about geofencing and beacons and why to use them in your app.
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