Linkett Changes Company Name and Focus
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
It’s been almost two-and-a-half years since we learned about a young company called Weston Expressions in the Kitchener-Waterloo Hub that had launched a product called Linkett.
What a difference a couple of years makes! To begin with, the company itself changed its name to Linkett a year ago.
“It made sense to have the same name as the product, because that’s what people referred to anyway,” says Douglas Lusted.
But more important, the whole focus of the company has changed.
“We’ve morphed the product,” says Lusted. It was mainly a sensor that collected information for advertisers. It detected how many people walked by the screen, stopped in front of the screen and for how long, and then if the person interacted with their mobile device. Consumers could take content such as coupons, brochures, apps, and more on the go with their mobile device, simply by tapping their phone or tablet to the Linkett unit (using NFC technology) plugged into the display.
While some companies are using the product in that way (AddMirror is one, with some 50 displays powered by Linkett), Linkett is now concentrating on building profiles by passively recognizing Wi-Fi enabled smartphones. It can tell, Lusted says, where a certain cell phone is located, where it roams, what content it prefers to interact with, where is often travels to, eg., if it goes in the vicinity of certain digital out-of-home displays and when. The owner is anonymous, and no personal information is ever stored but a certain profile of the cell phone users builds, making it of interest to advertisers.
If the same cell phone goes to a Wi-Fi-enabled convenience store three times a week, to a Wi-Fi-enabled gym once a week, and to a Wi-Fi-enabled office building five times a week, Linkett can give an advertiser a good idea of the DOOH displays likely to be viewed by the user of that cell phone and make targeted offers on the phone according to its profile and history.
Linkett tracker connects with whatever Wi-Fi is available. The user’s WiFi must be on, of course. Linkett also still uses motion sensors for traffic counts so that people who do not carry smartphones are also counted.
“Not only do advertisers benefit,” says Linkett. “We provide consumer data to the digital signage networks for proof of performance. Digital signage networks win by having the data and are then better able to compete for advertising dollars.”
Linkett is currently doing five pilots with this, including with the Canadian Health Media Network, Adapt Media Inc., Astral and two Toronto area shopping malls.
Linkett has grown to a staff of 10 and, while no longer directly connected to Waterloo University, it still relies on advice from its engineering department for occasional consultancy.
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