Always be on top: example of Google Maps 6.0 for Android with indoor mapping

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30-11-2011

Marketing and leading by innovation, case study of Google Maps 6.0 and Das Erste marketing strategies.

JulienRio.com: Google Indoors, always innovate 

 

Your ultimate goal is always to make money. All your strategies are aiming to this specific purpose.

You will try bringing new visitors on your page, make them talk about you, change them into customers, and then increase your turnover.

To reach this goal, you need several factors such as being innovative, taking good care of your customers, being quick to react, having competitive prices or offering something unique, having an efficient network, etc...

But your main focus should be to make sure you are always surfing the wave of trends, meaning to be always aware of what is going on around you.

Catch the news and use it for your own profit before anyone else does.

I will take the example of Google maps 6.0 Indoors to explain this concept.

 

Google Maps 6.0 Indoors: a new gadget or a real feature for your customers?

For years, Google has been developing new revolutionary concepts.

With Google maps new generation,users can experience something completely new: an indoor map.

JulienRio.com: Google Indoors, always innovate

 

When Google started its Google Store application, the first users were the winners.

In a few months, this application became viral and widely used in the US. The concept was easy: in a few clicks, you can add your shop on Google maps, so that when people pass by, they will be able to locate you easily. Smart! But the smartest ones were the shops that started using this free function to offer a new kind of service to their customers. This is the leadership by innovation: always be at the edge of innovation by keeping yourself informed of all novelties.

Today, Google introduces the new generation of Google maps (Google Maps 6.0) introducing Indoor maps.

Where is the revolution? Not only would you have the maps of the INSIDE some buildings (shopping malls and airports essentially), but also your Android will be able to detect exactly on which floor you are and indicate you clearly what you will find on each floor and which direction to take.

JulienRio.com: Google Indoors, always innovate

 

For cities such as New York, Tokyo or Hong Kong, where shopping malls are everywhere, having such a great application will save some time for many people.

For airports, always crowded and complicated, there won't be any more difficulties finding the right gate, the closest toilets or the shopping area!

Until today, Google maps would bring you to a building and then become useless. Now, Google accompanies you inside the building, detects your floor and shows you the way until you finally arrive.

To achieve this incredible new functionality, Google had to develop new programs and adapt its technologies. GPS wasn't sufficiently precise to offer such service, therefore Google maps 6.0 had to reuse some technologies previously used for the blue dot feature to be able to locate people indoors.

Here is a quick video introducing the new Google concept:

New Google maps indoor: introduction

View more details about the new Google maps 6.0 Indoor

 

Google Maps 6.0 Indoor feature: is it really working?

The first testing tend to prove that the concept works pretty well. Nevertheless, you can already find several negative comments on the application's page: heavy, forced updates, blocking the phone... Not everything is perfect yet, but you can trust Google for continuously improving its products.

As you could expect, the feature is very limited for the time being: only a few buildings belonging to one of the 25 company-partners are part of the program. Google has built some very specific partnerships to promote the novelty of its new Google Maps 6.0 indoors feature, but those partnerships can indeed not cover all buildings for the time being. You can note that this application is already available in Macy's and Ikea.

 


Moreover, the application is currently available only for the Android Market (phones and tablets) running Android 2.1 or later. No timing has been defined yet for a non-Android version. In clear: Iphone users, this isn't for you yet!

This tremendous innovation rockets Google far ahead of its rivals.
But what are the benefits for smaller businesses?

Google Maps 6.0 Indoor: how to benefit from it?

Who will profit from such update? The people who will first benefit from this great application will be the fastest ones.

As usual, the quickest are the one people will notice and remember. This is the perfect time for you to try to see how to integrate this new free tool into your strategy!
The function may not be available yet in your building, but once it will, how are you planning on using it?

People coming up with innovative ideas always get leadership in their specific area (for some time at least). This is now your turn to think about how to make the largest profit of this news: you know it before others, take advantage of it!

Are you going to offer services to people finding you through the Google Maps 6.0? Are you planning on making your shop "Google Maps friendly" to get detected easily?

The important here is to never let a potential great news slip away because you can't catch opportunities.

 

Google Maps 6.0 and Das Erste

Das Erste, the first German Channel is the perfect example of what i am trying to explain here:

A few hours only after the announcement, Das Erste already created a video-documentary showing the usage of Google Maps 6.0 in Germany.

People from Google were coming inside people's houses to explain that, if they did not specifically sign a paper forbidding Google from intruding, then Google was allowed to visit their houses and picture it from inside.

More! If brands are seen on pictures, the home owner will get 1/10 of a cent per brand!

JulienRio.com: Google Maps 6.0 indoor DIe Erste German joke

JulienRio.com: Google Maps 6.0 indoor DIe Erste German joke

JulienRio.com: Google Maps 6.0 indoor DIe Erste German joke

Indeed, this was just a joke. But what a buzz for Das Erste!

This is the perfect spirit of surfing the wave of trends: be the first one to catch the news and use it in some innovative way to bring the attention on you.

The video is currently available here if you would like to watch in (in German): Das Erste: Google Maps

If you can find sufficient inspiration to reproduce the same patern, you will surely be successful and bring lights on you.

The important points

If you must remember something from Google's innovations, remember those two essential points:

  1. Leading by innovation is always the best business plan. Do as Google: try to always be smarter than others and bring value before others could even think about it
  2. Never let news go. There is always something to do with information. Information is power: if you know something before others, you can take advantage of it and make money with it. Your challenge is to find how to make the best profit with it.

 

Julien Rio.

 

Last update: 2024-03-25 Tags:

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