My Open Kimono

WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS .. OPEN THE DOOR

The digital world is moving at such a rapid pace that many marketers simply do not have the bandwidth to keep up with, or take advantage of, opportunities and innovations in the marketplace.

One such underutilized digital tool is the BDA (Branded Desktop Application). You might even have it installed on your own desktop in the form of the widely distributed WEATHERBUG…..83 million users do! Another successful BDA is Southwest Airline’s DING …. a desktop alert mechanism that matches a user with special offers that meet their criteria. Since 2005 it has generated over $80 million in direct revenue for the airline.

BDAs have bee around for quite some time. Advances in software development raised the BDA to a higher level, creating the “stickiness” that so many marketers hold dear. As a CRM tool, it’s a marketers dream. BDAs can report on a wide range of usage behavior, tied back to any number of databases that serve up “alerts”…. and generate revenue in the process. Flu Alerts, developed for Roche, tie back to a national database that tracks the spread of influenza and warns users when certain levels are reached.

BDAs can take many forms or morph into others. They are becoming viral and develop as social networks, both public and private, to communicate with other users that maintain similar interests. Gadgets and Widgets are part of this growing trend.
This is not a passing phase. Don’t let the marketing opportunity slip by.