Dynamic Advertising Based Upon Real-time Inventory
Another idea that’s been kicking around in my head for a while now, finally getting around to posting it. (Credit where it’s due: the inestimable Dave Zinman first mentioned this idea to me.)
“Dynamic Advertising Based Upon Real-time Inventory” is an admittedly bad phrase – if anyone can think of a better name for it, please chime in. Anyway, it goes something like this:
Pretend there is an over-stock of Pop-tarts at Wal-mart Store #100, located at 406 South Walton Blvd in Bentonville, AR. Like any good retailer, Wal-mart wants to sell through that inventory in order to a) make a profit, and b) free up the capital to buy other goods (though maybe not Pop-tarts this time around). Wouldn’t it be great if Wal-mart’s online advertising systems could recognize that localized overstock and begin advertising a sale on Pop-tarts to online viewers who are located within a 2-mile radius of Store #100?
From an advertising systems perspective, all the pieces to make this a reality are there:
1. Dynamically generated ad units that can access other systems for content and messaging
2. Accurate geo-based targeting
And, while I’m no expert in real-time inventory systems, Wal-mart’s famed inventory and supply management systems almost certainly have stock and inventory data at this granularity. (The issue would be how to make that data available in a convenient and safe manner.) Add to that some algorithm that knows how deeply to cut price as the products age, and we’re in business.
The CFO types out there will hopefully see the benefit instantly. By enabling micro-targeted advertising which responds in a rational fashion to local inventory fluctuations, an overall drop in inventory levels is possible. And while I’m not a Retail finance guy, I do know that capital investment in inventory almost certainly has to be a principal use of funds.
So I wonder how that crowd would react if someone asked them how a 2% drop in balance sheet inventory levels would affect their capital efficiency? (My guess is very, very positively.)
Oh, and btw, this type of advertising would be even more powerful for companies that have time and/or service-based inventory that expires immediately: hotels, airlines, restaurants, etc.
Have a good weekend!
Smartypants….
I think this is a great idea. So good, that we have filed for a patent for it!:-)
This is exactly what the Tumri ad delivery platform does. Real-time integration with an inventory source is needed. Any inventory source, normalizing that semi-structured data to feature in ads [display, email, video or search ads etc.] and making the decision by generating dynamic ads. Clearly this cannot be done without a dynamic ad construction engine which features a decisioning, targeting and rules engine. The next feature that is required s to be able to acquire new media (bid for new media in an RTB sense) or react to media that meet the geo, behavior or other characteristics and feature this product not sold yet. The Tumri AdPod real time listings engine, the targeting and matching engine and the media recommendation system (with a soon to come RTB plugin) accomplish this.
I’ll leave it to the USPTO to rule on whether you can patent the use of someone else’s data, but clearly we agree that the ads themselves would be a powerful tool.
Good to hear from you as always, Pradeep!