Dispatch from an advertising future #15

The ‘Digital Token’: Proving Experiential Works

Ever since the start of the ‘experience economy’ people have avoided your tracking. ‘Experience burners’ share disposable devices to stay connected on a burner network while within range of your experience sensors. Data stopped flowing, ROI became opaque, clients became suspicious. But now there is Data Turf (TM). Lay our smart flooring and our algorithms measure footfall, where people visited and stopped and for how long, their movements and journies through your experience. And with Data Turf Premium (TM) use Gait Recognition Technology for even more insights. Don’t let your experience get burned: use Data Turf (TM) to maximise footfall.


You can’t avoid them. If you are out and about in the city; if you’re shopping; if you’re taking the kids out for the day you’re going to stumble through ‘experiences’. Ever since agencies had themselves branded the ‘experience economy’ and brands had grasped at the next big thing, public spaces had become experiences — smart, dumb, pop-up, embedded… the choice was extensive if unavoidable.

And after those same agencies had generated the hype, they sold the need for measurement. Phones and then wearables became tokens (anonymised of course) that mapped your experience, marked your engagement. Big Data flows satisfied clients and powered PowerPoint pitch decks.

But then the ‘experience burners’ arrived. Burning men (and women) shared disposable devices, linked by mesh networks back to people’s own networks. Free to walk through an ‘experience’, to enjoy a pop-up or take the kids to an event secure that they were still connected but on the burner network while they were within range of the experience sensors. Burner bins at the edges of the experience collected and recycled the devices as the ‘experience burners’ left the experience. Combined with the cloud veil’s popping of the facial recognition bubble, this latest movement threatened the experience boom. Data stopped flowing, ROI became opaque, clients became suspicious.

But don’t worry because today we launch Data Turf (TM). Lay our smart flooring under your experience and our proprietary algorithms measure footfall, where people visited and stopped and for how long, their movements and journies through your experience. People can burn and veil but you can still ensure they get the best experience (and your clients get their data) by measuring their real world experiential engagement. And of course if you sign-up for our Data Turf Premium (TM) service you can use our Gait Recognition Technology to follow your visitor from experience to retail environment and on.

Don’t let your experience get burned… use Data Turf (TM) to maximise footfall.