Thanks to the technological advances, people are generally more socially connected both on line and offline. People tweet more, take more photos wherever they go, and “sharing with friends” is becoming popular and even becoming a part of the lifestyle of many young people. The video below is made by Coca-cola recently to promote their Coca-cola village in Israel. 600 teenagers were offered a wristband which contains their facebook usernames and passwords. Those wristbands were actually RFID tags that enable them to check into various attractions in the village and automatically tag themselves in pictures shown on the facebook account of the performer. It successfully connects the real world with the virtual world, and allows people to share things in real time which has added fun and excited most of those teenagers. As for marketers, this is exciting too. Imagine if this could be recreated on a larger scale at all kinds of events or even retail locations. For example, it is as easy as waving your wristband to join an email list for promotional offers!
However, such campaign also provoked concerns of many other people. They are concerned with the overexposure or even misuse of their personal information Some people also describe it as scary and terrifying as they feel being watched and tracked whenever and wherever they go with such RFID tags. Other people think the tag is effectively a surveillance camera in stores.
RFID is definitely the latest and “coolest” technology as described by some people. However, there are some ethical issues that need to be carefully considered beforehand by marketers who wish to incorporate such technology in their marketing practices.
-END-