The 2009 Consumer Electronic show is in full swing and more than ever WiFi devices are showing up everywhere. Pure WiFi chipset sales jumped 26% in 2008 to 387 million, according to numbers coming out of the WiFi alliance. Heaviest growth is of course is in consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, netbooks and PDA type devices.

Sweetspot is consumer electronic devices
Products are converging around entertainment and productivity combined into a single device and spending on WiFi capable devices is moving from discretionary to a checklist item. Pretty much all new handheld gaming devices will have WiFi and WiFi capability is rapidly moving down from the high-end phones to become a regular feature on most phones.

If consumers are your customers then its time to get off the fence
If your business was “on the fence” about investing in WiFi based advertising then you should definitely re-think your strategy in 2009. More and more of your present and potential customers are carrying these devices and if you are not reaching out to them then your competitors certainly are. There is an increased interest in adding WiFi to the traditional real estate toolbox of advertising services and cafes and restaurants that were providing “free” internet access are now looking at the potential for WiFi to serve up their own advertising including menus, slide-shows and recipes samples and even ads for other local business. One pet store uses its WiFi hotspot for an “on-the-spot” pet-grooming discount to clients that show the virtual coupon on their cell-phone or PDA when they come inside.

DigitalBeat solution
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