IBM and GM team up to bring drivers targeted marketing

Many marketers have focused their attention on mobile messages and campaigns, but new technology takes that one step further.

On Wednesday, General Motors announced that it’s bringing IBM’s artificial intelligence software, Watson, to a new version of its OnStar subscription service.

Onstar Go will still provide users with features such as hands-free calls, navigation and diagnostics, but it will also give users tailored information and entertainment, such as a location’s current weather or a curated station filled with music you like.

The partnership won’t just bring drivers conveniences, however. Marketers will also have opportunities to target consumers with ads for products and services.

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AutoBlog reported:

Thanks to IBM, OnStar Go will learn from drivers' behaviors and provide customized offers from GM's partners, which of right now include Exxon Mobil, iHeartRadio, Glympse, Parkopedia, and Mastercard. If your GM vehicle needs fuel, for instance, OnStar Go would point you towards an Exxon Mobil gas station. According to The Wall Street Journal, GM and IBM will share any revenue generated with its partners.

The Wall Street Journal further explained:

… The new features let users opt into relationships with retailers. Partners will be able to offer OnStar subscribers goods and services tailored to their habits, location, and factors such as weather. The system doesn’t respond to voice commands now, but will by late 2017, IBM said.

Though GM’s partner list so far is short, the automaker has plans to lengthen it—meaning drivers and passengers will be hit with a wider array of marketing messages.

USA Today reported:

GM and OnStar want to expand the service well beyond the three initial brands, said Mark Lloyd, a consumer online officer with GM.

“The goal is to create a platform that reaches an open marketplace,” Lloyd said in an interview. “Our objective is to change from a business based on transactions of a vehicle sale to an ongoing relationship that turns the car into a platform for services.”

The Wall Street Journal reported:

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said the goal is to optimize driving time by connecting drivers to the world outside their car. The system will use “the power of Watson to understand that consumer and make sure what we’re putting in front of them is timely and relevant,” she said.

Relevancy will be the emphasis for OnStar Go’s marketing offerings. Instead of being sprayed with relentless ads or notifications for similar businesses nearby, brand managers must think of creative ways to deliver their products and services in a way that makes users’ lives easier.

Fast Company reported how a savvy marketing move might look:

… That sort of obvious deployment of technology is par for the course with a new idea, though, and the contributions of Glympse (which will allow drivers to share their location with businesses, which should make things like curbside pickup of orders genuinely convenient) and MasterCard (which will let people buy things as they're driving) could combine into something interesting—combine the two, and you could theoretically pay for a pizza without taking your eyes off the road, then have it brought out to your car as you arrive.

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