Everybody’s doing it…

Posted on October 20, 2014

The use of Wi-Fi as a customer relationship tool is really starting to fly. To pick three examples on a theme from the news in recent weeks: Numerous airlines are launching in-flight services (with a view to one day replacing costly, heavy in-flight entertainment systems), e-Bay is sponsoring free Wi-Fi at airports in Brazil and, if the reports are on the money, Facebook will be testing airborne Wi-Fi drones in 2015 as a means of distributing internet connectivity to the significant minority who remain beyond the reaches of established networks. Down on the ground, meanwhile, Coca Cola is turning its South African vending machines into Wi-Fi hotspots to reel in buyers. There are two trends at play here. On the one hand you have companies that depend on user access – like e-Bay and Facebook – pushing to make that access more widely available and affordable. On the other you have companies that recognize the importance of connectivity from the user’s perspective offering it as a brand enhancer or giveaway inducement. That, at least, is nothing new. Thirty years ago Coca Cola was giving away yo-yos; now it’s giving away Wi-Fi. There probably aren’t as many kids today interested in…