The Internet of Things has promised to turn our everyday interactions with stuff into data for logistical and marketing applications.
But now that more and more corporations, including Diageo and Mondelez, have tested actual web-connected products in the market, the industry is approaching the next stage of connected appliances and food packaging. That means figuring out where all that information will go and how it will be used. IoT platform company Evrythng sees a home for data generated by connected thermostats, bottles of booze, designer handbags and washing machines in first-party marketing databases.

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The firm is partnering with Trueffect, a digital ad firm specializing in first-party data targeting, to work towards devising ways marketers can use data gathered when consumers use their products. The firms hope to directly communicate with those consumers and, yes, perhaps target ad messages to them. Evrythng and Trueffect exchange product interaction and consumer data through an API integration between their two platforms.
“We’re connecting our systems together and going to market together to do this,” said Andy Hobsbawm, founder and CMO of Evrythng. The company works with liquor maker Diageo and CPG manufacturer Mondelez to embed digital tracking technology into their products, but he would not reveal whether either of the two firms are employing the Trueffect system.
Evrythng assigns a unique ID to the products it enhances, which can be connected through embedded technology — say, in the case of a home appliance — or through a digital tag such as a QR code which connects to a mobile app.
“As soon as the consumer connects the device to the readable element in the packaging, that creates a signal,” said Martin Smith, senior VP of solutions and development at Trueffect.
Diageo used the Evrythng platform to turn bottles of Johnnie Walker scotch into personalized gifts, allowing purchasers to customize a video for recipients. By suggesting purchasers and end users of the product opt-in to receive personalized options from Diageo, the effort helped the spirits purveyor do what most product manufacturers struggle to: find out who is buying — and in this case, drinking — their products.

http://adage.com/article/datadriven-marketing/iot-meets-ad-targeting-evrythng-pair-trueffect/298875/