QHA Review January 2018
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PROFILE<br />
A NEW HORIZON OF HOSPITALITY<br />
<strong>QHA</strong> REVIEW | 32<br />
We’ve seen it before. A patron comes up to the<br />
bar wanting to borrow a phone charger. Their own<br />
indispensable 4-foot lifeline has either been left in the<br />
car, at the office, or at home, and their night is going to<br />
be a real drag with a flat phone.<br />
Because the quality of their night is literally our<br />
business, we duly oblige and hand over a spare lead<br />
with a smile only to either never see it again or get it<br />
back with the delicate end bent.<br />
Then it becomes apparent that this is just the thin end<br />
of the wedge. Eager to be good hosts, it seems these<br />
days we’re not only bending over backwards to satisfy<br />
every whim of an increasingly digitally mobile public<br />
(with sweeteners like free in-house wi-fi and lending<br />
out those hapless charger leads) but we’re also<br />
dedicating a lot of time and energy to turning it all to<br />
our advantage. Much of our effort to reach customers<br />
via the halo of their handhelds is haphazard at best –<br />
from developing mobile-friendly websites to pushing<br />
out redeemable deals and discounts through loyaltyenticement<br />
apps or duplicating every marketing move<br />
on social media.<br />
If only there was some way to tie it all together.<br />
That’s where an ingenious idea being introduced by<br />
iCharge Tablets in pubs and hotels across Australia is<br />
making a difference. Its ZapMe Mobile App concept<br />
embodies a fast multi-point device charging station,<br />
digital billboard, loyalty app, data exchanging operation<br />
and social focal point all in one. Available as either<br />
a portable or fixed tabletop (or wall) option, iCharge<br />
is a media player with mobile device charging leads<br />
that plays a 10-minute loop of advertisements while<br />
interacting with all devices within a 2-metre radius.<br />
Essentially, this not only gives you a captured audience<br />
of patrons for your in-house promotions in real time,<br />
but allows you to hook into each device being charged<br />
as ZapMe takes the opportunity to offer them an<br />
app that loads your ads into their Favourites cache<br />
for them to share on social media. All the while the<br />
iCharge console is letting you know how many devices<br />
are nearby and providing detailed demographics that<br />
identify patterns of use of frequent visitors that can<br />
assist you with targeting future promotions.
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