Cutting the Cord: LiveDrop's offline data transfer and marketing potential!

Data has always been important. With computers, Internet, and mobile phones, its importance has grown. As has the importance of transferring data securely and at high speeds. We have many choices for transferring data today, like cables, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Data transfer has become so ubiquitous, and almost free, that we don't even notice it. Its importance is felt whenever there is a lack of availability or limitation. Let's explore how a new data transfer tech works, and if it has any relevance for marketers in the future.…

Introducing LiveDrop

Enter LiveDrop. LiveDrop offers a twist on data transfer, which has been developed by a Dutch company and launched at CES 2024 with Dutch Royalty. According to its website, LiveDrop lets you move data offline from one device to another in an easy, intuitive, efficient, and safe way. This free app uses a moving QR code to enable the transfer of data from one phone to another without the phones connected to each other or using a wireless network.

The app is also cross-platform, so it doesn't matter if your device runs iOS or Android. With its simplicity and openness, it should address many of the problems with sharing images, videos, and documents. It doesn't need a pairing device or a Wi-Fi connection. It's closer to NFC, which doesn't require pairing, than Bluetooth.

In their CES demo, they transferred photos from an Android to an iPhone, which compressed the images a lot, affecting file size and quality. The company claims that its tech can transfer files of any size with adjustable compression. Of course, there will be an impact on data transfer speeds.

The tech behind LiveDrop (in layman terms)

What makes LiveDrop so easy to use? When it comes to unidirectional data transfer between devices using any operating system or hardware configuration, the underlying tech is explained on their website. I'm going to explain it in layman's terms the best I can so you don't have to skip it.

The live data transfer protocol uses patented data matrix principle to make it easy and secure to transfer data. Let me explain how it works in a nutshell. Imagine you have a secret message you want to give to your friend. That message goes into a special code called LiveDrop. Your friend can scan this code and read the message right away! The code also fixes any errors that might happen while sending the message. And guess what? It doesn't require Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or anything else! It's all done with LiveDrop. That's the gist of it.

The tech is not perfect, yet…

It's an interesting approach to data transfer, but it still has some limitations. The transfer speed isn't great. Plus, it can only transfer small files right now. The current LiveDrop transfer speed isn't fast enough for large files, which could be an issue for marketers. To get good to high data transfer speeds, it compresses the image quality. It might be hard to share product demo videos or high-quality sales brochures with customers.

LiveDrop's current image compression might not be suitable for all marketing purposes, especially for high-res images. Therefore, sharing high-quality product images with designers could be a problem. On the LiveDrop website, it says its data transfer technology allows sharing information by creating and scanning an offline, GDPR-proof code. But it's unclear how well it does that and how much. Because LiveDrop uses a visual code to transfer data, anyone could capture the code and access the data. There's a potential security concern here. Data security has become increasingly important for marketers. Any non-compliance could make it hard to use for marketing, especially if it involves sharing business info.

Finally, any data transfer to happen using LiveDrop requires both, the sender and the receiver, to have the app installed on their mobile phone. It's not much of a limitation but could cause difficulty if a user doesn't have the app and is unable to download quickly.

Still, its offline data transfer has potential for marketing organizations

Whenever something is new or cool, it's easy to be skeptical. Nothing is off limits from a marketer's perspective, since they're always looking for new things to help increase awareness, engagement, and conversion. Some marketing use cases could be improved and/or accelerated with the tech LiveDrop has developed.

At trade shows and events, you can share product brochures, presentations, or other marketing materials via LiveDrop, even if there's no internet connection. Customers can scan a QR code on a booth or display to download the materials to their devices.

Setting up photo booths is pretty common for driving footfall at events or employee engagement activities. With this kind of tech, people can take photos, choose the photo they want, read the code, transfer it over to their phones quickly, and post on social media almost instantly!

Marketing campaigns can be made interactive so consumers are surprised and delighted. Placing LiveDrop codes on billboards or in public places can be a great way to spread brand awareness. Consumers can get a discount code, a website, or a video when they scan the codes.

It's perfect for in-store marketing for B2C brands. They can give customers more info about products in a store with this tech. A customer could scan a code on a product display or an AR photo booth to see a video, read reviews, or get exclusive coupons.

It could also be used on the set of a photo or video shoot. If you're on location without a wireless network and you've already got enough cables to manage, LiveDrop can be useful for faster data transfers.

LiveDrop isn't the only company that offers offline phone-to-phone data transfers. Feem, XDrop, and PairDrop are a few that I know. LiveDrop stands out because it lets you transfer offline without pairing two devices. A limitation of LiveDrop is it doesn't support larger file sizes, like competing companies do. Still, this nascent technology has some exciting potential.

In marketing workflows, it's crucial to share high-quality marketing content with customers, designers, and colleagues. LiveDrop, with its offline data transfer tech, can make those workflows more efficient and seamlessly integrate offline and online experiences. As a marketer and tech enthusiast, I'm excited to see how this technology grows, enables real-world marketing applications, and fits into the martech stack.