Temporal Arbitrage Guild
An omnichannel alert system that scrapes data on scarce, high-demand products and uses predictive analytics to forecast future availability and price changes, giving users a temporal advantage in the marketplace.
Ghost Location Marketing
A hyper-localized, time-sensitive omnichannel marketing service that leverages scraped geo-data and reverse logistics concepts to target consumers in momentarily vacated locations for maximum impact and minimal cost.
Inspired by Neuromancer's disembodied presence and Tenet's inverted causality, Ghost Location Marketing capitalizes on the temporary absence of individuals from specific locations (e.g., someone leaving their home, workplace, or frequented coffee shop). The project involves:
1. Location Scraping & Anonymization: Using a 'Map Locations' scraper, identify businesses (restaurants, cafes, gyms, etc.) or residential areas. Scrape publicly available data (check-in data, social media posts with location tags, Wi-Fi connection logs, potentially anonymized mobile location data offered by data brokers) to create a dynamic map of 'potentially vacated' locations. Anonymization is crucial; no personal identifying information is stored. Focus is on location density changes over time.
2. Predictive Modeling: Develop a simple predictive model (using readily available libraries like scikit-learn) to estimate the probability of a location being temporarily unoccupied based on historical data. This model would consider factors like time of day, day of the week, season, and event schedules (e.g., conventions, sports games).
3. Reverse Logistics Inspired Targeting: Frame marketing offers as 'returning' something to the temporarily unoccupied space. For example, a coffee shop near an office building could offer a special discount on coffee delivered to the user's home address during peak office hours, framed as 'returning the warmth to your home while you're at the office'. Another example could be a gym near a residential area, offering a discount to the occupant for when they come to workout, as a 'Return to Wellness' offer.
4. Omnichannel Delivery: Deploy time-sensitive, localized marketing campaigns across multiple channels: targeted social media ads (geofencing), programmatic advertising banners on websites visited in that area, SMS messages (if opt-in data is available and compliant), or even automated physical mail campaigns (low cost postcard printing services) with location-specific imagery.
5. Ethical Considerations: Transparency and data privacy are paramount. The system is designed to operate without storing PII. All data is aggregated and anonymized before use. Marketing messages emphasize the temporary absence element subtly, avoiding a sense of intrusive surveillance. The service promotes beneficial goods that are adjacent to the consumer's actual whereabouts, but are useful where the person is 'not'. A strong privacy policy and opt-out options are clearly provided.
Earning Potential:
- Local Businesses: Charge local businesses a fee to run hyper-targeted campaigns. The niche appeal and precise targeting justify a premium price.
- Affiliate Marketing: Promote relevant products and services through affiliate links.
- White-Label Solution: Develop a software platform and offer it to marketing agencies.
Implementation:
This project can be implemented by an individual with web scraping, data analysis, and basic marketing skills. The core components are readily available as open-source libraries or affordable cloud services, keeping costs low. The value proposition lies in the unique and highly targeted approach.
1. Location Scraping & Anonymization: Using a 'Map Locations' scraper, identify businesses (restaurants, cafes, gyms, etc.) or residential areas. Scrape publicly available data (check-in data, social media posts with location tags, Wi-Fi connection logs, potentially anonymized mobile location data offered by data brokers) to create a dynamic map of 'potentially vacated' locations. Anonymization is crucial; no personal identifying information is stored. Focus is on location density changes over time.
2. Predictive Modeling: Develop a simple predictive model (using readily available libraries like scikit-learn) to estimate the probability of a location being temporarily unoccupied based on historical data. This model would consider factors like time of day, day of the week, season, and event schedules (e.g., conventions, sports games).
3. Reverse Logistics Inspired Targeting: Frame marketing offers as 'returning' something to the temporarily unoccupied space. For example, a coffee shop near an office building could offer a special discount on coffee delivered to the user's home address during peak office hours, framed as 'returning the warmth to your home while you're at the office'. Another example could be a gym near a residential area, offering a discount to the occupant for when they come to workout, as a 'Return to Wellness' offer.
4. Omnichannel Delivery: Deploy time-sensitive, localized marketing campaigns across multiple channels: targeted social media ads (geofencing), programmatic advertising banners on websites visited in that area, SMS messages (if opt-in data is available and compliant), or even automated physical mail campaigns (low cost postcard printing services) with location-specific imagery.
5. Ethical Considerations: Transparency and data privacy are paramount. The system is designed to operate without storing PII. All data is aggregated and anonymized before use. Marketing messages emphasize the temporary absence element subtly, avoiding a sense of intrusive surveillance. The service promotes beneficial goods that are adjacent to the consumer's actual whereabouts, but are useful where the person is 'not'. A strong privacy policy and opt-out options are clearly provided.
Earning Potential:
- Local Businesses: Charge local businesses a fee to run hyper-targeted campaigns. The niche appeal and precise targeting justify a premium price.
- Affiliate Marketing: Promote relevant products and services through affiliate links.
- White-Label Solution: Develop a software platform and offer it to marketing agencies.
Implementation:
This project can be implemented by an individual with web scraping, data analysis, and basic marketing skills. The core components are readily available as open-source libraries or affordable cloud services, keeping costs low. The value proposition lies in the unique and highly targeted approach.