The premise is as old as commerce: marketers always need an edge.
Whether with a price promotion, a celebrity or sweepstakes, brand marketers are always looking for newsworthy ways to capture consumer attention. In today's media-rich world, there's another way to stand out: cutting-edge content that uses novel new technology for a knockout wow factor.
In recent years, drones have been one foolproof way to get to 'wow.' Offering a novel perspective on the world, drone footage has gone mainstream. It's now so common that drones have dropped in size while expanding their footprints at massive consumer-facing venues like CES, where drones took up an entire hall this year.
With this mainstream attention -- and affordable price points -- drone footage has become a common part of many marketing campaigns. For those looking to make a splash outside of typical drone footage, here's the hottest new thing in flying video capture: the Skydio R1.
A camera drone that follows its subject
Creepiness aside, this drone is a self-flying camera. That means that it tracks its subject, following in close proximity.
While the drone technology is nothing new, it's really all about what the company calls the Skydio Autonomy Engine. It's a clever system that uses cameras, rather than just radar, to slice up the camera's surroundings to create a topographic map. This ensures that the drone avoids snags and keeps its subject in view.
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Skydio makes its own map using multiple cameras[/caption]
The Skydio is revolutionary in its approach -- and super cool to experience just how different the content is from the Skydio perspective.
While certainly geared towards the adventure set, this product is ideal for tour operators, as well as destinations looking to showcase just how a place feels from the perspective of a traveler. Millennial-minded, adventure-focused hotels might also consider adding a Skydio to the in-house rental fleet.
After all, there's nothing quite like organic content posted by a guest to drive a hotel's positive reputation for low-cost. Especially when it's this early in an emerging technology's lifecycle -- the bang for the buck is higher given that the wow factor has yet to be clouded by a storm of self-flying camera content.