Drones: not just for killing any more.
When people think of drones, I’m guessing the first thought/image that comes to mind is the CIA using them to kill the bad guys.
But, tacos are the first things that come to mind for me after reading about the Tacocopter a couple of years ago. Before the Federal Aviation Administration put an end to the operation, Tacocopter was able to deliver food right to your location. Here’s a funny/oversimplified visual:
All you had to do was order from your smartphone and beam up your GPS location in order for the Tacocopter to deliver where you were standing. Yes! You didn’t even have to be at home!
The use of domestic drones has many advantages. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allowed drones to be used domestically for years for environmental monitoring, firefighting, disaster relief and search and rescue. The Department of Homeland Security uses them to monitor borders and ports.
The FAA released its road map to set the commercial use, state for law enforcement agencies, businesses, universities, and hobbyists to fly drones inside the U.S. by 2015. But as of yesterday, The FAA is “significantly behind schedule” in its attempt to meet Congress’ September 2015 deadline for integrating commercial drones into U.S. airspace.
So, what does this mean for advertisers? Well for one, I see a lot of ad space once their commercial use is finalized. I also see great potential in direct marketing initiatives. They could even work in research. Want someone to test your product and provide feedback? Just send a drone over once they sign up. Maybe even send a gift along for participating.
What (if any) possibilities do you see for drones in marketing?
WhatsNextForMedia 
The first thing that comes to mind is along the same lines of research but I think drones would be great for focus groups. For events where large groups of people typically gather together, such as sports events, state fairs, or outdoor concerts, I can imagine having a space set up where people volunteer to be apart of an impromptu focus group via a drown and receive a free drink or food item at the venue.
Using a drone might reduce some of the cost and disadvantages of trying to gather individuals to come to a location they wouldn’t have otherwise visited.