Drone Delivery Promoting Brands in Australia

Google has been teasing more drone delivery in the United States for some time now, but the company just announced something a little bit different for customers Down Under in Australia. Apparently, Google’s Project Wing has plans to start delivering hot burritos across the countryside. Yes, you read that right, Mexican goodness to go, courtesy of Google.

Project Wing has run tests in the United States, including burrito delivery last year at Virginia Tech University. That effort, however, was delivering to hungry Tex-Mex fans in an open field. Google hasn’t tried delivering to specific addresses via drone… yet.

That will change sometime soon, in small towns outside Australia’s national capital, Canberra. Some residents live far enough out that it’s a 40-minute round-trip drive into town. Food and drug deliveries could change the way these residents live, making shopping for essentials much simpler.

The tests are just that, tests. There are no plans for full-scale rollout as of yet. Project leaders admit they have a lot of hurdles to get past. These include more than just the user interface. They also have to literally navigate neighborhoods, with their power lines, fences, trees and other impediments to low-flying objects.

And, as they get closer to the actual address, the drones must deal with parked cars, mailboxes, pedestrians and other potential dangers, such as predatory animals.

Then there’s the hurdle of actually getting customers to trust drone delivery enough to pay for it. At this point, because the concept is so new, that part of the puzzle will be difficult to piece together. Google will need to create a very positive and connective marketing campaign to get people curious enough to actually follow through with an order.

Then, there are the people who simply don’t want to see drones cruising all over their neighborhoods. These folks are not apt to accept the “service,” which they will view as an annoyance.

The leading region for drone delivery in the world is, arguably, East Africa. At present, two East African nations will have launched fully-automated drone delivery systems by early 2018. Both Rwanda and Tanzania have gone all-out with their drone delivery programs. Tanzania will focus on delivering medical supplies, including blood and vaccines, to remote regions of the country.

Rwanda has already completed more than 1,000 drone deliveries. Local officials and the companies that supply them the hardware see these deliveries a modern eventuality. Many others agree, they just can’t seem to agree on how to make it work.

Ronn Torossian  is the Founder and CEO of the New York based public relations firm 5WPR: one of the 20 largest PR Firms in the United States