It’s easy to be impressed by new smart phones, touch screen displays and other technologies that seem to appear out of nowhere. But there’s always evidence right in front of us that reveals what our lives might be like in the future if we only pay attention. These changes have, and will have profound effects on marketing.
Individually they can be viewed as breakthroughs, but they complicate marketer’s ability to achieve ROI. Why? Innovations don’t integrate well with established technologies.
We’ve all professed our sophisticated integration, but the reality is we live in a disaggregated and inefficient marketing world. Lack of integration isn’t all our faults. As a culture, we suffer from a lack of platform integration. Despite the fact that consumers overlap their media, various media platforms aren’t connected, especially in a manner that would allow measurement. But that will all change.
In this three-part series I will investigate the future of marketing from the customer experience (today’s post), the marketer and then the implications on channel mix today and for the future.
So let’s take a peek into what our business and social lives might be like in ten years from the customer’s perspective. I’ll paint a picture of our future in an attempt to encourage you, and possibly give you ideas that will help us all realize this future sooner. I won’t predict flying cars and surrogate beings, but rather, a more probable future based on research and technology trends from today. Lets look at our world ten years from now, in April 2020, through the eyes of Jessica (the most popular baby girl’s name in the U.S. in 1995).
She is a 25-year-old professional woman, and this is a perspective on what her typical workday might be like:
6:00 A.M. – Jessica’s Cloud Acquisition Device (CAD) wakes her up with her favorite songs or sounds. The Cad is cradled on her nightstand in one of many Cloud Acquisition Ports (CAP) located throughout her apartment. Jessica voice-enables the 10-minute snooze and drifts back to sleep.
- The cloud will run all our applications and data delivery: http://bit.ly/9w4teD
- Device integration is the future of the internet: http://bit.ly/cGfCOn
6:10 A.M. – The sweet sounds of encouragement wake her up again, and after 15 seconds shifts to a voice-calendar reminder of her day’s schedule. Jessica’s cloud is tailored to her life, with calendar, personal and work database, music, television programs, movies, internet, social networks and more – all contextually delivered and selected to improve her efficiency and happiness.
- Contextual search will become much more refined: http://bit.ly/buhdUb
6:20 A.M. - Jessica grabs her CAD and plugs it into the port next to her bathroom sink where it displays world and local news, financial market activity and weather on a video screen. Jessica catches up on news while she gets ready for her day.
- TVs will become intelligent video portals for streaming content: http://bit.ly/dAfSzw
7:15 A.M. – Jessica grabs her CAD from her bedroom CAP and brings it into the kitchen where it wirelessly connects to the CAP. Her mother calls her to remind her about her father’s upcoming birthday, and the CAD seamlessly transitions between news and the video chat session with her mother. After the call, Jessica voice-enables her calendar and adds her father’s birthday and a reminder to shop for his gift when she gets home tonight. The CAD is charged wirelessly, eliminating the need for cords.
- Technology eliminates the need for wire cords: http://bit.ly/ajbCvy
7:45 A.M. – Jessica attaches her non-invasive, audio/microphone button behind her ear (over the external acoustic meatus bone which transmits sound without ear damage). Then she is out the door and into her electric car. Her CAD delivers music and podcasts to her ear button, which is legal while driving because it doesn’t block external noise. Her CAD still seamlessly integrates with her car’s audio and navigation device, and verbal commands direct her music, traffic reports synched to her destination, news, internet search or phone call options while also providing audio navigation (if necessary).
- Non-invasive headphone conducts through bone: http://bit.ly/avIeiD
8:10 – As Jessica parks in her building, her CAD synchs with her monthly parking status (paid) to open the gate.
8:15 A.M. - As she enters her office building, the international coffee chain using location-based services reminds her that she has 12 credits left. This is the only audio advertising reminder she has enabled Monday-Friday. Once in her office, Jessica plugs her CAD into the CAP, which recognizes her location and delivers her business desktop through a CAP screen. She removes her ear button because the audio and microphone wireless systems in her office are highly focused and efficient.
9:30 A.M. – While doing research for a 10:00 A.M. client meeting, Jessica discovers the most recent and relevant contextual data available for her client’s products. Her options are organized by news articles, research, business strategies, trademarks and legal issues, competitive products, pricing and customer insight. Search results are no longer organized by “video, images, blogs, books and discussions” because these options exist within each result. Each option is organized chronologically, with search variable control.
- The future of contextual search: http://bit.ly/aCUjBZ
Noon – Anticipating a lunch break at 12:30, Jessica voice-enables her food option network and chooses a Thai salad from the salad restaurant around the corner from her building. The salad is purchased with her CAD-enabled, password protected bank account, and the salad is ready to be picked up at 12:30. She dons her ear button and leaves the office.
At the restaurant, Jessica grabs an impromptu candy bar at the counter and pays by swiping her CAD. All of a sudden Jessica remembers she needs a birthday card for a co-worker, but doesn’t know where a card shop is located near her building. She voice- enables a search for “birthday card shop” and audio directions for a pedestrian are delivered. Once the card is purchased using her CAD, Jessica returns to the office to work while she eats her salad (some things never change). All her social networks are integrated into a single user interface allowing her to stay in touch during her day without spending too much time on it.
- Location based and personalized advertising: http://bit.ly/ddYF8B
2:30 P.M. - A client meeting begins and Jessica uses her CAD as the lead device for the team. It plugs into the CAP in a conference room and establishes audio and videoconference connections to eight locations via the invites in the calendar. Jessica selects the presentation from her CAD and seamlessly controls the screen that everyone sees during the meeting. Data reduction technologies have transformed our ability to share large files over pipes that have not expanded as much as they have in other countries. All CAP’s have file reduction filters that reduce the density of data to enhance speed.
The conference is recorded and notes are logged for future access and work flow.
5:30 P.M. - A good friend calls Jessica and invites her to a social meet-up that night where live auditions are being broadcast for a popular reality TV show. Live video venues stream concerts, theatre, church, government proceedings, legal disputes and parades, with screens and sound closely replicating the feel of being there. This becomes a more affordable and accessible means of attending “live” events. They agree to meet at 6:30.
- Streaming from live events: http://bit.ly/bsMjAs
6:30 P.M. - Jessica uses her CAD to buy admission and dinner while at the event.
8:00 P.M. - Once home, Jessica plugs in her CAD and settles down at the portable screen on her coffee table. Reclining on the couch, she enables her online persona, which accesses her profile that was previously created and saved, including likes and dislikes for every category relevant to her. Her search results offer a plethora of gift ideas for her father, easily purchased and delivered without any concerns about identity theft or creeps hacking her real identity.
- Online personal profile: http://bit.ly/btlihX
11 P.M. - Once in bed, Jessica voice-enables her alarm and reads from her wireless reader, which drifts to sleep-mode after Jessica.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into our collective future and it’s given you some inspiration for innovation. Don’t settle on expected marketing. Know your target, research the options and create a marketing plan that will engage and inspire. Let me know what you think.
In my next post, I’ll report about Jessica’s world from the marketer’s perspective. What will these technology innovations mean for us as we try to sculpt the most effective marketing plans? Until then, enjoy the moment.