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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 28, 2015 1:34 PM
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We have smart watches, smart cars, smart thermostats as well as connected objects that reside in smart homes. And then there are smart buildings that will reside in smart cities.
Some of the marketing implications of the smaller smart things are somewhat straightforward to predict or at least speculate, since many of the items have some of the same characteristics as non-smart objects today.
For example, smart watches and other wearables have screens on which messaging can be sent. While the content and form of some of the messaging is evolving, it still will comprise data in one form or another transmitted to a screen.
Other in-home, connected objects also can have screens used to send commands, which means the screens can be used for other things
But it strikes me that the larger the smart entity, the tougher it may be to incorporate marketing messaging....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 28, 2015 3:02 AM
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A new product category can linger under a haze for years before striking a chord with its audience — raising a general level of awareness is usually the first obstacle to success. For makers of wearables, there's encouraging news in this regard: most modern consumers are at least aware of the products.
The challenge now is converting this cognition into sales.CCS Insight recently completed a survey of 3,000 smartphone users in China, the UK and US to determine the status of smartwatches and fitness trackers. The results indicate a level of industry achievement and required action.
An impressive 90% of those surveyed said they were at least aware of the availability of smartwatches, up from 80% a year ago. There is greater general awareness of smartwatches than of fitness trackers for the first time, with about 77% of those surveyed conscious of the product class....
A Seattle startup has developed what it calls a “3D printer for beer” — a device that can be used by just about anyone inside their own home to brew craft beer.
PicoBrew, which already brought you a badass high-tech beer-maker in the form of its Zymatic product, today launched a Kickstarter for Pico, the smaller, faster, and easier-to-use version of the Zymatic that is half the cost.
The company’s first product was the PicoBrew Zymatic, a $1,999 beer-making machine that allows amateur brewers to easily craft delicious stouts, porters and IPAs on their kitchen countertops. PicoBrew raised more than $660,000 with its initial Kickstarter and has now shipped more than 1,200 Zymatic devices.
The Pico, on the other hand, retails for $999 and at a limited time price of just $499 for those that pre-order from the Kickstarter campaign. While the Zymatic targeted brewing professionals, the Pico is more for the home craft beer enthusiast....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 25, 2015 2:41 PM
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Owlet, a Hardware Battlefield darling, announced that they are going out of beta this weekend and will be available to new parents who want to make sure their wee ones are breathing at night. The announcement comes in conjunction with actual testimonials from parents who feel that Owlet saved their babies’ lives.
Wrote founder Jordan Monroe:
Andrew, Pia, and Easton. These are the names of the babies who were unable to breathe in the middle of the night, and their parents were alerted by the Owlet Monitor in time to intervene. Two of the children were turning blue when their mothers picked them up and stimulated them to start breathing again.
This is our announcement to the world today: Owlet has strong initial evidence that it really can alert parents if, for some reason, their baby is unable to breathe. We are also happy to announce that we are now taking Owlet out of private beta and making it available to the public.
Monroe is careful to point out that Owlet does not prevent SIDS but instead lets parents know when the child is suffocating....
Wearable tech will not only provide brands with more access to their ideal target audience but it will also produce vital communications information, allowing brands to customize their messaging, target audience individually based on the available rich data aggregated by these new devices.
Being this close is an advertiser’s sweetest dream, but it’s important to keep in mind that the conversation needs to change once again and to be consistently reminded of the need of user privacy. What wearable tech can do for your brand and how your advertising may need to change?...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 19, 2015 3:17 PM
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We know that getting people to engage in healthful behaviors is a priority, but we've failed miserably.
But, there are rays of hope. As digital technologies like the Web and mobile have gained in popularity, some have used these tools to nudge people to engage in healthier behaviors.
For example, Stanford professor BJ Fogg has made a career of demonstrating (and teaching others) how computers, mobile tools and other digital technologies can be used to shape health behavior....
YouGov estimates that there will be 6.1 million wearable device owners in the UK by the end of 2015 and Juniper research predicts that wearable devices will generate $53.2 billion in global retail revenue by 2019. So what does this growing area of technology mean for marketers and their relationships with customers?
What’s interesting is that out of all of the wearable devices, smartwatches are expected to generate the highest adoption and spur the trend. Smartwatches are expected to replace fitness devices as the most purchased wearables category by 2017. Apple is the latest tech giant to make a play in this market and recently unveiled an update to its Apple Watch where third party apps can now be downloaded in isolation from the iPhone. Recently voted top of the ‘CoolBrands’ list, it’s likely that Apple’s foray into the smartwatch market will drive consumers to lust after the wearable tech trend....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 12, 2015 1:33 AM
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Building an emotional connection with customers has become a pre-requisite for brands today. The ones which only aim to make a sale, sooner or later, vanish in the air like smoke.Your brand has to deliver experience that tugs at customers’ heartstrings. It is because, deep down, all of us make decisions based on emotions.A Forrester Research states that 89% of the customers actually fail to establish a personal connection with a brand they buy. Brands, therefore, today need to work on delivering more personal, emotional experiences. Otherwise, it’s easier for competitors to pull customers towards them....
Among many other things, connected objects will allow consumers to buy things more easily.
The Amazon Dash button introduced several months back is a good example of at least the start of this.
The highly publicized buttons can be mounted pretty much anywhere, such as on a washing machine or near a coffee maker to remind a consumer to re-order supplies while in the context of using the particular device or appliance.
Somewhere between 300,000 and a half million of the buttons have been shipped since Amazon started sending them to Amazon Prime service members, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who sees them heading into the millions going forward....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 3, 2015 9:35 PM
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The Internet of Things (IoT) presents a significant mix of opportunity and risk. Compared to the connected devices of the past, the gazillions of new IoT devices that are being predicted for our homes, transportation, cities, medical devices and elsewhere represent a unique set of security challenges for both companies and their users.
They also offer a host of new and attractive opportunity for attackers.
To start, IoT devices significantly expand the attack surface. Hackers can easily purchase any IoT device, which will often contain the same security features of other, identical devices already deployed in hundreds or even thousands of homes. Unlike servers or networking equipment, which are usually hacked through remote access points and reside in protected and monitored environments, IoT devices are more accessible to malicious threat actors....
Awareness of the Internet of Things is gaining a bit of traction, at least in some quarters.
There is now high IoT awareness in more than half (56%) of those in the retail industry, according to a new survey.
Overall, a majority (73%) of companies have deployed, or plan to deploy over the next 12 months, some types of IoT solutions, according to the 2,500-person, 15-country survey by IDC.
More than half (58%) say they consider IoT to be a strategic initiative....
With the recent entry of key industry players like Apple into the wearables sector, the demand for these devices has risen. So much so that YouGov estimates that there will be 6.1 million wearable device owners in the UK by the end of 2015 and Juniper research says that global retail revenue from wearable devices will have reached $53.2bn (£34.9bn) by 2019. Of this, smart watches are expected to replace fitness devices as the most purchased wearables category by 2017.
With more and more consumers expected to purchase smart watches in coming years, these devices have the potential to become ‘consumer companions’ comparable to the smartphone. As a result, they provide brands with the ability to get, very literally, closer to their target customers.
The data collected by wearables will give marketers a unique understanding of audience behaviour on an individual level. For example, marketers will be able to identify where a user has been and the interactions they have had, as told by their geo-location data and the apps they have connected to. This will be invaluable for marketers in learning how to better target consumers, particularly if they can understand wearables within the context of other devices used in the wider purchase journey....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
September 20, 2015 7:18 PM
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Internet of Things is the current hip phrase of technology evangelists, geeks and all kinds of clairvoyants. If, according to tech blogs and websites, 2013 was the year of big data, then 2014 certainly is the year of Internet of Things.
New projects, big funding rounds, the general hype and excitement are everywhere. And yet, we don’t really get the whole thing right. The general media seem more concerned with new smart thermostats design than how the concept of IoT is changing our lives. It’s time to approach this massive subject properly and start avoiding common misconceptions....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 28, 2015 1:18 PM
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A while back we were introduced to AmpStrip: an innovative wearable that contains a thermometer, accelerometer and heart rate sensor, all packed into a barely-there Band-Aid-like strip. From what we saw at CES 2015, it was all set to swoop in and revolutionize how we look at wearables, with its practicality and ease of use unlike anything available to date. However, the startup company FitLinxx announced today that it has discontinued the product as a fitness tracker available to the public and will instead focus on the product's potential medical applications.
AmpStrip was originally a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo that closed on September 16, 2015 and in that time the startup managed to raise over $500,000 USD for the project (734% over the target goal). Steven Schwartz, Head of Marketing at FitLinxx, confirmed the change of direction on the product page stating: "After much discussion and debate, we have decided to suspend development of AmpStrip as a fitness product. Going forward, we are going to first focus on the device's potential uses as a medical device rather than a fitness device."...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 27, 2015 12:56 AM
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Are wearables the next big thing for smart products or a high-cost segment being forced into the market in lieu of meaningful innovation? It appears that the latter may be closer to the truth at the moment, as Juniper Research has found that very few consumers are interested in expensive wearable gadgets.
From a survey of just over 2,000 smartphone owners in the UK and US, the research found that only 1 in 5 customers are prepared to pay more than $175 for any sort of wearable device. This doesn’t bode well for the range of more expensive smartwatches that have hit the market lately, and probably also goes some way to explain the popularity of lower cost sports wearables, such as the FitBit range.
Starting at $300, the recent Samsung Gear S2 is way above the apparent price ceiling for wearables.However, this trend is somewhat at odds with the research team’s finding about the ‘coolest’ brands. Both Apple and Samsung, which offer the most expensive wearables on the market, topped the rankings, with over 75 percent of respondents stating that they preferred these two brands. Other Android Wear manufacturers make up the top five, while Pebble and a number of sports brands, which feature lower price tags, are dotted lower down the list. Fashion brands didn’t fare too well either....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 25, 2015 2:46 PM
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Solu is a coaster-sized cloud-based portable computer that fits in your pocket. A team of Finnish engineers behind the device hope Solu will change the way we think of using our digital operating systems.
Sure, we already have our portable computing devices such as iPads and smartphones, but Solu founder Kristoffer Lawson wants us to stop lugging all our heavy laptops and notebooks around and jump into the cloud-based era of “computer-as-a-service.”
“What you’re seeing on the screen, these are not just applications or files. Whenever I zoom in on something I immediately start interacting with it and I can share it,” he explained to TechCrunch in the video above....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 23, 2015 2:01 AM
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Resource-based industries are up against rising costs, manpower shortages, and the pressure to be more sustainable. A new Internet of Things Centre of Excellence for Resources by Accenture will help companies tackle these challenges and reap trillions of dollars in economic opportunities....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 19, 2015 3:37 PM
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The wearable computing industry has seen important activity this year on the public markets side. In March, Apple’s smartwatch was released, with some estimates pegging the device’s sales at 20% of all wearables units sold globally in Q2’15. In June, fitness band maker Fitbit went public at a valuation of $4.1B.
Despite these high-profile events, the funding climate for still-private companies in the wearable computing space has cooled off. Dollars invested in wearable technologies in 2015 are on track to hit $276M at the current run-rate, a drop of 72% compared to 2014′s total, according to CB Insights data, and the lowest annual funding total since 2010.
Meanwhile, deals are likely to finish the year at close to 50, down ~15% from 2014 numbers....
We know the Internet of Things is big and going to be massive in scope, impacting all aspects of marketing and communication.
Some recent data points from some of the very large companies fueling the growth yet again highlight just how big a deal this is.
Within five years, 200 billion so-called smart objects will be deployed, according to Intel’s latest guide to all things IoT. That translates to 26 smart objects for every human being on earth....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 12, 2015 3:07 PM
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The future of wearables isn't just devices on your body. It's also sensors that you put inside your body to learn more about your health and interact with smart devices in your home.
Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman, speaking Wednesday at the Code Mobile conference in Half Moon Bay, said Jawbone has invested a lot of time and money into developing sensors. And the fitness wearable maker has looked at sensors you'd swallow or implant -- like something that would stay in your bloodstream to monitor your circulation and other factors -- for use in certain scenarios....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 11, 2015 3:04 AM
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The internet has changed so much it can’t be quantified in a single word or even on a few levels. It changed education, business, telecommunications, correspondence, and interpersonal relationships.
You can now have a virtual phone system that doesn’t require wires and cables. Businesses are saving a bundle on moving their phone systems from the old PBX model to a virtual model that allows you to carry your phone number with you whether you’re using a phone, a tablet or even a landline. PBX providers like Switch have advantages over a land based phone system for its greater flexibility and low cost.
But the IoT doesn’t stop at phone systems, it is letting your refrigerator order your food, it lets your phone control your lights, your locks and a myriad of other things that you own. Between hardware and software, the IoT is projected to become the largest device market in the world. It will surpass mobile phones, tablets and cars. Between hardware, software, installation and management services, the IoT is expected to add US$1.7-trillion into the global economy....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 6, 2015 1:56 AM
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Wearable technology–a natural extension of online and mobile channels–is quickly emerging as the latest consumer engagement channel presenting new opportunities for brands to deliver more personalized and informed service, faster checkout, greater access to discounts and deals, and real-time input into consumer purchasing decisions.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS: - Consumers want seamless customer engagement from mobile and social to wearables. - Marketers need to understand how each consumer prefers to interact with brands through wearable devices. - By creating personalized and relevant interactions, brands can turn their customers into lifetime brand advocates
.By 2018, wearable technology is projected to grow to a $19 billion market. Nearly 70% of consumers are reporting they are ready to engage with brands through wearable tech devices, according to our recent Wearable Technology Survey....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
October 3, 2015 2:09 AM
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Some of the numbers associated with the Internet of Things are striking.
They range from the millions to billions to trillions.
Earlier this week, I aggregated many of the percentages around the IoT, as I wrote about here (The Internet of Things by the Percentages).
While many of the percentages, especially around growth, are huge, they hardly compare to the sheer numbers, either by units or dollars.
So here for your edification are some of the numbers around the Internet of Things, with the source of each...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
September 27, 2015 10:18 PM
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At Disrupt yesterday, one of the most interesting talks was with Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala. Other than being the MVP of the latest NBA Championship series, Iguodala is a businessperson. He’s looking for cool companies to work with, fun projects to work on and the latest in Silicon Valley trends.
It sure helps that he’s on the Golden State Warriors, a team located near all of this noisy entrepreneurship. We see a lot of “celebrities” getting involved in tech investing, but Iguodala is different in that he truly sees the big picture when it comes to companies like Tristan Walker’s Bevel, or the company he worked with through its acquisition, Twice.
One of the most interesting bits of knowledge that he dropped was on wearables. While we’re all trying to think about what the killer app will be for consumers, Iguodala says that athletes are already reaping benefits from the devices....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
September 27, 2015 11:02 AM
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The digitization of the physical world around us, dubbed the Internet of Things (IoT), is transforming how we do business and how we live our day-to-day lives. But when it comes to what consumers think about the IoT, there’s not much more important to them than their privacy, and that’s an important consideration for managed service providers (MSPs) as they think about how the IoT impacts the customers they serve. A recent report from the Altimeter Group bears this out.
The Consumer Perceptions of Privacy in the Internet of Things report questioned 2,062 American consumers about their perceptions of privacy issues around the IoT. The results should be eye-opening to MSPs, as they illustrate just how wide the chasm is between what consumers actually know about the IoT in general (which isn’t much), as well as their deep concerns about trust, privacy, and the security of their data.
For an MSP, this is valuable information, as it provides more proof that being able to promote top-notch privacy and security as one of its offerings will continue to be a game changer when it comes to having a competitive advantage in the marketplace....
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Chuck Martin offers an interesting look inside Smart products, marketing and IoT. The question is will marketing get "smarter" as well?