January 1st, 2018

The Internet of Things, or IoT as its commonly referred to, is a buzzword you may be familiar with. If, however you’ve been living under a rock, here is a very brief explanation:

‘The Internet of Things is made up of devices connected over the internet, letting them talk to us, applications, and each other.’

“Can you give me an example?”

Yes. A popular example of an IoT device is a vending machine. Running low on stock, it communicates with an off-site inventory supplier, via the internet, to order more product.

Simples.

“Can I have my own IoT device, without having to buy a vending machine?”

Sure. There are many consumer products available on the market, here a few you might have heard of:

“Okay I get it, I’ll never have to speak to a person again. TF.” 

Well…not exactly, but the hyper connectivity will enable a greater dialogue between yourself and the brand. In bridging the physical and digital, we are adding an additional layer to the ‘connected-consumer’, a new source of data.

The data collected from wearables, home appliances, offices, cars and other connected devices can aid marketers into making insightful predictions on consumer behaviour. This will keep brands ahead of the latest curve and trends, ensuring that they listen to the consumer and respond to their need, without the intervention from any third-party vendor or merchant.

Basically, they will have more information on you than ever before.

“Isn’t that….ethically wrong?”

It’s about as ethically thought through as the NSA compliance policy.

Applications gathering insights into our daily lives pose questions over privacy, security, confidentiality, ownership and transparency. It has raised concerns! Do we want our daily life to be closely monitored by sensors? Brands acting as the big brother, guiding us to our next purchase.

Probably not.

But that’s another question entirely that needs to be addressed as technologies evolve.

“So, what impact will IoT have in my industry (Digital marketing)?”

60% of leading businesses in the world believe the Internet of Things and connected devices will change the entire perspective of marketing.

This puts pressure on big businesses to stay ahead of the curve and invest in managing this new consumer-focused data pool. How this feeds into agencies is an increase in technical responsibilities and playing a bigger role in the building/managing of client platforms and internal systems.

Brands that can understand IoT devices and the data packets they produce will benefit substantially, the question is when will brands and their agencies start to take notice?

Image Credits:
Cover Image and image 1: Shutterstock.