Archives
Recent Posts
Subscribe
Enter your email address to subscribe to the Brand Algorithms blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Home : Blog : May 2013

Digital Marketing and The Iot

May 6, 2013 by Brand Algorithms
Perhaps, I should have titled this piece "An Iota of Digital Marketing". The IoT I am referring to is the Internet of Things (henceforth IoT); which, according to EPoSS (European Technology Platform on Smart Systems Integration), is "Things having identities and virtual personalities operating in smart spaces using intelligent interfaces to connect and communicate within social, environmental, and user contexts." The foci in this definition are the unique addressability of the devices in the network, and their ability to communicate independently and intelligently over the Internet.

In a white paper released in 2011, Ericsson predicted that there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020. What does all of this have to do with digital marketing, and should a brand-owner even keep an eye on developments in this technology domain? The answers are: a lot and yes, respectively. The IoT opens up an array of possibilities for brand owners, in two areas: extending the functionality of the brand and creating opportunities for acquiring new customers. From a brand-owner's perspective, there are three potential configurations for devices in the IoT:
  • As an accessory to the brand, either sub-branded or designed into the product: think Nike FuelBand; think smart appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, ovens, etc.) from brands such as LG, Samsung, and Whirlpool. The Nike Fuelband measures the user's everyday activities and reports it to a system (NikeFuel) that tracks the number of steps taken, the amount of calories expended, and the duration of active time in the user's day. Smart appliances feature devices, integrated in the appliances, that track various operational parameters of the devices (e.g. power consumption, wear and tear, etc.) or that monitor and mediate functions of the appliance (e.g. list and quantity of food items in a refrigerator so that a shopping list of items is sent to the owner whenever the items are running out).
  • As a brand in itself, but still an accessory to another brand or device: like the Sony SmartWatch or the Pebble e-paper watch. The primary differentiator between these devices and those in the previous category are that these are not linked to a specific brand or product. The Sony SmartWatch works with any Android smartphone, while the Pebble works with both Android and iOS smartphones.
  • As a brand that delivers greater functionality than the accessory it replaces: say, a medical device that constantly monitors the vital parameters of the user and raises an alert when the readings cross a pre-defined threshold; a smart meter that informs the owner about the power consumption of various electrical devices in the owner's home, and which may connect into a smart grid. These devices are of more utility thanks to their capability for two-way communication: reporting on a situation and receiving instructions to initiate actions that are intended to lead to corrective measures in a deteriorating situation.


Internet of Things


Depending on the product category, the digital marketing opportunities available to brand-owners can be any of the following, or something I haven't even thought of:
  • Build an IoT device that functions as an accessory to an existing brand - either working only with the brand or with all brands in its product category - or execute a brand extension strategy with an IoT device that improves on the functionality of existing devices (e.g. Nike FuelBand or Sony SmartWatch).
  • Develop a branded app that interacts with an IoT device, and delivers the functionality of the IoT device to a remote user (e.g. a snack brand develops a calorie-tracker app that talks to a Nike FuelBand-type device). Needless to say, the IoT device being targeted should belong to the brand's product category or to a related product category.
  • Tie up with IoT device vendors (e.g. an LG or a Samsung or a Whirlpool) to allow their devices to recommend the brand-owner's brands or to display the brand-owner's brand promos, when a consumable needs to be restocked.
There are a few cautions brand-owners need to exercise, when venturing into the world of IoT devices or apps that talk to IoT devices:
  • Security
    The brand-owner has to ensure that the app or device is secure, inasmuch as it carries out its activity as prescribed, it records actual events/parameters in its area of operation (rather than fudging data), the data is sent and received un-tampered, no malware has been inserted in the data, no unauthorized access to the network takes place, and no unauthorized transmission of data from the network takes place.

  • Standards
    The brand-owner has to ensure that the IoT device adheres to evolving standards in the areas of data exchange beween devices (e.g. MQTT - Message Queuing Telemetry Transport protocol) and that the devices and associated apps use standard APIs when building a user experience.

  • Confidentiality of data
    The brand-owner has to ensure that user data and user profiles are not directly linked in the data repository. Furthermore, there needs to be a policy for the duration of time data is retained and for the destruction of data outside this retention period.

  • Ownership of data
    The ownership of the data may rest with the brand-owner or with the user; while the ownership of information extracted from the data may rest only with the brand-owner. This has to be clarified up front.
The possibility of 50 billion connected devices, by 2020, is one reason brand-owners should look at ways of leveraging the IoT for brand promotion purposes. India is still a nascent market, as far as IoT devices are concerned, but that shouldn't stop brand-owners from examining whether their brands can benefit from an IoT strategy and, if so, from evaluating potential IoT projects. Success, in the digital marketing world, belongs to the brand that constantly searches out new avenues, for promotion, and fresh communication techniques: IoT could be one such avenue.
Tags: Internet of Things, Smart Devices, Digital Marketing
Authored by:

LATEST COMMENTS

[url=https://bestmedsx.com/]mexican online mail order pharmacy[/url]
Comment by: semaglutide wegovy


[url=https://tadalafilu.online/]tadalafil 5 mg for sale without prescription[/url]
Comment by: semaglutide tab 14mg


[url=http://oprednisone.com/]prednisone oral[/url]
Comment by: prednisone 5 mg tablet price


[url=http://tadalafilgf.com/]cialis 4 sale[/url]
Comment by: ozempic pill form



LEAVE A COMMENT

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*
*