High profile announcements of phones from Samsung and smartwatches from LG hogged the headlines at this year’s Mobile World Congress event. But reading between the lines, beyond the exact details of the emerging technologies announced, there was also a lot for marketers to learn from the show.
Here are three lessons that I took away from the event:
One: Be prepared for out-of-home and in-home preferences and experiences to converge. By 2020, we will each own 28 connected devices according to IBM; these will drive greater efficiencies in terms of energy, time and money. The marketers that come out on top are ones who recognise that these devices are used in a range of environments, and make use of the touchpoints available both in and outside of the home.
Two: Security of data passed between devices is important. At MWC it was very noticeable that as technology is developing, devices are increasingly acting on information provided to them by other devices. There is potential for this network to be compromised, however, which has very serious consequences.
For example if Google says you will be home late due to current traffic conditions, that could be shared with your home heating system saying not to warm the house up until an hour later than usual. This intelligence could be passed to other apps and through other systems, with news spreading that your house will be unoccupied for a period of time.
Marketers need to respect and be careful with that data, with device manufacturers and software developers also having to take this onboard.
Three: Keep it simple and tangible. From cars sharing updates on the health of a car to garages, to bed sheets monitoring sleep patterns, this year’s MWC was a showcase of weird and wonderful technological innovations. While these sprawling developments are clearly exciting, the job of marketers is to keep it clear exactly what end users will gain from them.
By Joo Teoh, Managing Director of Ampersand Mobile.
PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.
comments powered by Disqus