1. The IoT is not just a fridge ordering milk

Ignore the gimmicks and focus on what is important – your brand and your consumers. When applied properly, the IoT can create relationships with consumers based on contextual services and experiences. Explore areas such as connected home, connected store, and even creating smarter products that come packed with digital services. It removes the need for shouty advertising and constant interruptions on devices in the wrong situations (e.g. mobile banners). This in turn creates a new type of brand value based on relevance. We call this brand behaviour.

2. Adopt a ‘test and learn’ process for maximum success

It’s not realistic to expect to globally deploy something in 3-6 months. Include ‘real users’ (read – human beings) in the development process. ‘Test and learn’ is crucial to making sure that you are getting ready to scale something up that is tested and and validated as something that people want. It’s also very useful to have a success story (however small) that you can leverage to get the business behind this initiative.

3. Ensure you capture and leverage data intelligently

The context of interaction with your consumer is most likely to be in a personal environment, so its imperative to be open with consumers about what data you’re collecting, why, what you’ll do with it and what you won’t do, don’t do and what you promise never to do.

Equally, the influx of IoT products means you are about to be inundated with data about your consumers, products and the relationship between them. Make sure you understand what is important, what you can/should use and that you use it properly to inform future applications and other media or marketing initiatives.

4. Let the use cases inform your platform choice(s), not the other way round

There are over 200 IoT platforms in the market so whilst its important to keep abreast of technological developments it’s not just about jumping on the first one you see and connecting everything in the world that you possibly can. First ask yourself how the IoT can best impact your brand and is this something your consumers need? Pass this test then look at all the creative possibilities that will drive positive outcomes for your brand, business and consumers. Failure to benchmark against the above means you end up with a useless application such as the KFC Chicken Bucket Bluetooth photo printer. When was the last time you uploaded a photo of you pigging out on chicken and wished the experience was more frictionless and less greasy?

5. Consider the 3 key areas the IoT is set to revolutionise brand building

There are 3 main opportunity areas with the IoT for brands. All of which can be exploited today with readily available technologies :

a. Smart Packaging – using ‘active and intelligent’ packaging methods (as well as consumer smartphones – a connected device in themselves) to turn the products you make and sell into intelligent digital media touchpoints

b. Smart Spaces – Activating the space around your products to drive intelligent services and experiences (home, retail, stadiums)

c. Connected Products – new product and service design based on embedded connectivity and computing power into a ‘thing’. Explore the potential new business models (e.g. services, replenishment).

 

By Cameron Worth, Founder of SharpEnd

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