Friday, November 07, 2014

Connected Products Will Be the New Frontier of Digital Media



Global brands are now discussing how “Internet of Things”-based data (data flowing from and between connectable products, devices, people and brands) can help them build deeper relationships with consumers. These discussions are particularly applicable to digital media in that they present a simple yet entirely disruptive concept - that individual physical products can become their own media platform for brands. In other words, a connectable product (anything from a bicycle to a soda can that consumers can engage with via their smartphones) can act as its own media channel -- operating alongside TV, mobile, magazines and other media channels -- and tapping into consumer behavior to create an entirely new form of CRM through physical objects. This concept -- products as interactive media -- has vast implications for the media landscape.

Connectable products will allow marketers to uncover new data that gauges a consumer’s relationship with a brand’s products. As products become connected, marketers will be moving from the traditional push model to a more intelligent pull model. A connected product provides a brand with a direct, real-time interface and interaction point with the consumer. Instead of pushing content toward consumers at the best guesstimated time to catch their attention, brands can engage with consumers who are proactively opting in to receive content when they most need it and when they are most engaged with the brand's product.

Connectable products can become an integrated part of the media mix. The call-to-action in a TV ad could prompt viewers to digitally engage with a product at that moment for extra content and offers, creating a direct link between message, product and ongoing consumer relationship. Your exercise machine usage, say, could trigger a highly relevant offer for a related fitness product on a display ad. Connected products are effectively a media channel for fluid, continuous and omnichannel dialogue with consumers.


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