Industry leaders and start-ups gathered at this year’s International CES a couple of weeks ago, where the most promising innovations in consumer electronics were unveiled. Although Lux did not make it to Vegas, we did attend an insightful presentation on fundamental tech trends for 2015 by Rochelle Grayson; a consumer and digital media executive with over 20 years of business, technology and education experience.
Grayson focused on what’s actually different this year and what it all means for marketers;
1. Smart Machines 2015 is the year of the Internet of Things, a trend that anticipates the integration of technology into everyday items. Imagine homes that unlock as we walk towards the door, driverless cars and fridges that order food for us. What does the role of advertising become when machines are making everyday decisions for consumers? And with data being collected at real-time, how are companies like Samsung, Toyota, and Google going to use this information to enhance their offering?
2. Wearable sensors The explosion of wearable sensors is set for further growth in 2015, introducing an age where everything is monitored, logged, shared and analyzed. These data-sharing devices will soon be able to monitor everything that surrounds us and share that information in real time. For example, smart rubbish bins, blood monitoring skin patches, and TVs that will start recording shows if you fall asleep during the program. The concepts however bring with it, privacy concerns. Also, with intimate data being made accessible, advertisers are going to have to target their services and products to niche markets that they never previously considered.
These trends have been predicted by some of the world’s top tech entrepreneurs; however, to those of us who are not part of such circles, there is still some skepticism. These trends portray a world where technology and cognitive thinking synchronize faultlessly. However, before there is fluidity, there will certainly be endless restarts, retrials and reboots, and it is going to take longer than a year for marketers, consumers and techies to work seamlessly together!
