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COM 600 Conclusion

Tonight is the final meeting of my Digital Trendspotting class. It has been an enlightening semester, to say the least. I have learned about so many emerging technologies like bioinformatics and quantum computing. I have also gained a much better understanding of familiar technologies like VR, artificial intelligence, and smart-devices, along with a stronger appreciation for their component parts (e.g. haptic feedback, vocal recognition, etc.) Arguably more importantly, I have been made aware of the major developments and concerns surrounding technological advancement in the twenty first century, including the regulation of Bitcoin, genomics, and data privacy. One of the most beneficial elements of this class was the constant exposure to news and information across industries. I have developed many useful habits in evaluating digital trends and keeping abreast of new developments that I hope I will continue to utilizing moving forward in my education and my career. I have already seen a fundamental difference in the awareness of key trends and understanding of technology between myself and the rest of my graduate cohort. I read news articles every day that touch not the influence of tech in the advertising industry. It will be very exciting to see how these trends impact my career, and I am glad I can move forward with the confidence that I will be able to foresee them and adapt to them accordingly.

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GPS and mapping technologies have completely revolutionized the way we travel. My parent’s generation was completely reliant on maps for navigation. I remember using road maps as a child, but they are so far removed from my memory that they seem like artifacts from a distant past. I also remember the frustrations of early GPS devices that were often inaccurate and rarely up-to-date on traffic or weather conditions. In the present day, however, we carry powerful, fast, accurate GPS technology with us in our pockets everywhere we go.

The net positive or negative impact of GPS technology on our navigation skills is up for debate. On one hand, I rarely travel anywhere (even short distances) without relying on Google Maps for directions unless I am very familiar with the area. On the other, I never have to worry about being lost or getting caught in a traffic jam as long as I have enough phone battery and cell coverage to open the app.

Waze is a newer player in the mobile mapping space, but it has gained quick popularity thanks to its user reporting system and up-to-the-minute updates on best routes. They recently took things a step further by becoming the first mapping app to offer estimates and routes tailored to vehicles utilizing HOV lanes. While this may not seem like a far stretch from the primary technology, it would be very difficult for an algorithm to differentiate between traffic in standard lanes and HOV lanes without a large deal of code and a wealth of GPS data to rely on. This is not a technological breakthrough by any means. Still, small advancements like this that have a major impact on user experience are what really drives people to adopt new technologies. Consumers have a need and developers work to fill it. That simple dichotomy is at the core of all technological progress. I, for one, am excited to see how advanced GPS mapping will be in a few years. If the rate of progress continues at remotely the same pace, recognizing HOV lanes will be laughable a few years from now.

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When looking at emerging technologies, I have not given much attention to drones for a number of reasons. First, as many are quick to point out, there are quite a few pitfalls that need to be overcome before we see them replace traditional delivery services on a large scale. Second, the proliferation of drones as a cute toy (akin to toy helicopters) cost them some legitimacy in the tech space. Third, the technology has already been well-established over the past few years without much room for continued improvement.

That said, it is exciting to see the technology used in meaningful ways. The R&D arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet is working on a project to use drones for the delivery of medications and food to rural parts of Australia. As a country with a dispersed rural population separated by largely uninhabited areas, this project would help provide much needed assistance to economically unstable communities. Drones have been used for similar purposes in the past in crisis response situations. Hopefully, this is an indicator that we will see a much more widespread use of the technology for disaster relief and humanitarian efforts in the future. 

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Airbnb has had its share of ups and downs over the past few years. Amidst concerns over privacy, racial profiling, and disruption of the tourism industry, the company has continued to grow on the strength of a simple, humanistic business model. Their strength comes in providing consumers with plenty of affordable lodging options when travelling and the added sense of trust when dealing with “real” people instead of hotel chains. But is consumer trust diminishing as the company becomes a more formalized business?

Airbnb is taking an interesting new direction by partnering with an apartment complex in Florida to expand its business model. These branded apartments have provisions for home sharing built directly into their leases. Tenants can participate in home sharing for up to six months of the year, as well as coordinating with the “MasterHost” to facilitate check-ins and room cleaning for guests. Participating tenants will split the proceeds from home sharing with their landlords. This also removes any concerns about anti-social neighbors, but it certainly pushes the brand one step closer to becoming a traditional hotel.

While I am not sure what immediate impact this move will have on the brand’s image, it certainly opens up an interesting space for community real estate developments to consider new sources of revenue. These kind of arrangements could be feasible in commercial real estate that is completely independent of Airbnb. Only time will tell if this is the first sign of a major shift in home sharing. We will simply have to wait for reviews from guests to see if there is any real benefit from the consumer standpoint.

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I have mentioned the struggling market for wearables (e.g. smart watches) in a few previous posts. It is my opinion that developers need to put much more emphasis on functionality and necessity in order to be successful. In essence, they need to find an essential space in the daily lives of consumers or carve out a particular niche where they offer great value to truly drive adoption of the technology.

One way in which Apple has been successful in doing so is through the use of health monitoring apps. There is an increasing concern with general health and fitness across the world, and fitness fanatics are a very strong market to appeal to. However, Apple is straying into dangerous territory by partnering health insurers to incentivize customers. This is a risky move for two reasons:

First, Apple may be sacrificing the premium label of the product by giving away 50,000 free devices through health providers. At this stage, it may not be smart to give up the product’s exclusivity, and few things are less appealing to consumers than a product suggested by medical companies. There is nothing sexy about at the toothbrushes dentists give you after a cleaning. I can almost guarantee that they don’t drive toothbrush sales, and they probably have very little impact on brushing habits as well.

Second, consumers (especially those in the tech space) tend to be very skeptical of large corporations. Partnering with health insurance companies (who are only interested in saving themselves money) just furthers the idea of Apple as a greedy, corporate machine. While this could have the potential to introduce many consumers to smart technology and result in healthier lifestyles, that may be a bit too optimistic.

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Niantic, the creators behind the viral sensation Pokémon Go, are developing a new augmented reality game based on a franchise that is arguably more widespread than Pokémon: Harry Potter. Pokémon Go saw massive success in 2016, with 750 million downloads in the first six months and up to $2 million in estimated earnings. The game was the first major application of AR that achieved global market penetration. Pokémon Go quickly became a household name and majorly shaped our country’s culture, if only for a few short months.

Now, Niantic is hoping lightning will strike twice. Can an equally successful franchise produce as much excitement as the first? Or, was Pokémon Go a fad that burned brightly only to fizzle into mediocrity once the initial excitement wore off? My bet is on the latter. I predict a short-lived (yet meteoric) rise for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, followed by an even quicker fall from grace. While this game has the potential to gain traction very quickly, it will most likely not achieve the same success as its predecessor, which had the advantage of being the first to market with this model. Equally, the creators need to keep in mind that there may be quite a bit of overlap between audiences for the two franchises. While those who are active users of Pokémon Go may flock to Wizards Unite as well, much of the audience has already lost their interest in camera/map-based AR gameplay. Unless they introduce some exciting new elements into the game, they are not likely to generate the buzz they are hoping for.

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When I first saw this headline, I thought it would focus on rising sales in VR headsets and content like Oculus Rift or the SonyPlaystation VR. Last holiday season, there was a flood of articles claiming that VR devices would dominate holiday shopping lists. Many claimed that they far outpaced the naturally skeptical projections of marketers. That said, VR still has a long way to go before it is anything more than a consumer fad. However, this article actually focuses on a subject I find much more interesting: VR as a training method for retail employees.

VR as a form of entertainment is a far cry from being commercially successful. The technology is still too underdeveloped to be widely adopted. Creators still don’t really understand how to utilize the platform to its full potential. However, this technology holds a lot of immediate promise in regards to learning and training. By providing an immersive experience, employees trained with VR have a much better understanding of real-world scenarios and are much more comfortable applying their training on the job. I do hope to see VR change the face of entertainment in the coming years, but if I had to pick the area where it could be most influential immediately, my money is definitely on job training and education.

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As emerging technologies gain widespread use, we are entering an interesting crossroads between changing societal values and innovation. The trend of marijuana legalization has been moving forward rapidly over the past few years. In many regards, the controversy surrounding recreational marijuana usage has all but disappeared. Loosening regulations have also resulted in an economic boom as many keen investors jump at the chance to enter an emerging, highly-profitable industry.

Naturally, given the nature of this business and the entrepreneurs leading the charge (young, liberal innovators), new technologies were bound to play a major role in shaping the marijuana industry. One such application is the use of blockchain to track the supply chain of marijuana. IBM proposed this solution to the Canadian government when they began taking steps to legalize marijuana nationally by 2018. This is far from the first use of blockchain to manage a supply chain, but it is one of the most widespread in what is becoming a huge consumer industry. It will certainly be interesting to see how applications like this impact the future of both blockchain and the marijuana industries as they continue their progress on the gains of their mutual interests.

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Many people are skeptical (and rightfully so) about how feasible innovations like autonomous vehicles and machine learning are on a large scales. How can smart technologies find their place in a world that was built for it? The infrastructure simply isn’t there, and the cost of replacing the current infrastructure would be astronomical. That’s where Bill Gates comes in.

Bill recently announced his plans to fund a “smart city” outside Phoenix, Arizona called Belmont. His investment group, Cascade Investment, paid approximately $80 million to be a part of the 24,800 acre land development project. The city plans to be cutting edge with a strong backbone of data centers, new manufacturing, and high-speed digital networks. The lack of these fundamental pieces of infrastructure has severely slowed down progress for most cities in the past few decades. However, with men like Bill Gates at the wheel, new communities won’t face the same problem.

If a few influential, tech-savvy investors (think Elon Musk) help make smart cities like Belmont more prevalent, they will lead the way for the rest of the world to advance along with the current wave of technological innovation.

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This is a great follow up to my last post on wearable tech.

I was scrolling through Instagram the other day when I noticed a sponsored post for the NBA NikeConnect Jersey. At first glance, I assumed these were just ordinary jerseys. I thought I was being served standard NBA merchandise ads because I am a basketball fan and attended a game in Atlanta last year. However, the word “Connect” caught my eye, so I decided to take a second look.

Much like Levi’s Commuter Jacket, the full potential of the NikeConnect Jersey is unlocked with an accompanying app. When a smartphone with the app enabled is in close proximity to a chip in the tag of the jersey, fans unlock special content such as behind-the-scenes videos with their favorite athletes or exclusive releases for sneakers or video games. This is a perfect way to carve out a niche in the wearable space. Instead of trying to be something anyone might find cool, Nike designed jerseys for a strong subculture of core customers: die-hard basketball fans and sneaker heads. They may not wear the jersey every day, but their passion about it is going to be much stronger than the typical consumer.

The beauty in this product is the monetization of the technology. To begin with, these are being sold at the same price point as standard jerseys: a whopping $110 (don’t get me started on sports culture). Nike easily could have raised the prices on these and framed them as the first “smart” jersey. However, by keeping the pricing consistent, they will gain much stronger market penetration. Why would anyone buy a standard jersey when the smartphone-enabled version is the same price? Most consumers may not care, but the core audience will jump at the opportunity. What sports fan worth their salt wouldn’t want to have the most exclusive news and content about their favorite teams? 

On top of this, releasing content about specific players gives fans all the more reason to buy multiple jerseys. Lastly, the chance to be among the first to hear about a product drop (especially sneakers) is a huge selling point to the target audience I mentioned before. Sneakerheads are a large community of unbelievably passionate fans who are constantly on the search for limited-run, top-dollar merchandise. Nike is providing them with a new channel for information and purchasing that they can take with them anywhere, sharing the brand all the while.

This is how you become an essential part of a consumer’s daily life. If other brands can follow this model to carve out a niche with a highly-engaged consumer group, wearable tech can finally rise out of obscurity into mass-market consumerism. This is how wearable technology will reach its full potential.

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Although it sounds futuristic, wearable tech has been a reality for several years now. Much of the novelty has worn off. Google Glass has faded into relative obscurity (actually, it found a new home in an unexpected niche: factories). Fitness trackers like FitBit have been resigned to cute gifts, and smart watches have become so main stream that most people consider them boring. This shift is due in part to the increasing accessibility of wearables. Low-end fitness trackers and smart watches now sell for well under $100. At this price point, they are not particularly profitable investments for most companies to dedicate additional R&D to. Most offer limited features that, while interesting, are not that necessary or useful to consumers in their daily lives. However, we are beginning to see an emergence of more high-end, integrated wearables that may renew consumer interest and push the envelope of how connected we can be.

One prime example of this is Levi’s Commuter Trucker Jacket with Jacquard. Jacquard was developed by Googles Advanced Technology and Projects Group, utilizing conductive yarn that essentially allows pieces of fabric to serve as small touch screens. In this case, Jacquard lets wearers use gesture controls (i.e. swiping) to change what song is playing on their phone or answer a call using only their jacket sleeve if they have downloaded the accompanying smartphone app. The jacket was primarily designed for bicycle commuters. It is completely waterproof, and can be washed normally after a small electronic chip is removed. Currently, three retailers are carrying the jacket, which retails at $350.

I first heard about this product when the partnership between Google and Levi’s was announced back in 2015, but I wanted to look back at it now that it has been commercially available for a few months. So far, the reviews aren’t great. It seems the jacket falls victim to many of the same pitfalls as its forebears. Although users have attested to the quality and comfort of the jacket, its features still seem far too limited to warrant the price point. Users also need at least an iPhone 6 with IOS 10 (or the Android equivalent) to use the app. Basically, it just isn’t that useful. Wearables are certainly an exciting arm of the tech space, and one consumers will more readily into their daily lives than VR or cryptocurrencies. However, designers need to make a major push for smart, creative functionality in order for the next wave of wearable to be a true commercial success. 

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A classmate of mine presented Lockheed Martin’s “Field Trip to Mars” campaign to our Media Planning class a few weeks ago as an innovative media execution. It is easily one of my favorite pieces of advertising this year, and the video doesn’t mention the brand name at all. This goes far beyond a creative media solution. McCann New York used technology to create an immersive, organic piece of content that perfectly aligns Lockheed Martin with its target.

This campaign was meant to promote awareness for Generation Beyond, Lockheed Martin’s STEM education program designed to inspire the next generation of innovators, explorers, inventors, and pioneers. It also sought to fix a perceptual problem. Although interest in space exploration has risen dramatically in recent years as many tech leaders have discussed the possibility of colonizing Mars, few people associate Lockheed Martin with the space program. This is ironic considering the company helped build the first spacecraft that visited Mars.

McCann billed “Field Trip to Mars” as the first group VR experience. They used advanced mapping and VR technology to transform an ordinary school bus into a virtual tour bus on the surface of Mars. It is arguable whether this is branded content, native advertising, or something else entirely. Regardless of the label, this is clearly an excellent use of media and technology to establish Lockheed Martin as a pillar in the space community for the next generation.

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It’s easy for me to get excited about emerging trends and new technologies, even if they don’t tie directly to advertising. That isn’t the case here. One of the trends that I find most interesting at the moment is augmented reality. AR has huge potential in the retail space as well as advertising, and Pepsi used the technology in a fun and interesting way to promote Pepsi Max in the UK. (Side Note: I know this isn’t very recent. Still, I just saw it for the first time in one of my classes, and it was too perfect to not write a post about it.)

The campaign utilized a hidden camera and a digitally-enhanced screen to turn an ordinary bus stop into a cutting-edge advertising medium. Commuters waiting at the stop saw a host of bizarre events. Meteors crashed to earth. A giant octopus dragged unsuspecting pedestrians into the sewer. Some people drew back at the sight of a stray tiger. While these were merely digital renderings, the shock and humor of the piece made people want to investigate further. Many people watched in amusement or moved forward for a closer look.

This is a basic example of capitalizing on the novelty of new technologies in advertising. It was a low-cost, low-effort campaign that was shared widely on social media. In the next few years, AR will become more normalized. Advertisers will have to be innovative in order to keep consumers’ attention. But for now, we can just enjoy how easy it is to gain attention and delight audiences with relatively simple technology.

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When blogging about digital trends, it’s easy to get caught up in conjecture about a distant, radically different future driven by revolutionary innovations. However, many of the technologies I have been discussing are already enhancing the consumer experience in much more organic ways. One example is the use of VR in the retail space.

We have already seen this at play with IKEA allowing users to view and rearrange home furnishings in a virtual environment. Now, Mastercard has teamed up with Swarovski to be the next major retailers in the space. The experience allows users to move through a virtual home and view items from the Atelier Swarovski home décor line. As users look around, they can see product descriptions, pricing, and even videos on craftsmanship in some cases. They can then purchase items directly through the app with Mastercard’s digital payment service, Masterpass.

Although this is a fairly basic, intuitive application of VR, it is a sure sign that this technology is becoming more mainstream. As large brands embrace new technologies, we will see a fundamental shift in the way consumers shop at physical retail locations and online. This is an exciting time for advertisers. There are plenty of “new” media to play with and more ways to engage consumers than ever before.

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Last week, I tackled some of the ethical issues and fears surrounding the advancement of AI. This week, I’d like to take a look at a subset of that trend that is a common target for the fear mongering sci-fi writers use to earn their living (disclaimer: I’m actually a big fan of science fiction, but I enjoy it with a healthy level of skepticism). I am referring to machine learning, which employs advanced algorithms to recognize patterns in large data sets and determine the most effective solutions to a given problem.

Essentially, a computer program utilizing machine learning becomes more efficient over time as it gathers new data. Many early examples of this technology were used to challenge human beings in games of strategy, like chess. In the above article, Garry Kasparov (chess grandmaster and author of Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins) recounts losing at chess in a 1997 rematch with IBM supercomputer Deep Blue.

Although he admits frustration at being beaten, he acknowledges both the admirable ingenuity of human beings and the great potential machine learning holds for the future. He notes that it is incredible he was able to remain competitive with Deep Blue at all given their difference in processing speed. The supercomputer was able to process hundreds of scenarios per second, while Garry was limited to only two or three. The reason the competition was so close is that human beings have a unique way of looking at the world through analogies (linking abstract patterns together), whereas machine learning is entirely deterministic (exploring all possible scenarios simultaneously). While machines can process data at a much higher rate, humans have the capacity to think more abstractly.

That said, machine learning is advancing thanks to faster processing speeds and an abundance of available data. Although the accuracy levels for supercomputers attempting complex cognitive tasks are still far from perfect, they are quickly surpassing human capabilities, and they have another advantage that many people don’t realize. Computers are not limited by human frames of reference. With machine learning, computers find the most effective solutions given the available data. They do not ignore or favor certain possibilities based on preconceived notions. They evaluate all possibilities simultaneously with an objective aim of finding the best solution.

Machine learning could be applied to a number of fields (such as medical diagnoses) to produce faster, more accurate results than humans are capable of. This is an exciting time to see new technologies develop that incorporate machine learning and maximize its potential. However, as advertisers, we will be faced with an uphill battle to convince the public of its advantages. The first goal will be removing the stigmas associated with machine learning and artificial intelligence. After people learn that there is nothing to fear, we have to get them excited for new innovations in this technology. That will be the really fun part.

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I came across an interesting article today from Fortune about an ongoing trend: the rise of cryptocurrencies. For those of you who don’t know, cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain technology (which acts as an encrypted digital ledger) to provide a secure system of financial transactions between virtually anonymous parties. Bitcoin is the prime example, although experts are still fairly skeptical about it.

While there are several major benefits to using cryptocurrencies, such as wider global access, decentralization of data, and protection from fraud, there are still several ethical concerns to be addressed. One is the rise of cyber extortion as examined in this article. Ransomware is malware used by hackers to encrypt data across a network of computers and demand a ransom for decryption. In the past, this was difficult to pull off as the payments (made by transfer companies) were easily traceable. However, cryptocurrencies offer an instantaneous, anonymous means of exchange.

While the payout rate on these attacks is incredibly low (0.4 percent), there has been a sharp rise in reports of cyber extortion correlating with the advancement of cryptocurrencies, and many more cases may go unreported given the nature of the attacks. International corporations (like media companies) may begin accepting cryptocurrencies as a trade standard in the near future. Knowing the inherent risks, it is imperative that we push for the regulation of these services to protect consumer data as well as our wallets.

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When discussing digital trends, it is important to be aware of the companies responsible for developing and distributing new technologies and especially those that monetize them. The tech space has been divided among a handful of giants for the past two decades (i.e. Apple, Google, Amazon, etc.) who seem to have a strengthening grip on our lives as consumers. These companies began as niche services seeking to fill a need in the digital age, but they have quickly expanded to encompass countless services, consumer products, and even cultural movements that define our daily lives. Economists and consumers alike are fearful of the stranglehold these companies have on our wallets, but many still fail to recognize the biggest bargaining chip these corporations have at their disposal: They are masters of data.

Big Data is the only truly global, modern currency. Businesses crave more and better data on their consumers so they can be identified, categorized, and targeted with increasingly sophisticated marketing efforts. The tech giants are purveyors of this information, as well as owning the channels on which these consumers can be accessed. From an advertising standpoint, they are gods.

Currently, Google and Facebook alone account for well over half of the annual digital advertising revenue ($83 billion!!!) in the United States. However, many industry experts believe Amazon will soon challenge this duopoly. Amazon offers a much more focused platform for B2C (business to consumer) companies with its product-driven search engine. A recent study from marketing technology Kenshoo found that 72% of consumers visit Amazon at some point when researching products online. This is most likely due to the wide range of product information and user reviews available, as well as Amazon’s competitive pricing structure. Naturally, this makes the Amazon Ad Network a perfect space for consumer product companies to funnel their digital advertising dollars.

Beyond the practical benefits for consumers, Amazon offers a wealth of data for advertisers. Amazon can follow the entire consumer journey from initial research to purchase, as well as gathering direct feedback about product usage and satisfaction. Amazon knows what types of products we are interested in, what categories and search terms we use to find products, and all of the brands we consider before making a purchase. They know how often we read customer reviews or click on sponsored/related content. All of this information is invaluable for advertisers. In essence, Amazon could become a one-stop shop for advertisers seeking to market their products, track the consumer journey, and get customer feedback.

Finally, Amazon has one more big advantage over Google and Facebook: it is not dependent on advertising as its primary source of revenue. Amazon is first and foremost a service company. While they have expanded into the content space with Amazon Video and Prime Music, their principal focus is still consumer services (including newer offerings like Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go). This gives them the flexibility to offer more competitive pricing and unique marketing opportunities for advertisers without allowing advertising to dominate their platform.

While their is much potential for growth here, the Amazon Ad Network is still limited in some aspects. The space does not lend itself as organically to advertising as Google or Facebook. Users are also less trusting of sponsored content on a product-focused site. That said, Amazon is putting real pressure on the dominance of Google and Facebook in the digital advertising space. It will be interesting to see how all three companies innovate in the next few years as digital spending grows and new competition enters the market.