“Omnichannel” will include your Fridge

With the IoT revolution, the way organizations and brands are going to communicate with people is going to change.

It will be hyper-contextual and hyper-personalized [for real, not the current chit-chat that we hear everywhere]. It will leverage not only people’s online actions but also every ‘offline’ interaction from people’s lives.

Let’s take a smart home for example. Thanks to sensors, intelligent devices, smart electronic appliances and smart plugs installed in their home, we will be able to know a lot about the residents and their interactions with their environment; e.g.: which temperature they like, the lighting/ environment they feel the most comfortable in, the kind of music they listen to, the food they eat, how many loads of laundry they do per week, etc.

Imagine, if this family goes to a shop or waits for their flight in the airport and they have the same or similar experience that they have at home. A super-personalized experience. Nice lights, the music that they like… and look! Their favorite soda! What a coincidence…

The real opportunity for IoT is not just the convenience that it brings, but also the value that we can provide with the data collected.

There is nothing more annoying than receiving a message or to be involved in an experience that we don’t care about. As a brand, if we analyze and correctly use the data collected — and carefully respect people’s privacy — we will be able to really create that hyper-targeted communication that everyone dreams about.

For example, an intelligent / smart fridge — usually not considered a ‘communication touch point’ — will be a great medium. It will know what we eat, in what proportions, the frequency we eat, which items are finished or expired, the brands we consume, etc. Ok, today there are smart fridges that can automatically order food with the grocery store, but what if, instead just taking an action, we get involved in the consumer decision, delivering an extra value? The fridge would have historical data, for example, that our consumer likes a particular brand, maybe our brand. Why not take the opportunity and engage with them again? Bam! Push a promotion. 2-for-1? Like this one, why not try this one… Or look! Your Gym is sending you a message, ‘You know, this one is quite high in calories and we saw from your wearable that you only walked for 10 minutes today… why not choose the salad instead…’ etc. I am being visionary here; I know the ‘privacy and competition’ issue would need to be addressed beforehand…

And that is not all. If we combine the data from all connected objects in-home with the data out-of-home from the smart-city (understanding how citizens interact with their environment) we will be able to get a bigger picture of the consumer; and as a result, provide a [even more] targeted solution and create more meaningful experiences (in and out). This ecosystem of data from all touch points would help us be linear and consistent in every situation [one of the issues I believe brands and organizations are struggling with]. With this, you can create real storytelling across all points-of-contact and be the Superman of people engagement!

The opportunities are limitless.

But there is more.

This can also be applied in a BtoB environment. The way we connect and communicate with other organizations and suppliers is going to change as well. No need to call your insurance for a water leakage in your building. They will know already. Thanks to the data collected they will have predicted it. And as result of tracking your behavior and having historical data, they will be able to give you some tips on how to potentially prevent it in the future…. Welcome to the 2.0 customer service: The no-need for customer service.

Isn’t that amazing?

Look at all connected objects as key points of creators of insights. Use the data-in and combine it with the data-out [and vice versa] and use it to deliver an extra-targeted value.

Remember, it is about an ecosystem not just siloed, fragmented touch points.

Everything is and will be [more] connected. Big up to IoT!

Don’t miss the opportunity of leveraging it.

Thanks for reading.

Adela.

#future #IoT #innovation #marketing #branding