This document discusses the state of the wearables market. It notes that while 245 million wearable devices will be sold in 2019, the market remains complex and early in its development. Early wearables like fitness bands and Google Glass struggled with clearly communicating their value proposition and benefits to consumers. For wearables to gain widespread adoption, marketers need to focus on providing useful context, information, and entertainment to users without being intrusive. The challenges are to capitalize on this new platform while respecting users' personal space and preferences around small screen interactions.
11. THE WORLD WASN’T
QUITE READY
• It wasn’t clear to the customer what
problem it solved.
• The ‘next cool thing’ is not enough to
gain enough adoption.
17. • In what remains relatively untapped.
• Wearable adoption is greater than tablet adoption in
its adolescence
Is the popularity set to
grow exponentially?
19. • Provide contextual information and location,
location, location.
• Cater for multi device use
PROVIDE CONTEXT
20. • Beyond the ‘marketing as interruption’
PROVIDE UTILITY
21. • Glanceable content that allows users to get
snapshots of ‘infotainment’
BE INFORMATIVE OR
ENTERTAINING
22. • The consumer is in control.
• The minute their personal space has been threatened,
they’re going to take off the device.
• The challenge is dealing with such a small screen.
DON’T BE
INTRUSIVE!
23. • The power of being at the forefront
• A value-add experience is absolutely necessary
• Be clever with your approach
TAKEAWAYS
Notes de l'éditeur
I’m going to talk to you about Wearable tech – it’s a big topic that I’m going to cover in about 9 minutes.
Just starting with a few topics that I’m going to cover:
It is a very complicated market, and it has really evolved from novelty accessories to products that have the potential to be integrated into our daily live.
What can we learn from previous failures and look to the past for learnings.
And finally from a marketing standpoint, what is needed in order to see successful returns in this emerging channel.
What is wearable tech…
It is generally assumed to combine both something which is worn to element of technology.
It’s a not a new topic, it’s been around and featured in films from Back to the Future.
To Bond – You’ll see the uses that Bond makes use of with his watch from unzipping dresses, cutting rope and stealing spoons.
But forward, there are a number of stats floating around and most of it aligns with the growth of the internet of things and that is wearable's are set for massive growth. And anything which is going to see growth on that level of 245million, brands and marketers of course going to have a massive role to play, hopefully for good.
However, there is a level of complexity around the tech mainly owing to the up and downs its and in the past and the fact that it is so broad, covering so many facets.
With the Tweeting Bra – a real concept from a couple of years. It did have an admirable goal of driving awareness to breast cancer but they don’t have the mass market appeal.
With the Tweeting Bra – a real concept from a couple of years. It did have an admirable goal of driving awareness to breast cancer but they don’t have the mass market appeal.
With the Tweeting Bra – a real concept from a couple of years. It did have an admirable goal of driving awareness to breast cancer but they don’t have the mass market appeal.
There’s a lot of hype yet to be truly delivered but we’re still in the early stages of adoption as the real big players have only entered the market and I’ll come on to them shortly.
And there was no bigger hype that was undelivered then the mighty Google Glass.
On the surface an incredible piece of technology, a 5 megapixel camera capable of recording video at 720, the ability to integrate maps, voice control but so many faults but the main issue is that people didn’t understand it’s use.
For those of you that were here last year we had demo set up for Google Glass and that involved creating an Origami Crane by following the steps on the Glass and that arguably highlights the main issue and that is that people didn’t know what problem it solved.
or why they needed it. The ‘next cool thing’ isn’t always enough to gain adoption and top of that there were routine complaints about Google Glass wearers, including privacy concerns about secret video recordings.
To the individuals themselves there were seen as techie hipsters, so much so that Google itself had to release a do’s and don’ts for Glass wearers.
Shift to 2015 and the big players enter the market and the world really started to take notice, because you know when Apple get involved they’re going to destroy every small player in the market but here also comes the shift to the mass market.
People care about what they look like and it has become a blend of fashion and technology.
Offering something which arguably looks nice with the ability to offer contextual and valuable information to your wrist.
Traditionally the sector which has had the most success in the market has been the tech geared at health and fitness. Examples include Fitbit, Jawbone.
Those that have the ability to track and record your workouts, heart rate, sleep, and other health data. Which can then be presented back to you in a way that can lead to self-improvement.
As they see their once-owned features now being fused together within Apple’s user-friendly interface, a more all encompassing offering.
Shift to 2016, what does the future hold?
Apple Watch in particular has been seen as a massive let down, they have released figures yet but Apple have stated the Apple have sold more units of the watch than the first editions of the iPad or even iPhone.
As estimated, there is likely going to be a tipping point which sees adoption grow and truly meet the mass market.
It’s a job as marketers to help your consumers increase their strengths if we see it that way and shift their perceptions, because the potential for brands is great through an additional device.
That starts with providing an experience which is adding real value and that’s achieved through.
Customisation
The ability to deliver targeted ads to customers based on contextual and their real-time location appears stronger than ever thanks to wearable tech. Marketers looking to leverage this channel need to capture customer attention at the right time with the right message at the right time, in the right format.
Methods such as geo-fencing and geo-targeting are not new concepts, but with wearables, they can be applied in much more effective ways.
Secondly the ability to offer an experience that compliments other devices but offers something more personal and contextual.
The applications should be immediately useful for the consumer, and the hope is to create a long lasting link with the brand as a result.
The application or feature should be immediately useful for the consumer, and the hope is to create a long lasting link with the brand as a result.
And it is tricky but it’s about finding a topic that will add real value to the user and get one feature right.
If we can’t provide utility, then theres always entertainment, and this must be glanceable information that can entertain users within a short time period.
The real opportunity with this one is VR and AR headsets but they are a few years off in terms of being made available to the wider public.
The key is to deliver relevant content in real time—without intruding on your audience’s everyday lives.
There is a further element with Wearables that must be considered and that is they are much more personal. By their very nature they are physically attached to the bodies so their guard is up. The minute they are threated, the more they will switch off.
Secondly, with such a small real estate on the screen, it requires advertisers to be more subtle in their approach and that’s achieved through contextual information or brand partnerships.
Point 1 – You learn quicker and faster than your competitors to find what works. The early adopters of your tech will be the most powerful word of mouth prescribers to their friends and community.
Point 2 – All information that we push to smaller wearable devices should be seen as recommendations rather than product pitches.
Point 3 – There is going to be so much data out there around consumers through cross device targeting and especially the integration of apple pay, there so much information out there to be clever.