The future of 16

digital

What we will cover in this chapter

If there is one thing you can be certain of it is that your digital strategy will
date quickly. Technology continues to change the world we live in and so
looking to the future is important. There is no way to accurately predict the
future but we can examine some of the likely technologies and trends we
will see in the coming years. The key areas covered in this chapter are:

● World Wifi
● Internet of things
● Wearables and implants
● Drones
● Bionics
● 3D printing
● Virtual reality
● Motion control
● Eye tracking
● Driverless cars
● Beacons

Chapter goals

By the end of this chapter you should understand some of the new
technologies and future possibilities that could affect your digital strategy.
The future is not certain and so none of this chapter can be guaranteed,
but in developing an understanding of these key trends you should be able
to future proof your strategy.
2 Digital Marketing Strategy

As Arthur C Clarke put it, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indis­

tinguishable from magic.’ As the technology age continues to move at pace,
with no signs of slowing, it certainly feels at times like magic is happening.
There is no certainty around what we will see from digital and technology
in the coming years, but in this chapter we take a look at some of the recent,
new and potential technology that may have an effect on our strategy. This
enables us to future proof our strategy and also to consider any opportunities
that may be presented through these advances.

World Wifi
There are parts of the world where installing internet connectivity is impossible
or, at the very least, impractical. It does not follow, however, that people living
in those locations do not have a desire or even a need to access the internet,
and so finding a way to open high-speed internet connectivity out to those
areas is a challenge that is being progressed by a number of organizations,
most notably Google and Facebook.

Google Loon
Project Loon is a Google project that has the aim of providing internet
access to remote areas that would otherwise be unlikely to gain access in the
near future. The project uses balloons that float in the stratosphere at around
20 miles above the earth and create a wireless network. The balloons are
able to move by adjusting their altitude to match a wind layer that, via data
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has
been identified as having the necessary speed and direction.
By utilizing this balloon network, Google aims to improve communications
during natural disasters and in other difficult remote scenarios.

Internet.org and Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg set up internet.org, which has a different solution to the
same problem: 85 per cent of the world has access to cellular coverage but
only 30 per cent of those have internet access – and so internet.org uses
mobile phone networks to provide internet access to the areas that do not
have it.
The more famous of Mr Zuckerberg’s enterprises, Facebook, has been
reported to be working on drones that will perform a similar function to
 The Future of Digital 3

Google’s Loon project mentioned above. This of course creates an interesting

scenario where balloons could be competing for airspace with zones. This
would be potentially very hazardous and we will look at drones later in this
chapter.

What this means for your digital strategy

If more of the world is able to gain access to the internet then obviously the
potential client base increases. Services for people who have very specific
rural needs and have been historically unable to fulfil these digitally could
now be provided with these services. In developed countries there are still
very patchy areas of internet coverage and it is likely that eventually these
would disappear too, creating 100 per cent internet coverage, which means
that your mobile usage and conversion will increase further.

Internet of things
In 1982 a Coca-Cola machine was modified at Carnegie Mellon University
to become the first internet-connected appliance. From here, the concept of
the internet of things, or IoT, has developed to become quite common
knowledge in recent years and has really started to become mainstream
(see Table 16.1). Products such as Nest, which allows you to control your
heating remotely, and products that learn your behaviours and adapt are
becoming integrated into the home. Fridges that tell you when they are
getting empty and even order your usual shopping for you still have a way
to go before becoming commonplace, but they are likely to do just that very
soon.

What this means for your digital strategy

It is possible that these products will eventually enable companies not only
to become more tailored and targeted but to have a direct voice with the
consumer at the point of interaction. This could help to solve product issues
without the need for a helpline and a series of investigative questions.
It could mean putting your product at the front of mind when the consumer
is thinking about food rather than waiting until they start ordering. The
possibilities here are endless but the main opportunity is to be there with the
consumer in real time during their usage of your product or one of your
competitors’ products.
4 Digital Marketing Strategy

TA B L e 16.1 Countries by IoT devices online per 100 inhabitants

Country Devices online

South Korea 37.9

Denmark 32.7

Switzerland 29.0

United States 24.9

Netherlands 24.7

Germany 22.4

Sweden 21.9

Spain 19.9

France 17.6

Portugal 16.2

Belgium 15.6

United Kingdom 13.0

Canada 11.6

Italy 10.2

Brazil 9.2

Japan 8.2

Australia 7.9

Mexico 6.8

Poland 6.3

China 6.2

Colombia 6.1

Russia 4.9

Turkey 2.3

India 0.6

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Digital Economy Outlook 2015
 The Future of Digital 5

Wearables and implants

The Apple watch is probably the best-known wearable at the time of
writing, but there are many other watches with similar offerings and the
fitbit has been in common use for some time. Other projects have not quite
taken off – as is the nature of innovation. For example, Google Glass raised
concerns amongst critics around safety and privacy as the device could be
distracting when a user should be concentrating on a task, and could also
enable the user to access information on someone without their knowledge.
The project has been parked but I would expect it to return in another form.
Figure 16.1 offers a forecast for the value of the wearable device market
from 2010 to 2018.

F i g u r e 16.1   The wearable technology market

Wearable Market Growth

14000
12642
12000
10920

10000
8862

8000
7140

6000
5166

4000
2520
2000 1260
630
6.3
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/259372/wearable-device-market-value/

As we continue to move along this path we will get towards a goal that I
have talked about many times – one device for everything or, as I call it, ‘the
single solution’. This is where owning a laptop, desktop, tablet, smartphone,
watch, television and radio will be unnecessary. One device will house all of
our work, software, entertainment and communications and this will simply
be used to create the experience. We may send our streaming films and TV
shows to a highly portable screen from this device or place it on our desks
6 Digital Marketing Strategy

to create a hologrammatic screen to use as a monitor whilst we work.

It would make sense that this device would be wearable.
Wearables will, however, inevitably give way to implants at some point in
the future. There are already some trials of implant technology and it works
very successfully in a basic form. These implants could deal with some or all
of the functions listed above and would likely integrate a future form of
beacon technology (see below).

What this means for your digital strategy

As with the internet of things above, putting your products at the fingertips,
or even voice, of your consumer is extremely powerful and wearable technology
will lead many of us to become less conscious that we are using the technology,
as it integrates with our body and thoughts. Taking our device out of our
pocket or logging in at a desk will no longer be necessary, and so being part
of the second nature of an individual gives organizations an opportunity to
provide services in a truly integrated fashion. It is entirely possible that
wearables will very soon be able to monitor health, to the extent that health
advice can be given based on specific body signals, or emergency services
can even be triggered for serious incidents.

Drones
Drones have become more common over the last few years, to the point
where they are now fully available to consumers and are predicted to sell
very well in the next few Christmas seasons. There have been many tests to
use them commercially, with some success.
There are, however, many concerns around privacy, air traffic and piloting
that have prevented drones becoming too prevalent. Piloting concerns are
especially strong for the consumer market as most people purchasing or
receiving drones for personal use will have little to no piloting training.
There is a fear that manufacturers may not provide training or detailed
instructions and this could lead to drones flying into traffic or hitting people.
Also, air traffic is a serious concern: the European Union has stated that
drone market share could be up to 10 per cent of aviation by 2025.
Some future uses for drones include atmospheric satellites or ‘atmosats’,
which could fly at altitudes exceeding 12 miles for up to five years to conduct
tasks such as communications, weather monitoring and imaging. This could
reduce the reliance on orbiting satellites as atmosats would be far more efficient.
 The Future of Digital 7

Another future use is rescue. If drones can be used to reach inaccessible

locations such as mountainsides then they could be fitted to include the ability
to take supplies to stranded individuals or even to bring them down from
the mountain.

What this means for your digital strategy

Drones have been used for delivering goods by businesses such as Amazon
and this opportunity remains, albeit with the challenges of safety that we
have looked at above. Drones could be used as patrolling security cameras
or to move goods between locations in one site or between multiple sites.
It is possible that it may become more common for consumers to own their
own drones and use these to fulfil tasks for them. This opens further oppor­
tunities as the drone could effectively fulfil tasks that the consumer does not
have time to do. This starts to stray into the world of 20th-century sci-fi
movies but, if the logistics, safety and privacy concerns can be dealt with,
this could be a very efficient use of people’s time.

Bionics
Bionics, much beloved of film and TV for decades, is the field in which biology
meets technology.
Typically in science fiction the ‘bionic’ human was effectively given super­
powers by the modification of his or her body. In reality, bionics – at present
at least – is focused on restoring mobility and normal function to those who
have lost it through illness or accident; for example through exoskeleton
devices that can be strapped on to the body as a wearable robot, moving
intelligently in response to the brain’s signals.
Science has looked to the complex processes and solutions of the natural
world as inspiration for artificial processes for centuries, since Leonardo da
Vinci first studied the wing structure of birds in his efforts to design a flying
machine. Today the term ‘biomimetic’, or alternatively ‘biomimicry’, is often
preferred by scientists, partly because these terms avoid the sensationalism
inherent in ‘bionic’. Biomimetics can include not just robotic devices but
also interventions at a much smaller scale, such as nano devices designed to
release drugs at carefully targeted locations in the body.
But bionics is not restricted to enhancing human capabilities: the visibility
devices known as cats’ eyes on roads were an early example of biomimetic
technology, inspired by the cell structure that allows cats’ eyes to reflect
back even small amounts of light. Sonar and its derivations, such as radar
8 Digital Marketing Strategy

and ultrasound, is another example, inspired by the echolocation capabilities

of bats. More recently computer science has drawn on the principles of
neuroscience to create innovations such as artificial neurons and models
such as swarm intelligence. A particularly interesting area is evolutionary
computation, which takes as its starting point the evolutionary process to
create artificial optimized solutions with no existing natural parallel.

What this means for your digital strategy

Aside from medical use this technology is in its infancy in another area that
is perhaps more relevant to the digital marketer and general consumer. Some
individuals who are professionally involved in scientific progress have begun
to use implants for day-to-day actions. This includes opening electronically
locked doors and turning lights on based on where you are. The potential
here is enormous and brings up concerns around privacy (as we have discussed
throughout the book) but it has the potential to understand human motion
and behaviours in the greatest level of detail possible. It also therefore enables
us to tailor our products to these behaviours in an incredibly unique manner.
This will not reach mainstream for some years but it is worth being aware
of as an area of technology that can no longer simply be ignored as sci-fi.

3D printing
This is another huge growth area of recent years and is a technique that is
now being used to create all sorts of complex items. It is even being taught
in some schools.
Also known as ‘additive manufacturing’, 3D printing involves building
up layers of a substance, cross-sectional ‘slices’ that bind to each other without
visible joins, to create a three-dimensional model of an item. Typically the
item is created as a virtual 3D model using CAD (computer-aided design)
software or scanned from the original object using a 3D scanner; 3D scanners
and printers are becoming relatively commonplace: games consoles such as
the Xbox Kinect can serve as 3D scanners, and many schools now boast 3D
printers, typically fused deposition models using plastic or resin that hardens
when exposed to light.
The technique was first developed in the 1980s, and quickly gained
ground for the precise manufacture of metal parts, building on technologies
that already existed for robotic milling or removal of material to extend the
possibilities for creating parts rather than machining them from blocks of
 The Future of Digital 9

metal. Other terms used for the process include ‘rapid manufacturing’ (the
logical extension of ‘rapid prototyping’) and ‘on-demand manufacturing’.
Today it has matured to the point where it promises a fundamental shift in
the basis of manufacturing, decentralizing production and perhaps countering
the recent trend towards globalization.
This democratizing of manufacturing could have significant social and
cultural implications, particularly for the developing world. It raises interesting
questions, for example, about the future of freight transportation and patents
or intellectual property protection. An increasing number of online forums
exist as sources of information on how to build and use 3D printers, and
allowing enthusiasts to share models, such as RepRap, Pinshape, Thingiverse
and MyMiniFactory. These open, peer-to-peer commons-based communities
offer an interesting glimpse of a new potential future for manufacturing:
localized, flexible, sustainable and highly reactive to events. On the other
hand, this manufacturing utopia could be regarded as a disaster by those
who currently work in low-skill jobs in the sector.

What this means for your digital strategy

The options here are broad but some include giving customers the opportunity
to replace their products by downloading a file from a secure area or inviting
consumers to the free trial of a sample product produced by 3D printing.
One of the restraints we have in digital is the fact that giving a physical
product to an online customer in real time is impossible and therefore many
customers still prefer the benefits of holding a tangible product on the high
street. However, 3D printing can enable someone to see and feel the sample
product before ordering the high-quality item.

Virtual reality
Oculus Rift is probably the most well-known of the virtual reality comeback
that has been growing in momentum over recent years. Begun as a Kickstarter
campaign that raised US$2.5 million, the Rift headset launched in the first
quarter of 2016, one of the first virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays
to be targeted squarely at the consumer. Its display is high resolution with
low latency, meaning that there is less of a time lag than in any earlier devices
between the player moving their head and the visual display reorienting
around them, and Oculus claims that the experience comes closer than ever
before to achieving what they describe as ‘the sensation of presence’.
10 Digital Marketing Strategy

The primary use for the Oculus Rift and other ‘next-generation’ VR
devices will almost certainly be gaming: new games have already been
designed specifically for the Rift, and others are being modified (‘modded’)
to exploit its affordances.
However, there are many other potential uses for such sophisticated VR
equipment. Oculus bundled Oculus Cinema as a free application with its
hardware, allowing users the illusion that they are watching their favourite
films and videos in a ‘virtual cinema’ rather than the mundane surroundings
of their own front rooms. There is also the option to watch in ‘networked
mode’, alongside other users sharing the same virtual space, able to interact
and converse as they watch. The types of media that can be viewed with the
headset can go well beyond traditional films, however: with a VR movie,
viewed on a 360-degree screen, viewers can ‘step into’ the action, feel
immersed in it rather than a passive spectator, choosing where to focus their
attention. The Oculus Story Studio was founded to experiment with VR
movies, and Oculus has also partnered with traditional film companies such
as Felix & Paul Studios to create 360-degree 3D videos designed to be
experienced through the Rift. There are obvious opportunities also for
immersive experiences of live events such as music concerts or sports events,
where you can not only see and hear the action but interact with your fellow
spectators.
And ultimately, perhaps the most interesting possibilities for VR
technology such as that developed by Oculus, however, is in the social space
rather than simple gaming or media consumption. That is certainly
Mark Zuckerberg’s view, at least: when Facebook acquired Oculus in 2014
he wrote, ‘This is really a new communication platform. By feeling
truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the
people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your
friends online, but entire experiences and adventures’ (source: https://
www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101319050523971).
Other companies have also been quick to spot the potential of VR. Linden
Lab, the company behind one of the first virtual worlds, Second Life,
announced in 2015 the early version of their new virtual platform,
codenamed Project Sansar, which will be optimized for the Rift headset but
also accessible via mobile devices and standard PCs. Project Sansar is
particularly interesting because its stated aim is to make VR development
accessible to non-developers, in the same way that WordPress enabled
anyone to create a website: Ebbe Altberg outlined some of the possibilities
in his announcement: ‘By greatly expanding who can create virtual experiences,
Project Sansar will also extend the value of VR to a wide variety of use-cases
 The Future of Digital 11

– from gaming and entertainment to education, architecture, art, community

building, business meetings, health care, conferences, training, and more’
(source: http://www.lindenlab.com/releases/linden-lab-invites-first-virtual-
experience-creators-to-project-sansar-testing).
In the meantime, the founder of Second Life, Philip Rosedale, has been
working on a new virtual world specifically designed for the Oculus Rift,
High Fidelity, which aims to link together multiple user-hosted virtual
environments into a consistent virtual world.
Finally, another player in this space is AltspaceVR, who in May 2015
launched a public beta of a new social VR platform that allows people to
inhabit a shared virtual space, incorporating content from the internet on
virtual screens alongside voice communications and interaction with objects
(such as playing cards or board games).
While most of the media attention has focused on consumer uses, the
Rift has also attracted interest from industry and the service sector for its
potential commercial uses. Architects, for example, have experimented with
the Rift, intrigued by the possibility of visualizing buildings at scale and
with a level of detail impossible with traditional monitors.
The automotive industry has also explored the potential of VR: Audi
introduced Rift Development Kit 2s at their dealerships in 2015 to allow
customers to configure their prospective car, and to experience what it might
be like to race in it.
As always with new technology, the military are also positioned as potential
early adopters. The Norwegian Army is reported to have been experimenting
with the Rift Development Kit 2 to provide drivers of armoured vehicles
with a live feed 360-degree view of the terrain around them, effectively making
the body of the tank transparent.

What this means for your digital strategy

The opportunities here are enormous. Being able to bring consumers into
an alternative world where they can see and interact with anything creates
literally a world of opportunity. This can result in social media turning from
copy and image-led to experience-led. It can result in consumers virtually
visiting a travel location before booking their flights. It can mean putting a
piece of furniture in a representation of their home to see how it fits and to
walk around it before buying it. There are almost endless digital marketing
uses for virtual reality and if this can become mainstream then it may
completely change the way we interact and shop.
12 Digital Marketing Strategy

Motion control
Part of a compelling VR experience is the ability to interact convincingly
with virtual objects and to control the experience naturally, with movements
of the hand and head rather than the handsets or joysticks traditionally used
by game consoles. An example of this new generation of control interfaces
is Leap Motion, whose sensor device uses movements of the hand and fingers
as input, without the need for contact with a mouse or other hardware. The
technology is based on 3D scanning, similar to that used by Microsoft’s
Kinect, but on a smaller, much more precise scale that allows for fine control.
The company was founded by mathematician David Holz and Michael
Buchwald in 2010 and after several rounds of funding it announced its first
product, The Leap, in 2012. The unit went on sale in 2013, after several
thousand devices had been sent in advance to developers to allow them to
create applications. Initial sales were disappointing, perhaps because this
first model failed to fulfil the expectations that had grown up around it
(source: http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/20/leap-motion-lays-off-10-of-its-
workforce-after-missing-on-first-year-sales-estimates), but the company has
continued to develop the technology, engaging developers in an active
community through events such as the annual ‘3D Jam’ (source: http://blog.
leapmotion.com/tag/3d-jam/15.9 EYE TRACKING), which offers significant
prize money for successful participants, and partnering with hardware
manufacturers such as Oculus and Hewlett Packard. One interesting potential
application beyond gaming is accessibility, and particularly the idea that
motion control could allow a computer to interpret and translate sign-language
input, for example to facilitate communication between those who use sign
language to communicate and those who do not.
Other interesting developments in motion control include haptic controllers,
which provide the user with kinaesthetic feedback simulating the touch
experience of the virtual world, such as Oculus Touch’s handheld devices or
NeuroDigital’s GloveOne.

What this means for your digital strategy

If motion control can be perfected then we could realistically start to move
away from keyboards, mouses and even touch screens. This change will not be
coming along in the next couple of years, but if it does arrive then this will again
revolutionize the way that people interact with technology and with each other.
This therefore changes the way that people interact with brand and the way
they shop. UX will need to go on a completely new journey and data will
need to understand these motions. It will certainly impact our strategy.
 The Future of Digital 13

Eye tracking
Another development associated with virtual reality but with fascinating
implications and potential for digital marketing is eye tracking, technology
that measures the point where the user is directing his or her gaze and/or the
motion of the eye relative to the movement of the head. In VR this is an
important input to the human–computer interaction interface, but it has
also been used extensively in scientific and medical research (on the mechanics
of the visual system and in neurology and psychology, for example) and
commercially in marketing, website development and product design. The
most common way of tracking eye movement is the use of video, which
records the movement of the eye and from which its position and focus
can be extrapolated. Other more accurate but also more invasive methods
include the electrooculogram, electrodes placed around the eye that monitor
the variation in electrical charge depending on its movements; and search
coils, sensors embedded in contact lenses that measure the magnetic forces
generated by the position and orientation of the eye relative to a series of
magnets placed around it.
The increasing sophistication and accessibility of eye-tracking technologies
have aroused the interest of commercial players in recent years, and many
studies have been run in which the visual response of a range of consumers
to a target stimulus – for example a website, system, a commercial or adver­
tisement, packaging or even a car – is measured. Where a subject directs
their attention, the dilation of the pupil, saccades (a quick flick of the eye
between two fixed points) and blink rate can all reveal a great deal about the
impact and effectiveness of the object under scrutiny.
Eye tracking is particularly well used in web-usability testing. Traditional
metrics can surface patterns of clicking and scrolling, but analysing how the
user’s eye moves on the page allows designers an insight into what is happening
in the pauses between interactions, where cognitive processes are operating
and decisions are being made. Which features are the most eye-catching?
Which cause confusion? And which are ignored altogether? This is particularly
valuable for the analysis of search efficiency, navigation, branding and
on-page advertisements, and typically professional analysis services will
track competitors’ sites alongside those of the client for benchmarking and
comparison. As a result of the analysis, companies can take informed decisions
on the mix of content (for example, the ways in which news stories can best
be combined with advertising on the page), the placement of a logo or
promoted product, and the visual elements, colours, size and fonts that capture
attention most effectively. This is often used as part of the testing of prototypes
in order to select the version that captures attention most effectively.
14 Digital Marketing Strategy

The results of eye-tracking analysis can provide a powerful way to quantify

the success of a campaign, alongside more traditional metrics such as click-
through rates. Other possible application is for the automobile industry’s
ongoing focus on improving safety. If a vehicle is able to monitor the visual
activity of its driver in real time, and can sound a warning if the driver’s
attention wanders from the road, then the number of accidents could be
significantly reduced: research shows that the most common causes of
accidents are distraction and drowsiness, both of which could be detected
by eye-tracking software. Lexus was an early experimenter in this field, in
2006 fitting its LS 460 with a driver monitor system that sounded a warning
when the driver took his or her eyes from the road.
This is another promising area for advancements in accessibility, too: eye
tracking has been used for several years now in communication systems,
allowing the user to communicate, browse the internet and perform other
predefined activities by directing their attention at a specially equipped console.

What this means for your digital strategy

This is an extension of the above two sections. It will again change the way
we interact with technology and therefore have a similar impact. If users are
using virtual reality, motion-sensing technology and eye tracking then they
are getting very close to interacting in a natural way with technology rather
than having to learn unnatural methods such as keyboards or pinching
screens. This again affects data. We could start to judge how often our
advertising that appears in the virtual environment is being looked at.
Impressions, clicks etc will become irrelevant. We will know it is impactful
if someone looks at it – and that it is of interest if they spend some time
looking at it. The accessibility opportunities here also open us up to be able
to serve people whom we may have historically found it very challenging to serve.

Driverless cars
In 2016 we saw a lorry drive along a German motorway at up to 50 miles
per hour without any input from the driver. This technology is being
designed to aid professional drivers but there is a fear that it will ultimately
replace them, which is of course entirely possible.
Autonomous cars, also known as self-driving or robotic cars, are able to
sense their environment using a range of techniques such as radar (or lidar
– a combination of laser and radar technologies), GPS and computer vision.
 The Future of Digital 15

They are able to respond appropriately without input from a human driver.
This involves much more than simply an ability not to hit something or
someone in its path: a successful driverless car must also be able to navigate
to its destination, identify and respond to signage (including temporary
signs such as weather-dependent speed restrictions), road conditions and the
behaviour of other road users, for example knowing when it is safe and
appropriate to pull out and overtake.
The technology has evolved alongside the automobile itself, with early
developments dating back to the 1920s, but the first truly autonomous cars
appeared as the result of university research projects in the 1980s. Since
then all major automotive manufacturers, and several other technology
companies, most notably Google and Apple, have engaged in prototyping
autonomous vehicles. While the technology is now well advanced, one of the
biggest issues that has blocked its take-up is the concern around safety, and
particularly liability. Volvo has recently indicated that it will accept full
liability for accidents caused by its cars in autonomous mode (a less risky
move than it might at first appear, given that well over 90 per cent of all
accidents are attributed to driver error), which may accelerate their uptake.

What this means for your digital strategy

This may at first glance seem to be very distant from digital marketing.
There is, however, a very important point to note here. Every day millions of
potential customers interact with brands on their smartphones and tablets
as they commute to work on the train or bus. Those of us who drive,
however, cannot use any devices as we need our focus to be 100 per cent on
the road ahead. With driverless cars comes the possibility of opening up a
huge volume of potential customers during these key commuting periods
and, of course, at all other times. The opportunity here is significant and
working out how to be one of the leading businesses when this opportunity
presents itself could be a serious competitive gain.

Beacons
Beacons are micro-location devices using Bluetooth low-energy transmission
to communicate with Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as a shopper’s smart­
phone. They are being used by an increasing number of stores to improve
the shopping experience, sending welcoming messages, offers or coupons to
shoppers when they enter the store, informing them of the details of a
16 Digital Marketing Strategy

particular outfit modelled on a mannequin, links for online purchase for

items not available in the store and so on. In a sense this brings the offline,
in-store shopping experience more in line with the online experience. Stores
hope that by offering real-time incentives and contextual information the
technology will combat the tendency of shoppers towards ‘showrooming’,
that is, researching products in stores only to buy them later after comparing
prices from an online platform such as Amazon.
Of course it is not all a one-way flow of information for the benefit
of the shopper. As Vincent DiBartolo, vice president of technology at digital
advertising agency Big Spaceship puts it, ‘The promise of beacons for
retailers is you can finally tie an online persona to an offline persona’
(http://on.ft.com/1FZeasZ). This opens up new and interesting possibilities
for segmentation and real-time targeting of customers. And as well as simply
incentivizing purchase with timely offers, the store can use beacons to
collect invaluable information about its customers, such as the ways in
which they move through the store, where they spend their time, and which
advertisements and displays are most effective in converting their interest
into buying. There are other possibilities too for improving both effectiveness
and profits: beacons can monitor the way in which customer service staff
interact with customers; identify low stock and alert sales staff accordingly;
and link with the increasing number of options for mobile payment such as
Apple Pay – thus enabling a seamless mobile process from discovery right
through to checkout. There is also the possibility that beacon technology
could allow a store to generate a new revenue stream from its suppliers by
placing advertisements for selected products to targeted customers in specific
areas of the store.

What this means for your digital strategy

At present, beacons work in conjunction with a store’s own app, meaning
that users have to download the app before they can be effective: this
means, for now at least, that the customers who can be reached via beacon
technology are likely to be the most committed, which in itself creates
interesting possibilities for building engagement and rewarding loyalty. The
future success of beacons is likely to depend on the willingness of consumers
to share their personal data, and the integration of stores’ beacons with
generic tools such as mobile payment, since there is likely to be a limit to the
number of separate store apps that any consumer is likely to want to
download.
 The Future of Digital 17

chapter summary
This chapter is very different to the others we have covered throughout the
book in that there are no best practices and no certain answers here. There
are many areas that are in development around the world and they will
present a range of opportunities and challenges when they arrive. We looked
at some of the technology that we know is here in its infancy or is coming
soon and considered some of these opportunities. The most important point
to take away from this chapter is that the future is uncertain but ever changing.
It is important that you understand what is in development and that you
allow maximum flexibility in your strategy to enable you to take advantage
of these opportunities.

Chapter checklist

● World Wifi 

● Internet of things 

● Wearables and implants 

● Drones 

● Bionics 

● 3D printing 

● Virtual reality 

● Motion control 

● Eye tracking 

● Driverless cars 

● Beacons 