Recently, at Digital Shoreditch I gave a talk about the new opportunities that brands and businesses could potentially gain in regards to recent and developing aspects of automotive technology, and specifically as they begin to be introduced into the ‘mass’ automotive marketplace.
The idea for this talk came about as I was investigating the concept of the ‘driverless car’. By focussing on the point where the technology that drives the car meets the technology that connects the car with the big wide world – I realised that there was an enormous potential to not just give back to the driver lost time but to also give them access to even greater connectivity.
Additionally, at this key moment, there is the opportunity to generate greater emotional value as it offers a more in-depth human and personal connection with the vehicle and specifically with the brand.
Essentially, there is the opportunity to replicate the more intense emotional connection that many smartphone owners have with their phones – something clearly identified in the fact that the average smartphone owner now spends 90 minutes a day on their phone. (Not so different from the average time a driver spends in the car when taking a trip.)
Of course, we can already see a few examples where drivers have embraced a new in-car experience through the use of technology – for instance the use of apps such as Waze.
However the present examples will only be amplified as the vehicles we own start to become more powerful and digitally connected devices.
And just as with smartphones, brands will also be able to exploit this as a way of creating new customer experiences.
From an advertisers viewpoint, what I would like to see is brands adopting a new sense of creativity in targeting the driver. Moving beyond merely lean back marketing tactics, and embracing the fact that we will have the ability to engage with people at new and distinctive points in their life.
Furthermore, brands will have the ability to benefit from new data collection opportunities that had generally speaking not been previously available to them.
The technological power of these connected vehicles means that we will – in real-time – be able to gather more of an individual’s personal information, including shopping habits – potentially to the point where brands can actively predict when an individual is actually taking a trip to the shops.
Obviously, this development in predictive modelling will allow us to interact with them, not just in a more in-depth way, but also more importantly on a more personal level.
However there are of course some cultural barriers, which already suggest that this new car technology, and the type of advertising that might subsequently come with it, will not be overwhelmingly well received.
Unsurprisingly, Statistics show that there is a sizable number of people who are not convinced about the safety and security of driverless cars.
Also, there is a major distrust in regards to brands and data, and specifically those that have ‘abused’ people’s personal data for capital gain.
Moving forward, there is a need to discover clever and engaging ways to connect people (drivers) with this technology.
Specifically, there is a need to identify soft and culturally acceptable approaches that the marketplace will willing accept and subsequently help prepare the way for a more truly in-depth relationship with these new developments.
For me, a beginning point would be to look again at the relationship that individuals have with their smartphones and attempt to replicate that with the opportunities’ that in-car technology might offer – even including those from branded content.