‘Let us go party,’ Allen commented
as soon as he received Joe’s message about a promotion. They chatted for a long
time about their school, friends and work. Both agreed to call up their
respective families and friends and meet at Allen’s place that weekend. Allen
called his wife, Tina, and conveyed the news of Joe’s promotion and his
invitation for a weekend party.
As he hurriedly left office that day, Allen’s thought
retraced childhood days at a small yet bustling town on the outskirts of a tech
city. He had gone to school with Joe, founded a technology company while at
college and decided to part ways when Joe decided to work for a tech major in
China. Joe had travelled the world and was announced the CEO on his return to
the US only a month ago.
As his car emerged out of the parking lot, a message popped
up on his phone. It was Google. It had a list of party organizers. Yet another
message had a list of his friends – mutual friends with Joe – to be invited for
the party. A subsequent message had a calendar invite with names of all family
members. Wow, this is going to be real fun, thought, Allen as he drove into his
garage.
Welcome to the ‘internet of
things’ which will certainly and significantly transform our lives. A blog
by Ian Cook
on the subject states the following - the ‘internet of things’ is an idea that
suggests that not just access devices can be connected to the internet, but a
whole host of other ‘objects’ might be able to join in as well. For
example, the Economist describes pill jars that know when an elderly patient
needs to take a dose of tablets. A call centre can then ring the patient and
remind them to take their pills.
According to Tom
Fishburne, ‘as everyday objects in our homes, cars, and general lives start
to connect, this has the potential to bring tremendous utility to people. For
marketers, it also teases mouth-watering insight into and access to individual
consumers.’
Now, Google’s acquisition of smart home device maker – Nest – could potentially change marketing forever.
The once-imagined future is less distant
than we may think. A digitally enabled household no longer means simply
maintaining a personal Internet connection or even syncing portable devices to
a home network. Now, the digital home is becoming a conscious home — one that
adapts and responds according to our behavior, states Anjali Lai in her Forrester
blog.
Gone are the days of brand building or relationship
building; marketers will have to scamper for data pertaining to individuals so
as to be the first to address their wants.
Well, the world’s really shrinking. What say you?
