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The Internet of Things will be made up of many things that are constantly on the move.
Many of the connected objects will be stationary, of course, and a lot of those already are being put in place.
There are the obvious smart objects, such as connected thermostats at home and beacons in stores.
And then there are some that are not so obvious, such as the 100 Los Angeles street lights with Wi-Fi built in and the small cells inside manhole covers in Zurich that are linked to the landline infrastructure....
Many corporate investors and smart money VCs have placed significant bets on the Internet of Things industry, which is expected to see nearly $2B in funding through the end of 2015.
Which firms are most active? We used CB Insights data to rank VCs by their unique IoT investments over the past 5 years.
Intel Capital tops the list as the most active investor in IoT startups, followed by Qualcomm Ventures. Both small-chip companies’ venture arms have been active investors in wearables startups and sensor companies. Since Intel and Qualcomm are involved in designing and/or manufacturing ever-smaller chips to power mobile devices, this area likely offers them strategic value....
We know the Internet of Things is big and going to be massive in scope, impacting all aspects of marketing and communication.
Some recent data points from some of the very large companies fueling the growth yet again highlight just how big a deal this is.
Within five years, 200 billion so-called smart objects will be deployed, according to Intel’s latest guide to all things IoT. That translates to 26 smart objects for every human being on earth....
The Internet of Things (IoT) presents a significant mix of opportunity and risk. Compared to the connected devices of the past, the gazillions of new IoT devices that are being predicted for our homes, transportation, cities, medical devices and elsewhere represent a unique set of security challenges for both companies and their users.
They also offer a host of new and attractive opportunity for attackers.
To start, IoT devices significantly expand the attack surface. Hackers can easily purchase any IoT device, which will often contain the same security features of other, identical devices already deployed in hundreds or even thousands of homes. Unlike servers or networking equipment, which are usually hacked through remote access points and reside in protected and monitored environments, IoT devices are more accessible to malicious threat actors....
Manufacturers and suppliers up and down the value chain will be affected as the use of 3D printing expands over the next decade. As barriers to entry fall, smaller companies will challenge larger manufacturers with new business models that create a competitive advantage. To counter that, larger manufacturers should start preparing now with a situational assessment:Determine the drivers for 3D printing in your industry
Calculate the effects 3D printing could have on the supply chain, manufacturing, assembly, and other areas of the business.
Decide which components will benefit from being redesigned to take full advantage of additive manufacturing approaches.
Not every manufacturing application will be a fit, but companies need to build a strategy, find the sweet spots, and begin exploiting 3D printing within their own unique business contexts before the industry begins changing around them....
Orchestrating social media can be likened to herding cats or catching greased pigs – there are so many sites, so many activities and so many connections to be made. Where do we focus, and why?
Focus on dedicated platforms – see Facebook and Parse below – or API’s for smart hardware. Why? Is it really a need for IoT and Social Media mix?
Most social media companies are already in advanced collaborations with IoT companies.
Commanding Attention. Social messaging apps are where many of us spend most of our mobile “screen time”. Through integration with wearable devices this bond will only grow stronger. It also positions the social app as not only the main communication interface, but as an alert and device control interface as well....
The six IoT visuals below help make sense of this dynamic market: - Market Overview: Breakdown of IoT into categories. - Number of Companies Per Category: Bar graph summarizing the number of companies in each IoT category. - Average Funding By Category: Bar graph that summarizing average company funding per IoT category. - Venture Funding in IoT: Graph comparing total venture funding in IoT to the number of companies in each category. - Global Breakdown of IoT: Heat map indicating where IoT exist. - Median Age of IoT Categories: Bar graph of each IoT category by median age....
But with the impending convergence of in-home connected devices, such as smart refrigerators, washing machines, and coffee makers, and technology platforms for instant replenishment, such as Amazon Dash, the home and shelf are merging. Why would a consumer need a shopping list, or have to visit a store, when their consumable items just show up at their home when they need them?...
The Internet of Things, IoT as it has been dubbed, is a topic that every marketer is talking about. But, what does it mean, and more specifically, what does it mean to marketers? These smart, connected devices are ringing in a new and exciting era for marketing. IoT provides endless opportunities for marketers and advertisers to listen and respond to the needs of their audience based on behaviors. And your audience is eager to improve their lives with these devices and provide marketers with information for more personalized communications.
The possibilities for IoT in the future are endless! Picture this: down the road your car might be able to know when it’s getting a flat tire and send out a signal (via beacons) to the nearest auto shop. Based on your calendar, the shop can send a push notification to your phone offering an appointment at a 30% discount. Another example could be that health insurers start incentivizing their customers based on real-time data. For example, based on a patient’s lifestyle choices and habits, such as daily exercise and sleep patterns all tracked on a wearable, insurance companies can incentivize customers who have healthier lifestyles—giving them a discount on premiums.
Forget the days of trying to figure out what people want; IoT presents opportunities for real-time engagement and customer service. It’s time to approach marketing in a new and improved way. Check out our latest infographic to learn all about what IoT means for marketers....
If you’re not using the Internet of Things to engage your customers, you should be.
Earlier this week Jessica Groopman from Altimeter published a thought provoking white paper that recommends 5 consumer facing use cases for IoT. For each use case she highlights the value proposition for both the brand and the customer, describes a few key methods for engagement, and closes with some real life examples. While you candownload it for free (registration is required), here’s my outline of the 5 most compelling uses cases from the report....
Receiving email messages from friends and family is incredibly common, but soon we may be receiving messages from our fridges and toothbrushes. Is your milk about to go bad? Your refrigerator will send you a reminder for the next time you make a trip to the grocery. Even workout clothes are being designed to monitor a person’s heart rate and burned calories.
All this smart technology is part of the Internet of Things (IoT), a clunky term but one that refers to the various high-tech products equipped with an Internet connection that enables them to relay helpful data to the owner. Smart phones and watches were just the beginning, and now kitchen appliances, thermostats, and even baby onesies are being created with sensors that can relay information via an app or through email. All this is meant to improve the quality for life for consumers, but it also adds up to new marketing opportunities....
The idea of a connected world where objects can communicate via the internet with each other and with computers and smartphones, does seem to have endless and even overwhelming possibilities.
For businesses, IoT technology opens up the potential for smarter process and efficiency, more targeted marketing and better understanding of customers by utilizing data and digital insight. The opportunities are so vast, that for many companies, coming up with a clear strategy for how to implement this new technology is a huge step.
In the retail industry, recent research conducted by Forrester found that 96% of retail decision makers are hoping to make the necessary changes to adopt IoT technology in the near future but over half are concerned about integration challenges. And this is a big part of the issue – to really make sure they harness the potential of this new technology, customer focused businesses need to first consider a few key areas....
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It would be somewhat of a great understatement to say that The Internet of Things is a work in progress.
As more connected things join the network, more people around the world are becoming connected to those things.
There are 7 billion mobile cellular subscriptions and almost all (95%) of people are now within reach of a mobile network, based on a new major study by the International Telephone Union (ITU).
The seventh annual global study, Measuring the Information Society Report, in more than 200 pages covers 167 economies in an in-depth analysis of IoT and a connected world....
Hitting up CES in Las Vegas this January? If you're like many marketers, the rapid developments in consumer technology are impacting how you're approaching your job. Disruptive technologies transform consumer behavior and change how marketers get their messages across. That's why staying ahead of the next big thing has never been more important.
We've been through the year of mobile and the year of data. So what breakthrough will shift the balance this year? We've outlined five of the top technologies you'll want to keep your eyes on as you're scouring the CES show floor..
Among many other things, connected objects will allow consumers to buy things more easily.
The Amazon Dash button introduced several months back is a good example of at least the start of this.
The highly publicized buttons can be mounted pretty much anywhere, such as on a washing machine or near a coffee maker to remind a consumer to re-order supplies while in the context of using the particular device or appliance.
Somewhere between 300,000 and a half million of the buttons have been shipped since Amazon started sending them to Amazon Prime service members, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who sees them heading into the millions going forward....
Awareness of the Internet of Things is gaining a bit of traction, at least in some quarters.
There is now high IoT awareness in more than half (56%) of those in the retail industry, according to a new survey.
Overall, a majority (73%) of companies have deployed, or plan to deploy over the next 12 months, some types of IoT solutions, according to the 2,500-person, 15-country survey by IDC.
More than half (58%) say they consider IoT to be a strategic initiative....
Just over half of marketers expect the Internet of Things, with ubiquitous, embedded devices constantly conveying real-time data, to revolutionize marketing by 2020. Along with this they see the power of real-time personalized mobile communication as one of the biggest trends.
Here are the trends that marketing executives see as having the biggest impact on marketers within five years: - 51% -- Internet of Things
- 50% -- Real-time mobile personalized transactions
- 29% -- Wearable technology
- 26% -- Virtual/augmented reality
- 13% -- Privacy backlash...
The IoT promises to add intelligence to everything from commonplace consumer items such as cars, light bulbs, and refrigerators, to industrial items such as machinery, railroad ties, and agricultural fields. Those “things” can collect and broadcast data across networks, enabling the data to be analyzed to add more value.
Consumer and industrial products will be valued increasingly not just for their standalone functionality, but also for how well they work within the digital ecosystem.In the consumer realm, companies’ marketing success will depend on their ability to connect with, and creatively exploit, the interdependent network of apps, devices, and services....
Technology is one of main themes of this year’s Cannes Lions. There are numerous sessions on technology and tech companies are highly visible at every event. More importantly, we can easily find technology elements in majority of the winning campaigns- a perfect reflection of what’s happening in the creativity industry.
In the past three days, I attended multiple sessions on how new technologies are impacting all aspects of creativity, and I realized that technology doesn’t only empower us to achieve things that we want to do in new and more efficient ways, but is fundamentally changing the rules of the game....
Over the next five years, the number of Internet of Things devices will grow nearly tenfold — from 2.5 billion in 2014, to nearly 24 billion by 2019, according to BI Intelligence estimates.
However, one of the biggest barriers currently preventing widespread IoT adoption are security concerns. Business executives, government officials, and consumers are rightly worried that by installing IoT devices within their business, city, or home they are exposing themselves to a hacker who could either use their IoT device in a malicious way and/or steal the data associated with the device....
As Altimeter Group points out in its new report, “Customer Experience in the Internet of Things,” brands are already using this sci-fi technology in amazing ways to build customer relationships and optimize their products.
In reality, it’s more evolution than revolution, as companies are already tracking smartphone and Internet usage to gather data that provides crucial feedback about consumer behavior. As the report states, the Internet of Things only “brings us closer than ever to the ultimate marketing objective: delivering the right content or experience in the right context.”
Talk of trackers and sensors and refrigerators gone wild may sound intimidating for brands that are still getting their content operations up and running, but some major companies are already exploring the new frontier of the Internet of Things. Here are the five brands doing it best....
With the iPad, the notion of technology getting out of the way meant designing a computer so easy to use that the apps took center stage. But the result was in some sense counterproductive; we've become so sucked into our phones and tablets that technology is actually getting in the way of the real world.
It's not going to be like that forever. In talking to leaders from some of the most innovative companies in consumer electronics, it's clear that the next five years will represent an attempt to bring us back to reality. This may seem paradoxical, but a proliferation of wearable devices, smart-home gizmos, smart cameras, and augmented-reality systems will exist largely to save us from our screens....
More and more sensors and smart devices are coming online each day. They stream data to massive data warehouses. Analytics software can be exposed via cloud-based offerings, offering summaries and implications of that data to any consumer for very low or zero cost.
The implication of the Internet of Things is a do-it-yourself market prediction engine. Any individual with a product to sell will be able to analyze market trends, adapt to consumer behavior, create marketing strategies, build products, and even make deliveries with drones or self-driving cars, all from the comfort of his or her own home....
The tech world is abuzz with interesting possibilities for the Internet of Things (IoT) lately, but regular folks haven’t caught up yet. Why the enthusiasm gap? That’s the question that Affinnova, a Nielsen company, set out to answer in a recent study of nearly 4,000 consumers.
First, it’s worth noting that while people have great faith in technology to come, even early adopters have trouble articulating what they would want from smart products. While 57 percent of all consumers who responded to this study strongly agree that the IoT will be “just as revolutionary as the smartphone” for our culture, they can’t explain how or why. Furthermore, 92 percent say that it’s very difficult to pinpoint what they’d want from smart objects, but they’ll know it when they see it....
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The Internet of things will become another channel to reach consumers if marketers learn how to approach it properly.