👋Hello and welcome to your weekly FWD! This week, prepare for your tweets to get longer as Twitter have begun testing 280-characters-long tweets across certain languages. Voice search is being used more than ever, which is only going to speed up as Amazon launches a variety of Alexa-powered products and a BMW integration. Love tech and food🍗? Then you can’t miss Jamie Oliver’s 👨🍳 new chatbot that offers recipes via emojis👏.
More disruption ahead! Harvard and MIT researchers have developed a new health-monitoring smart ink tattoo. While high-tech vacuum cleaners producer, Dyson, sets to launch an electric car 🚗 by 2020.
Lastly, join our Executive Strategy Director, Andy Upton, on a live webinar about “How do you become a marketer without borders in a multichannel world?” this Monday 9th of October at 11am, register here.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As usual, please share anything you find interesting using the hashtag #OMDFWD
This week momentum has been building around Google’s reported plans to introduce its own ad-blocking feature, in both the mobile and desktop versions of Chrome. At first glance, the feature seems counter-intuitive, since Google’s annual online ad revenue exceeded $60 billion, yet it is clearly a defensive move. The focus is on the improvement of user experience and ultimately the reduction in fast growing third party ad blocking software. Elsewhere, at Facebook’s F8 conference, augmented reality continues to gain prominence, as they launched their strategy and intent for developing the Metaverse.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As ever, please tag and share anything you spot with #OMDFWD.
This week momentum has been building around Google’s reported plans to introduce its own ad-blocking feature, in both the mobile and desktop versions of Chrome. At first glance, the feature seems counter-intuitive, since Google’s annual online ad revenue exceeded $60 billion, yet it is clearly a defensive move. The focus is on the improvement of user experience and ultimately the reduction in fast growing third party ad blocking software. Elsewhere, at Facebook’s F8 conference, augmented reality continues to gain prominence, as they launched their strategy and intent for developing the Metaverse.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As ever, please tag and share anything you spot with #OMDFWD.
More so than any other trend this feels like an area where the groundwork has been laid for creators – whether that’s publishers, brands, or the creative community – to experiment with what is now available to them. Last year saw VR hardware releases from significant players such as Oculus, HTC and PlayStation. Of course, technical improvements will continue at a pace – in particular, the pursuit of untethered headsets and remote positional tracking. But, the technology is already available to create powerful VR experiences where users can move and interact in a manner that is impossible in any other medium. HTC have quashed rumours of a ‘Vive 2’ being released this year – though plenty of new accessories are on the horizon. So it’s over to the many creatives already in this space, and those getting on board, to develop content that makes use of VR’s unique properties as a medium.
It seems that VR entered, or perhaps re-entered, the public consciousness last year on some level. In terms of how many people own a VR headset of any kind, estimates suggest there are around 500,000 people with a high-end HTC Vive and 400,000 with an Oculus Rift. Sony say that “hundreds of thousands” of PlayStation owners have already bought PlayStation VR. Earlier last year, Samsung reported it had reached one million users for its Samsung Gear headsets. These figures were shared well before Samsung heavily promoted the headsets in the run-up to Christmas. We are still waiting for the numbers of the newest smartphone-accessory headsets in the market, Google’s Daydream. However, some reports suggest the reach of Google’s basic Cardboard headset has been as high as 80 million. Of course, unlike the other headsets, it is hard to know how many have kept these rather than used them once.
Staying at the ‘low-end’ of the headset market, but made of plastic rather than card, I saw a number of headsets retailing at less than £10 in-stores and online in the run up to Christmas for users to pop their phone into. I also noticed a heavy presence of ‘vr’ amongst the Apple Stores trending apps in the days after Christmas. So it feels like there is some appetite and recognition amongst the public of what VR is (even if they haven’t tried it yet). Brands should consider taking advantage of this willingness by creating a VR experience. The right VR experience could be more practical, like Jaguar’s I-PACE launch, or simply mindblowing, like Google Earth.
The question of ‘how many people have a headset?’ from brands considering VR, is perhaps misjudged. There are certainly only a finite number of people who will own a VR headset ever, even when the VR content available improves. This is an immersive and intense medium to be dipped into for ‘one-off’ experiences, analogous perhaps to cinema (how many people have one of those at home?). It fits for VR to be found in a store to aid a magical retail experience or indeed in cinemas to view entertainment content in a new form, and these site-specific VR experiences provide a rich opportunity for many brands. In London, we have already seen a VR Zombie chase, Björk’s VR-only exhibition and more recently the Royal Academy’s VR pop-up – all of which were ticketed events that sold out.
Beyond VR, the narrative from some publishers is that 2016 was actually the breakout year for Augmented Reality, because of the mega-hit that was Pokemon Go. This doesn’t ring true for me to the extent that it is touted as AR’s breakthrough moment. On a basic level because some research showed that ‘only’ 33% of users had the AR functionality turned on ‘most of the time’ or ‘always’ whilst playing the game. More significantly the success of Pokemon Go wasn’t down to the AR, but a multitude of factors (many of which were cultural) that I will spare you from debating here.
For me, Snapchat Lenses remain a far stronger example for AR. This technology is used by millions daily, even if the users don’t know or care to know that this tech is part of something called Augmented Reality. Facial overlays seem to be the most prevalent successful use of AR technology. This type of AR experience is neat for makeup brands or spectacle sellers but, obviously, has limited uses.
It’s the augmentation of objects into the real world in front of you that feels like the opportunity for a broader array of uses, but one that has been touted for some time. Maybe this year we’ll see brands really crack this opportunity through some hit applications. Markerless technology (a potential barrier to a slick experience) continues to improve and the digital recreation of assets for an AR world (perhaps the biggest cost here) may be something that a brand bites the bullet on or finds a more efficient way of doing, which could lead to a significant AR success story with business-changing returns.
Microsoft’s HoloLens exists as a unique outlier. Currently, it is available for developers but not for the public (which isn’t necessarily a problem – see my point on VR adoption). AR via a headset rather than through a phone, combined with the possibility of interaction and scalability of augmented objects that pushes this into the realm of ‘Mixed Reality’. This is ‘where it’s all going’. As future-gazers like to say, Mixed Reality experiences, like AR experiences, point to a potential for mass adoption far beyond VR because of the nature of the experience. The availability of the HoloLens platform, perhaps years before this technology truly develops on a larger scale, stands out as an obvious opportunity for brands to gain first-mover advantage and take a leadership position with a tech-powered experience for their customers.
What should brands do this year?
- Suspend disbelief and imagine the ultimate experience your brand could deliver, whether that’s practical or fantastical. Can this technology be used to bring this to life?
- Work with VR/AR experts who have made the easy mistakes in the medium already and are pushing the boundaries with what is possible. Also look out for select content publishers with compelling, well-supported VR offerings.
- Look at building platforms for VR or AR experiences that allow for updating and repeat usage over time, rather than one-off short-lived ideas.
Have a question or want to discuss something more? Send us an email at [email protected]
More so than any other trend this feels like an area where the groundwork has been laid for creators – whether that’s publishers, brands, or the creative community – to experiment with what is now available to them. Last year saw VR hardware releases from significant players such as Oculus, HTC and PlayStation. Of course, technical improvements will continue at a pace – in particular, the pursuit of untethered headsets and remote positional tracking. But, the technology is already available to create powerful VR experiences where users can move and interact in a manner that is impossible in any other medium. HTC have quashed rumours of a ‘Vive 2’ being released this year – though plenty of new accessories are on the horizon. So it’s over to the many creatives already in this space, and those getting on board, to develop content that makes use of VR’s unique properties as a medium.
It seems that VR entered, or perhaps re-entered, the public consciousness last year on some level. In terms of how many people own a VR headset of any kind, estimates suggest there are around 500,000 people with a high-end HTC Vive and 400,000 with an Oculus Rift. Sony say that “hundreds of thousands” of PlayStation owners have already bought PlayStation VR. Earlier last year, Samsung reported it had reached one million users for its Samsung Gear headsets. These figures were shared well before Samsung heavily promoted the headsets in the run-up to Christmas. We are still waiting for the numbers of the newest smartphone-accessory headsets in the market, Google’s Daydream. However, some reports suggest the reach of Google’s basic Cardboard headset has been as high as 80 million. Of course, unlike the other headsets, it is hard to know how many have kept these rather than used them once.
Staying at the ‘low-end’ of the headset market, but made of plastic rather than card, I saw a number of headsets retailing at less than £10 in-stores and online in the run up to Christmas for users to pop their phone into. I also noticed a heavy presence of ‘vr’ amongst the Apple Stores trending apps in the days after Christmas. So it feels like there is some appetite and recognition amongst the public of what VR is (even if they haven’t tried it yet). Brands should consider taking advantage of this willingness by creating a VR experience. The right VR experience could be more practical, like Jaguar’s I-PACE launch, or simply mindblowing, like Google Earth.
The question of ‘how many people have a headset?’ from brands considering VR, is perhaps misjudged. There are certainly only a finite number of people who will own a VR headset ever, even when the VR content available improves. This is an immersive and intense medium to be dipped into for ‘one-off’ experiences, analogous perhaps to cinema (how many people have one of those at home?). It fits for VR to be found in a store to aid a magical retail experience or indeed in cinemas to view entertainment content in a new form, and these site-specific VR experiences provide a rich opportunity for many brands. In London, we have already seen a VR Zombie chase, Björk’s VR-only exhibition and more recently the Royal Academy’s VR pop-up – all of which were ticketed events that sold out.
Beyond VR, the narrative from some publishers is that 2016 was actually the breakout year for Augmented Reality, because of the mega-hit that was Pokemon Go. This doesn’t ring true for me to the extent that it is touted as AR’s breakthrough moment. On a basic level because some research showed that ‘only’ 33% of users had the AR functionality turned on ‘most of the time’ or ‘always’ whilst playing the game. More significantly the success of Pokemon Go wasn’t down to the AR, but a multitude of factors (many of which were cultural) that I will spare you from debating here.
For me, Snapchat Lenses remain a far stronger example for AR. This technology is used by millions daily, even if the users don’t know or care to know that this tech is part of something called Augmented Reality. Facial overlays seem to be the most prevalent successful use of AR technology. This type of AR experience is neat for makeup brands or spectacle sellers but, obviously, has limited uses.
It’s the augmentation of objects into the real world in front of you that feels like the opportunity for a broader array of uses, but one that has been touted for some time. Maybe this year we’ll see brands really crack this opportunity through some hit applications. Markerless technology (a potential barrier to a slick experience) continues to improve and the digital recreation of assets for an AR world (perhaps the biggest cost here) may be something that a brand bites the bullet on or finds a more efficient way of doing, which could lead to a significant AR success story with business-changing returns.
Microsoft’s HoloLens exists as a unique outlier. Currently, it is available for developers but not for the public (which isn’t necessarily a problem – see my point on VR adoption). AR via a headset rather than through a phone, combined with the possibility of interaction and scalability of augmented objects that pushes this into the realm of ‘Mixed Reality’. This is ‘where it’s all going’. As future-gazers like to say, Mixed Reality experiences, like AR experiences, point to a potential for mass adoption far beyond VR because of the nature of the experience. The availability of the HoloLens platform, perhaps years before this technology truly develops on a larger scale, stands out as an obvious opportunity for brands to gain first-mover advantage and take a leadership position with a tech-powered experience for their customers.
What should brands do this year?
- Suspend disbelief and imagine the ultimate experience your brand could deliver, whether that’s practical or fantastical. Can this technology be used to bring this to life?
- Work with VR/AR experts who have made the easy mistakes in the medium already and are pushing the boundaries with what is possible. Also look out for select content publishers with compelling, well-supported VR offerings.
- Look at building platforms for VR or AR experiences that allow for updating and repeat usage over time, rather than one-off short-lived ideas.
Have a question or want to discuss something more? Send us an email at [email protected]
Amazon Go is a bricks-and-mortar grocery shop due to open to the public in 2017. The Seattle-based store will enable people with an Amazon Go app ‘just to walk’ out of the store without the need to wait in line to pay or check out. Amazon said that it started working on the concept four years ago by bringing together technologies found in self-driving cars (such as computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning) to create a store. The technology used in-store is able to detect when products are taken or returned to the shelves, keeping a track of them in your virtual cart. After picking up what you want in the store, your Amazon account will automatically be charged and receive a receipt. Powered by artificial intelligence this is a huge development for the future of retail and in-store experiences, which have been struggling to compete with e-commerce. It will be interesting to see how other high street brands react to this development in 2017.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
And finally, if you’re feeling ambitious but stuck for inspiration for Christmas…
As ever, please tag and share anything you spot with #OMDFWD.
Almost overnight Nintendo’s Pokémon GO (PoGO) has taken augmented reality, a viable technology to create immersive and incredibly desirable customer experiences, from a niche market to a mass.
Pokémon GO is already outstripping Tinder on app installs. It has more daily active users than Twitter with people spending 43 minutes a day on average playing it, having a higher dwell time than WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat. Pokémon Go is seeing more than double the industry average retention rate with 7 out of 10 people who downloaded the app returning the next day.
It has already been dubbed ‘a cultural phenomenon’ and a saviour for Nintendo. The demand for Pokémon GO saw Nintendo’s shares surge by a quarter in value on Monday.
The tidal wave of participation has already inspired other businesses to become part of the show.
Entrepreneurs are building new revenue streams. Gamers are offering 1-4 hour ($20 per hour) shifts so the gameplay doesn’t have to stop while you are at work. If you are pressed for time, Pokémon Taxi services are at hand to take you to Pokémon stops and locations. Maybe we will see a UBER-Pokémon Go partnership.
Huge Cafe in Atlanta is across the street from two Pokémon Go ‘PokéStops’. They have paid $49 to buy in-game “coins” that can be traded in for 40 in-game “lures”. These can be ‘attached’ to PokéStops and work as smoke-signals to attract Pokémon and users. Each ‘lure’ works for 30 minutes and attracts rarer and more powerful Pokémon to the area, and in turn gamers.
Here are five reasons why you should start thinking about Pokémon Go brand opportunities:
[ctt template=”1″ link=”39g_7″ via=”yes” ]Total shares of ‘Pokemon Go’ online content rose by 535% in a 4 day period @OMD_EMEA[/ctt]
That means publishers and clients with relevant content have already captured some of the 11 million+ shares from consumers. Considering this looks set to be a consistent source of ongoing traffic, there is a massive opportunity that exists for brands!
[ctt template=”1″ link=”fT8Zr” via=”no” ]#PokémonGo on Facebook shows continuous growth– 21K players have shown interest in events & page likes have increased +131% over the weekend[/ctt]
Have you considered Facebook content around Pokémon to put your brand into the conversation?
[ctt template=”1″ link=”3DiRF” via=”no” ]#PokémonGo opens up a new world of location-based marketing – did you know 10,000+ people are interested in the ‘London massive lure party’? [/ctt]
A quick search on Eventbrite also shows everything from a Pokémon 5k run to bar crawls. The creative potential seems only constrained by our imagination and the time to start thinking about it is now.
[ctt template=”1″ link=”HB6UT” via=”yes” ]#PokémonGo appears to lend itself (if done well) to non-gaming topics like travel, dining and fashion @OMD_EMEA[/ctt]
For example, Pokemon Go fashion by Cosmopolitan reaches 70.6k shares & restaurants are also being impacted.
[ctt template=”1″ link=”9qOAb” via=”no” ]Google Trends monitors a breakout of search queries for ‘Pokemon Go Tips’ rising 140% in the first 24 hours to over 5,000% by the 5th day[/ctt] Could your brand fill the demand / supply content gap with something that speaks to your audience?
There’s plenty of traffic and social shares going on – #gottacatchemall!
What does this cultural phenomenon mean for your brand? Need more information or interested in exploring Pokémon branded opportunities – contact us at [email protected]
As the euphoria of Mobile World Congress’s 30th birthday party subsides and is replaced by an industry collective hangover, the question soon arises – was it worth it? What were the major themes? What was discussed? What did we learn?
Here is my wrap up.
VIRTUAL REALITY WAS A HOT TOPIC
From the minute that Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise guest appearance at the Samsung Galaxy unpacked event where he spoke for 20 minutes about the potential for virtual reality, you knew VR was a big theme at MWC 2016.
Indeed, amongst the three halls of exhibiting device manufacturers, every stall featured their own VR headset showcase. This meant that over the course of the week, I was able to test out a variety of VR experiences which plunged me into worlds ranging from ski-jumping (I actually wobbled as I took off from the jump), to being a maintenance worker in the connected city of the future, to taking a particularly stomach churning trip on a VR roller coaster.
What impressed was the fact that most devices are now able to deliver an impressive level of VR experience. It seems that the difference in quality of experience delivered by top-end versus bottom-end devices is not vastly different. When increased hardware capability is combined with the decreasing cost of ownership it is not difficult to imagine a world where VR headset ownership is commonplace. A lot will depend upon whether we as an industry can get the use case right.
Previous VR discussions have centred on usage: Why would people use it? How will benefit? How will brands engage in a VR world? What potential does VR offer for the delivery of exciting and compelling marketing experiences?
“VR may require an adjustment of retail business models, but ultimately could prove to be hugely effective in driving improved efficiency and profitability”
This year’s show went a long way to answering these questions, as the focus was very much aimed at demonstrating how the technology will be used in the real world. It is clear VR has a large role to play within the area of professional training, as the technology offers a safe and effective environment in which a pilot or a surgeon or indeed any job with a technical aspect, can learn the range of skills required in their jobs.
From a consumer perspective VR provides the opportunity to enter into the world of celebrity or hero. Imagine being able to drive the Monaco Grand Prix through the eyes of Lewis Hamilton, or score the winning goal in the Champions League final through the eyes of Cristiano Ronaldo. VR will open new horizons for consumers through allowing them to experience the worlds of their heroes.
It is not difficult to see the role VR can play within digital gaming, as the opportunity for the gamer to completely immerse themselves within the virtual gaming environment is hugely compelling. We even saw the role VR could play within retail where VR could be used to deliver the same product purchasing experience, except this would be through a virtual store as opposed to a bricks and mortar one.
VR may require an adjustment of retail business models, but ultimately could prove to be hugely effective in driving improved efficiency and profitability.
When it comes to VR for marketing purposes, I believe it offers brands the opportunity to deliver new levels of consumer engagement around existing brand partnerships or sponsorships simply by allowing the person at home to be present at an event through their VR headset. Imagine McDonald’s inviting you to be a spectator at the next Olympics without having to leave your couch, and then linking product purchase to accessibility of new events.
Through AR, it could have been possible to have had unlimited attendance at the London Olympics on that magical night inside the Stratford stadium when the British athletics team won three gold medals. The possibilities for creative deployment of VR are endless. All you need is a good imagination; the technology gap has been filled.
One word of warning, though, despite all the excitement: there was significant discussion around how VR might negatively impact human behaviour as consumers may prefer virtual worlds to the physical one. Indeed, Zuckerberg spoke about the possibility for shared social VR experiences which seemed to further decrease the need for people to actually engage with each other in the real world.
EVERYTHING WILL BE CONNECTED
The much discussed ‘Internet of things’ was widely in evidence at MWC 2016, with many demonstrations of connectivity in everyday life. The concept of the ‘Internet of things’ has been around for some time, but the conversation felt different this time, away from the theoretical and concentrated on real-world practical activation.
AT&T demonstrated an impressive connected car software solution which illustrated how the combination of automation and connectivity can enhance the life of an individual.
The demo began by featuring car-to-car communication which allowed each vehicle to become aware of a new road hazard in real-time and subsequently recalibrate the route. This then moved on to showcase how the software enables the individual to manage email and calendar requests via voice whilst being behind the wheel, to finished by illustrating how the combination of automation and connectivity can deliver intelligent services, such as the car switching on your home central heating automatically when your car reaches the half way home point in the journey.
“Brands can learn more about how an individual customer uses their product, and offer them a service or piece of advice based upon their own behaviour, whilst also making repeat purchase a frictionless experience”
Oral-B demonstrated how they see connectivity impacting the humble toothbrush through the delivery of their connected toothbrush product. The toothbrush strapline was ‘brush like a demon’ and featured the toothbrush beaming real-time brushing related information to a display in your bathroom mirror which showed you where in your mouth needed extra attention.
The show went on to explore the role connectivity could play within marketing through the delivery of automated service delivery. In the case of Oral-B, you could automatically order a new toothpaste, or toothbrush head based upon the data your collected toothbrush gathers on you, how you brush and your level of oral health.
The point is the brand can learn more about how an individual customer uses their product, and offer them a service or piece of advice based upon their own behaviour, whilst also making repeat purchase a frictionless experience.
THE CUSTOMER DATA OPPORTUNITY
The advertising and media halls were the biggest and busiest I had ever seen them at MWC 2016. The huge level of interest in connectivity and associated advertising and marketing opportunity was clearly evident.
Companies exhibiting covered all aspects of the digital eco-system including DSPs, DMPs, ad-networks and data suppliers. No-matter which company you spoke to, all conversations inevitably featured a discussion around customer data and the range of ways this could be collected and activated. For me, connectivity allows advertisers the opportunity to better understand your target audience’s natural behaviour and to be able to better target them.
Over the week, we saw a few interesting new developments in the customer data deployment space. We had one location based company unveiling a location specific marketplace – think Google AdWords except for real-time real-world locations with little relevancy score.
This is interesting as it allows a brand to bid according to the importance they place on reaching a consumer when either in a specific location or their location history means they fall within the target profile.
Indeed, there was a lot of discussion around the concept of using an individual’s location history as a way of profiling them, and delivering them advertising that was targeted to them. I believe this offers advertisers rich opportunity to have a much greater depth of customer understanding, and a huge opportunity to either talk to them in a way that naturally appeals.
“MWC 2016 has been a positive experience for the mobile industry; it felt like we were actually growing up at last”
Another interesting opinion on the power of customer data came from network operators. There was a lot of discussion around the role they could play in replicating the success Facebook has had in mobile advertising across the rest of the mobile advertising eco-system.
It seems as if operators are finally waking up to the fact that their huge customer databases offer a highly valuable opportunity to open up new revenue streams and deliver this concept of personalized advertising. Whether the operators will commit to delivering this at scale still remains to be seen, but the initial signs are good. Particularly as dwindling voice, SMS and data tariff revenues continue, perhaps their motivation to explore will increase.
Overall, MWC 2016 has been a positive experience for the mobile industry; it felt like we were actually growing up at last. No longer was the focus on unearthing the shiny new thing. Instead, the focus has shifted to making previously discussed lofty concepts actually attainable and successful.
It was also noticeable that there were more brands and their agencies present than ever, which is a hugely important barometer of interest. People now realise not only the potentially game-changing opportunity offered by smart connectivity, but are also visualising the role that technology can play within their own business. Mobile really is everything.