The Future Battlefield of Marketing is Here Today...

As announced by technology specialists around a year ago, the buzzwords for 2014 is "wearable techs".

With the saturation of the smartphones and tablets market, competitors had to diversify their offerings in order to secure constant cash flows, and maintain market share. Thus, the complementary gadget was born.

Wearable techs are not so new, they are just becoming increasingly accessible (see Mashable's great historica analysis of wearable techs http://mashable.com/category/wearable-tech/). The expertise of the different tech companies allow them to fit even more power in smaller and cheaper devices, making "smart watches" and "smart goggles" available for purposes other than military or scientific.

What we wanted to touch upon today is the implication of wearable techs becoming mainstream, as if effects marketing, advertising and promotion. The spread of mobile allowed firms in any field a new way to collect data on their customers, an extra channel to reach them and an instant means of communcation for the modern-day human.

However, wearable technologies could take the world of advertising leaps (indeed, not only steps) forward. A first example comes from virtual reality (VR), where someone gets completely emerged into a universe controlled via computers. It is far beyond attention-grabbing, it's total control! For example, how to better sell a cruise than actually "transporting" the potential customers into the shoes, or sandals for that matter, of someone on your ships? And what about having a customer see for himself the extra comfort he could expect from a top-tier suite versus the regular suite? You talk about easy upselling! And these applications are not limited to the cruise industry, it could easily be transcribed to any industry.

Even though VR is promising, it might not be suited for every-day situations, as one is unlikely to wear a clunky, special helmet all day long. But, once again, others found solutions for that - the most obvious example is Google glasses: a more discreet visual wearable tech that could potentially offer great opportunities for marketers as well as the wearers. Wouldn't it be any advertiser's dream to be able to send a message designed specifically for you, at a specific time, location AND based on what you actually see?

Challenges remain with this new advertising revolution to come, mainly ethics concerns and the ability for advertisers to adapt quickly to this new medium. It shall not be too invasive, but creativity must prevail to develop new techniques to inform the different target markets. These tech wears will change the world and there will be a need to change how people advertise. It will be tempting to think of it as "just other mobile devices", but the full advertising potential of all these gadgets will be unleashed when brilliant minds reinvent modern-day advertising.

Until then, enjoy your wearable techs and make sure to stay aware of all the promotional opportunities that will be accessible in a near future.

More than Marketing

Marketing is a powerful thing.

Why? Because it is really just communication; and we all know the pen is mightier than the sword. But marketing can also be manipulative, and is often pinned as such. It’s a shame really, to misuse such a powerful medium; misuse that leads to diminishing faith in brands, and a growing tendency to avoid advertisements as much as is possible.

Yet marketing still has the potential for good. It can create awareness of social injustice, fund your favorite TV show, or simply make you laugh a bit. Most powerful when it exists on the human level, marketing communications shine when they help map the human experience.

With the advent and continued growth of social platforms, brands and marketers now have an ability to communicate on a mass scale in a previously unparalleled fashion. And not only can they reach more people, but they can interact, build relationships, and solve problems.

Marketing can be so much more.

When it comes to creating meaning in our work, we can all learn something from this gentleman’s inspiring campaign. Jonny Benjamin was struggling to come to terms with his mental illness, when he went to Waterloo Bridge to end his life. But he was stopped by a stranger who performed the simple act of caring. Years after the event, Mr. Benjamin began his search for the man, dubbed Mike, to thank him for saving his life.

The power of communication is incredible. Not only did Mr. Benjamin find the man he was looking for, he simultaneously became a face for mental illness, and provided hundreds of others with solace. He didn’t just achieve his objective, he made a difference.

While much broader than our day to day marketing endeavors, Mr. Benjamin has provided the proof of concept for our ability to do more than just what our task is; we can create change, provide support, or even make a tangible impact in others lives.

How do you think marketing can be more?

To watch the full documentary check out the below: