Everything is mobile this and mobile that these days. And as a marketing and communications firm specializing in mHealth businesses, it’s ingrained in our everyday world. But the truth is, it won’t be long before other technologies start to infiltrate the giant mobile behemoth. For example, if you travel in the technology sphere you’ve no doubt been intrigued by the possibilities of Google’s new reality-augmented glasses (pretty cool).
Remember when “wired” and “wireless” meant something? These are pretty useless terms today. A recent article by Jonathan Gardner recently caught my attention. In it he lists five trends businesses, especially those in the technology and mHealth sectors, should be thinking about now:
mHealth Marketing: Beyond Mobile Tech Trends
Smart Everything
The reason Google glasses really capture the imagination is that they seem to make the stuff of sci-fi a reality. A futuristic mirror from Cybertecture is doing things George Jetson would recognize. From watches, to kitchen appliances, to goggles, it will put us at the center of a wall of intelligent data.
Tech Gets Physical
Data comes from everywhere these days, including our cells. Companies like FitBit are finding new ways to record and leverage that data. For now, they seem to be focused on helping athletes (and wannabes) build better workouts, but it’s only a matter of time before brands begin to look more closely at how such data might be used to develop new customer relationships.
User-Centrism
If brands want to remain relevant to their audiences, they’re going to have to engage in a media landscape where the traditional publishing model no longer exists. Pinterest, Flipboard, and other curation tools are where it’s at right now, enabling content to be remixed, repurposed, and shared by consumers, and not media owners.
Multi-Multi-Platform Marketing
Prepare your brand to work with the marketing organization of the future by thinking broadly about consumer perceptions of your product, and communicating about them in a holistic way.
New Horizons in Innovation
When you want inspiration for your campaigns, be sure to look beyond your usual competitor set to find the most compelling and innovative initiatives in your sector, wherever they may be. Coca-Cola took the best approaches of gamification, Shazam, and the second-screen experience and ran with it in China. Tesco is testing out mobile, interactive shopping experiences in Seoul that the U.S. is not quite ready for, technologically and socially.
Technology used to be the playground of the techno-geek and computer nerds. But with the explosion in smartphone and tablet technology and its adoption by average consumers— at record levels—we may be driving around in flying cars before you know it.
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