Thursday, Feb. 25 at Atlanta Mobile Marketing Organization's, monthly event (2/26/16) mCordis gave the first public presentation of the “Rise of the Connected Marketer”. According to mCordis’ Michael Becker and Paul Berney, marketing is undergoing a transformation. As people become more connected, their changes in behavior, needs, wants, and expectations necessitate that marketers look at the world through a new lens, connectivity.
According to mCordis, The Connected Marketer™ creates, develops, and maintains a brand that understands and meets the needs of the connected individual.
“We’re becoming increasingly connected,” say’s Becker. Today the average person has 3 connected devices in their life. More often than not, “the mobile phone is the first and the last thing we touch every day,” Becker remarked. In fact, “we’re even using connected devices to monitor our health while sleeping,” he explained. Connectivity may enhance every aspect of our lives including work, play, health, finances, entertainment, and so much more. Becker remarked that according to Cisco, the connectivity of everything--people, places, and things-- will generate $19 trillion in economic value throughout the world over the next decade.
Becker helped us understand the layers of connectivity. There are 7 layers to device connection, data collection, event monitoring, data and event analysis, physical and digital activity synchronization, prediction, and coaching. It’s at the top of this list where The Connected Marketer can add the most value and be of service to the individual. Becker used examples such as Nike and Spotify synchronizing exercise experiences, and Expanse, a SyFy TV show, pairing with your hue connected smart lights so that the lighting in your room adds to the experience by dynamically adjusting with the show. The synchronization of connected devices and services can enhance even the most personal and intimate experiences Becker explained. He used the example of the B.Sensory, a vibrator that will stay in sync with a reader’s progression within a romance book. Through all these examples Becker highlighted the importance of how marketers must now consider how to harmonize the physical and digital experiences individuals may have with their products and services.
As for the final stage of connectivity, coaching, Becker shared a personal example on how he has been able to lose over 20 pounds in 2 months by living the life of a connected individual. By pairing his Withings connected scale he got as a Christmas present from his business partner Paul, with his Apple Watch and the Underarmour MyFitnessPal app Michael shared how the value of the of the tools is greater than their whole. Becker discussed how the connected devices and software services take out all of the mundane, automated, and lower value (but absolutely necessary) processes of loosing weight, including counting the steps, recording weight, calculating the body fat, and more. They freed up his time and attention so that he could be mindful on the most important part of the effort, what he was putting into his mouth. At one point, he found that his weight loss plateaued. This is when the coaching came in. The MyFitnessPal app could see the plateau by analyzing the data and accurately predicted his discouragement. In response it sent him a few articles to help him over the hump. It was the perfect coach. He found that through the whole processes he was able maintain a high-level of happiness and was able to continue to eat and drink all his favorite food and libations, but in moderation as coached by the app.
The moral of this story is that marketers need to have an intimate understanding of the individual and the friction points that are preventing him/her from focusing on the things that really matter in achieving their task at hand. Once the marketer understands this, they can find how their product or service can be part of the individual’s solution.
Becker’s presentation caught everyone by surprise by going above and beyond their expectations. This sparked a dynamic discussion with the audience on the implications of the connected individual, particularly when it comes to people’s privacy and data collection. I won’t give any spoilers though. Find out for yourself by watching the video of Michael’s keynote (see below).
Becker concluded his presentation with the four steps The Connected Marketer needs to consider in order to be of service to the connected individual. These include; building an understanding of the individuals, connecting, influencing and engaging individuals, removing barriers of engagement for individuals, and being of service to individuals by making sure that they are leading the relationship and in control.
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