From time to time, we like to “nuggetize” the Economist’s in-depth surveys that are highly relevant for marketers. For the uninitiated, a nugget is either a key point or a fun statistic.
The latest Economist survey focuses on smart systems. The premise: real and digital worlds are converging, because of the rise in connected sensors and cameras, ever-present wireless networks and human activity.
We at the Council think this is required reading for forward thinking marketers. Here are some nuggets that popped out in case you don’t have 45 minutes to read the report end to end. If you have 10 minutes to read two of the nine articles in the survey, we’d suggest “Augmented Business” and “Your Own Private Matrix” .
On to the nuggets:
1. Worldwide Internet-enabled-device revenues (think physical goods with sensors in them) are expected to grow from shy of $5B in 2010 to over $10B in 2014
2. There are a few mobile apps related to smart systems that you, as a marketer, ought to have first-hand knowledge of. Spend a little time with Layar and Goggles. They’ll give you a flavor for what’s in store with smart sensors, and for creative marketers, could lead to differentiated ways of engaging your customers.
3. Important buzzwords for 2011:
- “The Internet of Things” = digital linking between physical objects
- “Crowdsensing” (cousin of Crowdsourcing) = the willingness of many people to gather and upload information about their surroundings
- Example: check out SeeClickFix, an app whereby you can report broken things around their neighborhood. Enter your own neighborhood at the link above to see how broken your community is!
4. Engineers think sensor miniaturization will ultimately lead to smart dust—particles that can be dispersed on battlefields. Or, presumably, in non-battlefield situations, as well—I’m holding my breath for smart cat litter. Literally.
5. Some utilities are leading the charge in digital/physical convergence—turning their dumb infrastructures into smart nervous systems. One example: Thames Water of London is affixing sensors to the water pipes underneath the city, enabling it to predict when and where there will be leaks.
6. Some cities are also leading the way on smart systems:
- PlanIT Valley (located in Portugal) is a giant, living proof-point in the making. Cisco, Accenture, and McLaren are some of the entities involved. Land of the Jetsons stuff here.
- Singapore is, of course, the non-fabricated city taking the lead on smart world tech. Take a browse through its roadmap to smartness, “A Lively and Liveable Singapore: Strategies for Sustainable Growth”. Before downloading the report, don’t forget to spit out your gum (in a trash can! Not on the ground!). I kid the Singaporeans! If we can’t laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at, right? Ha ha. Hey, nice cane you’ve got there…
7. The Internet of Things carries great disruptive power for business models
- FoodlLogiQ enables food suppliers to tag and trace their goods across the supply chain, ultimately allowing consumers to see where raw inputs come from
- Holy cow! A company called Sparked implants sensors in farm animals, making for more precise livestock management. Each cow generates 200 MBs of information annually.
- B2B manufacturers will be able to think about new service wrappers enabled by sensors and smarter use of the hardware or equipment they sell
8. There is much shaking out in the market yet to come, but three emerging trends from sensors:
- They will lead to improved pricing and resource allocation
- They will speed the shift from goods to services—more often things will be hired or rented instead of bought
- Related to the shift to services above, economic value will migrate to data and algorithms used to perfect those services (and the physical goods underneath them)
9. Sensors will allow us humans to do “life tracking”, in which we gather data on all of the little decisions we make day to day. Gary Wolf manages a blog called “The Quantified Self”, which is worth a visit.
- Very promising for brands that want to enable consumers to spark a shift in their own behavior—smoking cessation, weight loss, and the like
- As well, much food for thought here for brands that want to develop mobile apps that are truly in service to the consumer’s passion points and very basic life needs (e.g., changing behavior after a heart attack)
10. Of course, smart systems have great potential to stoke consumer confusion and fear.
- PG&E’s experience trying to install smart power meters in Bakersfield is worth marketers knowing about. You might say consumers were charged up about it.
- Fun fact: In London, there are now 32 closed-circuit cameras within 200 yards of the flat where George Orwell wrote 1984. HA! Gotcha, George!
Thirst for trends not yet slaked? MLC members, take in the latest trends and insights from Iconoculture. And if you liked this post, see these past posts that nuggetize the Economist’s surveys of social networking , the data explosion and emerging market innovation.
Related posts:
- 10 Nuggets from The Economist’s Special Report on Innovation in Emerging Markets
- 10 Nuggets from The Economist’s Special Report on Social Networking
- 10 Nuggets from the Pew Report on Mobile Apps
- Our Take on Nike’s Tiger Ad: Smart Start, But…
- 4 Ingredients for Attacking (the Right) Digital White Spaces
on 11 January 11
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[...] it’s about how, as the world becomes more and more connected (think smart toasters, or “the Internet of things“), a lot of what companies are trying to do is to create meaningful experiences for consumers [...]