Marketing Game Changers for 2015

Autonomous Robot Employee

If you thought 2014 was thrilling, here is a look at what we are most excited about for 2015. Our top 5 trends and technologies for 2015 in the marketing and advertising world:

1. Virtual Reality
Expect a lot more action on the virtual and augmented reality front. 2014 saw the $2B acquisition of Oculus Rift by Facebook. In 2015, we'll see action from companies like High Fidelity, Immersive 3D 360-degree cameras from Immersive Media, Jaunt, and Giroptic. There are also game changers like Magic Leap (in which Google just invested over $500 million) that are developing augmented reality images that are indistinguishable from real world objects, and are placing them in real world settings. Oculus Rift will be presenting its latest Crescent Bay prototype and how it will interact with hand-and-finger-tracking. Also, this year will see virtual reality in film where you will be able to "feel" what it would be for a human to fly through a full "flying" simulator. Are you feeling a shark coming out of a billboard vibe a-la-back to the future?

2. Mass-market robots
This babies are set to improve the customer service experience. The acquisition of Google of eight robotic companies in 2014 means that 2015 will see the introduction of consumer-friendly robots in a store near you. In a Lowe's store near you, you may soon be seeing autonomous "employees" called Oshbots roaming the floors and helping you find and order items in their store. 2015 will also see the robot Pepper hailing from Japan to enter US retail stores. Pepper uses an emotion engine and computer vision, to detect smiles, frowns, and surprise, and it uses speech recognition to sense the tone of voice and to detect certain words indicative of strong feelings, like "love" and "hate". Pepper then quantifies the person's overall emotion as positive or negative to help the store make a sale.

3. Data & Machine learning
2014 saw data and algorithm driven companies like Uber and AirBnb skyrocket. There is gold in your data. And data-driven companies are the most successful exponential organizations around. In 2015, data collection and mining that data will become more turn-key. Platfroms like Experfy, for example, allow you to find data scientists who will develop algorithms or machine learning solutions for your business/project. This means highly tailored and customized advertising which is set to reduce costs and become more effective.

4. Sensor Explosion
In 2015, expect "everything" to be "smart". The so-called internet of things means that a combination of sensors and wearables, increased connectivity, new manufacturing methods like 3D printing, and improved data mining capabilities will create a smart, connected world - where our objects, clothes, appliances, homes, streets, cars, etc. will be constantly communicating with one another. Among the many applications a device can automatically track how many calories you consume, and another device can even diagnose disease. This also means that marketers will gain a deeper understanding of their brand's audience, going beyond traditional demographics and segmentation to focus on individual people's interests and preferences. 2015 will be all about creating and delivering the right content, for the right person, at the right time, every time.

5. Millennials is the name of the game
Millennials are the independent generation, a generation of wolves, not sheep. Despite popular stereotypes of all millennials being lumped into a single demographic, in 2015, marketers will embrace their individuality. Using new technologies will make it easier to marketers to tailor content to individual cultural interests, location, price ranges and more. This ultra personalized approach will be the only way to achieve true loyalty for millennials.

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