Every time I bump into someone on a train or tube, who is more focused on writing or reading a social media message than trying to walk; I am reminded of how we are evolving as a species.
I fear that the future human will have well developed touch sensitive, long fingers and combine binocular vision with peripheral vision to walk, view and type all at the same time.
Central to these changes in our behaviour is the rise in technology and in particular gadgets capable of quenching our thirst for timely information and fulfilling our obsessive desire to stay in touch with friends and loved ones on a second by second basis.
The world of marketing is also adapting to incorporate these changes, especially in technology. This excellent article in the Harvard Business Review by marketing futurist Gerd Leonhard discusses this area in greater depth.
Here is a brief glimpse into Gerd’s future marketing crystal ball:
- Disappearance of interruptive marketing – emergence of personalisation and customisation
- Reasons to buy will be socially motivating, possibly kissing goodbye to marketing departments
- Location based services will emerge once issues of privacy and intrusion are overcome and public safety matters are addressed
- Instead of forecasting units, companies are going to forecast people’s feelings about their brands and products and adjust as real time information emerges
- Creation of the Customer Delight axis
- Data alone will not be enough; the development of a need for emotional engagement will rise and lead to Product humanisation
In summary the whole precept of buying something will change from an intellectual process, we won’t buy products because “this could be useful“; our purchasing will be formed by saying “we really want this.”
