The big news is out that I’ve joined the talented team at space150, and they published a great piece and interview with me you should check out.
The bottom of the piece features the following marketing and technology trends we’re tracking. Good stuff!
Real-time Social Video
With the rise of smart phones and social networks, matched with the prevalence of 4G data networks, consumers can more easily push and pull a significant amount of data between their phones and their followers. The latest exciting step forward in this realm is Meerkat, a real-time life streaming app powered by a user’s Twitter network. This start-up application blends the ephemeral nature of Snapchat with the social newsfeed of Facebook with the real-time video power of today’s mobile tech. We are really excited to see how brands make use of this technology, especially since the streams are not archived. If you miss a stream live you missed it. And launching just prior to South by Southwest Interactive (where Twitter and Foursquare “launched” will give the world’s most passionate early adopters a chance to really push the boundaries of the platform.
Transmogrified Reality
You’ve probably heard of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), but Google’s head game designer Noah Falstein recently spoke of a vision of the future called “Transmogrified Reality.” Defined as the culmination of all the different technologies in development (VR, AR, HMDs and faster processors) combined to form one vision of the future and how humans interact with each other, physical and digital spaces, and of course, brands. Here at space150, our team just built an Oculus Rift-powered virtual ride experience for Victory Motorcycles. Beyond Oculus, we’re paying attention to the death of Google Glass, the rise of Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear, and how everyday consumers will react to and potentially adopt transmogrified reality.
Smartwatch Content Strategy
Setting the brands and specific products aside, our team at space150 is exploring emerging user behavior habits around wrist-mounted devices and opportunities brands have to add value to these new platforms. While responsive design has helped companies retrofit their desktop websites for smaller screens, like tablets and phones, formatting content for a screen the size of a wrist requires a different approach entirely. When you add in the wealth of sensors (accelerometers, GPS, microphones, speakers), brands now have an opportunity to root their content and engagement platforms in new contexts like activity and location. Our teams have been experimenting with the Apple Watch and are excited to share some of our findings at the Mobile March conference later this month.
GREG SWAN 