Leo Burnett’s new global head of social and mobile James Kirkham has urged brands to grasp the opportunity to hit the reset button. Because in the future Cannes will look “less like Mad Men and more like Star Trek”.
But it isn’t about trying to create miracles, just small wonders that people will look back and question how they ever did without.
That was the message he and one time Leo’s creative resources director turned Contagious editorial director, Paul Kemp-Robertson, delivered, via carrier pigeon*, at today’s Wildfire seminar.
The two presented three scenarios putting brands at the heart of consumer’s lives that could be commercially feasibly within 60 months. See them here, here and here.
You might be sceptical, but Kirkham and Kemp-Robertson showed existing examples of the enabling technology for every application – from augmented reality contact lenses, to haptic technology that can replicate the feel of any texture.
The implications could be profound both for consumers and brands. And it is existing brands with their reach, customer-bases and resources that are best place to invest and steal a lead on the start-ups.
It doesn’t even need to be a new idea: Apple was not the first company to develop an MP3 player, noted Kemp-Robertson, but it was the best. And there is no point being the biggest or the first unless there is genuine utility.
Alongside wearable tech, which Credit Suisse states could be a $50bn market within five years, another massive opportunity was smart health - and brands “from breakfast cereals to insurance are piling in”, said Kirkham. He cited a survey by PR firm Ruder Finn that claimed 75 million Americans used mobile for health information.
But by moving into those kind of areas he warned that brands also had to be extremely careful not to scare consumers away.
“There are loads of rules for brands. They are data hungry. But with great data comes great responsibility.” As soon as brands abuse that “the whole thing could come crashing down. There is a need for self-regulation, because you only get one chance.”
Equally, while Kemp-Robertson argued that most people accept the rationale for an “empathetic eco system”, where “the deeper you are engaged with the brand the better placed it will be to serve your needs”, Krikham urged brands not to “ghetto-ise” those that do not want to share their data.
Of all they highlighted, haptic technology could be one that excites brands – and could change the way business is done. “Brands and agencies will now have to think how visceral sensations can have an effect on consumers”, said Kemp-Robertson. “Think haptic, it’s a state of mind. Get out of the advertising bubble, see what is happening and get dirty with it.”
But he warned that it is the “perfect example of bandwagon tech that everyone will want to jump onto regardless of whether it is appropriate.” That means “brands have to ask not want it does for them but what it does for us.”
That maxim applies to all of the technology coming down the pipe. It is easy to jump on bandwagons, they warned “but if it is not useful, relevant or entertaining it is not worth sending into the world because life is complicated enough.”
So for brands, which now have the opportunity to make every product its own channel, Kirkham and Kemp-Robertson urged them to grasp the future by “pressing the reset button”, start identify problems in people’s lives and solving them.
“Because we think people will look back [to now] and say ‘this is where the game changed’”.
*(Seriously, the script was delivered from London by a carrier pigeon called Pierre. He even has his own Twitter feed - @WildfirePigeon - that’s quite a coo coup.)
Want a hoverboard, or just emergency toilet paper delivered from your mobile? See more of the future here.
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at brendancoyne@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.