Wearable are the next big thing in technology right now. The Apple watch going on sale in the past week will only help to drive wearables to the next level; something that Apple has a knack of doing. But looking past the obvious wearable technologies, you will find they come in many forms across a whole range of prices. However, for this I want to  concentrate on connected wearables, such as the likes of Google Glass and of course watches, as they are likely to have the most influence on marketing in the category.

In 2014 it was estimated that the revenues generated from wearables surpassed the $3 billion mark, not bad for something that has only just recently been introduced. This has mainly been driven by fitness bands. Personally, I have not got on that fitness bandwagon, but I am an owner of a Moto 360. Yes it is nice to see how many steps I have done each day, but to be honest I just want to live the childhood dream of being like Buzz Lightyear and being able to talk to something that is on my wrist! But in all seriousness, this is a growing market and one that is not likely to slow down; with the revenues being estimated to surpass the $100 billion mark by 2020.

I can understand exactly why it the wearables market is set to become so big in such a short space of time. Yes they are really a bit of a novelty at the moment, but there are some aspects which really do add to my everyday life. The most frequently used features for me are linked to music. Whenever I leave the house, I put on my music on my phone, get plugged in and I am ready for the day. Being able to change songs and control what I listen to from wrist is great. Not getting my phone out to do this seems like such a hassle now. My Moto 360 has also helped me to not miss important calls. My phone spends most of its time on silent in my pocket, so when out and about having another way to get a notification from it is great. Especially when I am at a point in my life where I am job hunting for when I graduate from university. These are just two features which are incredibly useful in every day life, but what excites me most is what is coming to them in the future. The ability to control things around your house, paying using NFC (Near Field Communication) and being able to search for things with more than just text, and these can all be done from your watch. However, it is not just watched that get me excited, the Microsoft HoloLens could revolutionise the way that people work and interact with the world around them. For those who have not seen one, they are not the prettiest thing in the world; making the wearer look like a low budget knock off of Daft Punk. After Google Glass being a bit of flop, HoloLens shows great signs of what is to come in the coming years for wearables and in particular how they can affect marketing.

My Moto 360.

Microsoft HoloLens

OK, so enough of the geek out and on to more serious business. It may be unclear with how they might have any influence on marketing, but for some it is. Wearables will allow for a much broader method of search. As mentioned before, search is mainly limited to text, but if wearables become mainstream, images, sounds, and other things will become searchable as well. With more ways to search, there will be more searchable content, leading to more searches generated and consequently larger profits for those who advertise on sites such as Google. Lets take one example given by Sephi Shapira, CEO of MassiveImpact, a global performance-based mobile advertising platform. She highlights:

“Customers walk into an electronics store, grab an image of a camera they see in front of them, and then search online to compare offers. That will return more precise results than typing ‘camera’ in a search bar, and create the opportunity for more precise and targeted ads as well. this increases the likeliness of engagement, making advertisers very happy, and keeps Google happy too.”

Not only do wearables have the potential to revolutionise the way we search, but also the way in which companies go about gathering intelligence about their customers. However, this is where the task becomes much more difficult. With users engaging with an greater number of channels, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep information consistent, relevant and up to date. The influx of additional data makes already large amounts of data even larger. Analysing it will become even more complex. In order to meet the growing demand for better analytics , vendors will need to develop solutions that are more solutions that are intuitive and pinpoint key correlations for each consumer.

Furthermore, wearables could give the ability for users to interact with brands even further; for example interactive adverts. It is something that is becoming more popular on catch-up TV websites, so why not on your augmented reality glasses. Obviously when you put on your Microsoft HoloLens you do not want to be bombarded with adverts, but what if they could be turned into virtual experience. Maybe you are sat at home and looking for new clothes, through your HoloLens (because why wouldn’t you?), and it recognises the clothes you are looking at and sends adverts of items that could match items. Then maybe taking it to the next level be able to overlay this item on your outfit.

There are a great number of ways in which wearables have the potential to not only greatly improve consumers’ lives but also drive marketers to be even more dynamic and innovative. Being a technology that is still in its infancy, there is lots of room for improvement, and maybe at some point in the future the likes of world a Minority Report will be a reality but hopefully not as disturbing.

Minsker, M. (2014) Wearables Will be a Marketing Winner, CRM Magazine. Vol.18, No.4, pp.14-14

TechRadar, (2014) ‘Seven epic Apple Watch and Android Wear features coming soon’. [Online], http://www.techradar.com/news/wearables/seven-epic-apple-watch-and-android-wear-features-coming-soon-1284505/2 [accessed 15th April 2015]