Futuristic Advertising to keep an eye on

Back in the old days….

60 years ago the average consumer would see hundreds of adverts a day. In newspapers, on television, on billboards, cereal packets, leaflets, shop windows, magazines. Today consumers still see hundreds of adverts – it is the placement of them that has changed. Ads are now seen on social media, through emails, remarketing, PPC campaigns whilst browsing the internet, digital signage. In addition to the placement being different, one noticable difference is that ads can now be specific and clever in their targeting.

A key part of any marketing strategy is adaption. If research shows that a monthly print mail out isn’t productive anymore then maybe it is time to go digital. If an email marketing campaign isn’t generating results then perhaps budget would be more effective on a paid search campaign?

The technological future is filled with possibility, maybe not Marty Mcfly hover boards, but with the developments in virtual reality and smart technology, keeping up with the change is vital for any business to move into the future.

Smart Home Devices

Central heating systems controlled from your mobile phone, voice activated systems, wireless and bluetooth advancements. Pretty soon you will be able to control everything in your house either through an app on your mobile phone or your voice. At present there are no advertising capabilities to these systems but this is likely to change. All these systems are gathering data about everything consumers do. This data will become valuable to advertisers, and something they are willing to pay for.

Virtual Reality

Imagine a housing developer offering prospective buyers the opportunity to actually experience walking through the property before it was even built rather than looking at plans, they can visualise the space, check out the views and feel like they are in the property.

What about a car advertisement that lets you walk around, sit inside or even test drive the car, all from the comfort of your sofa? OmniVirt are the largest premium virtual reality ad network offering 360 degree video and virtual reality advertising. They have launched campaigns for Samsung, The Discovery Channel, Universal to name a few. Not an affordable reality yet which would explain why only industry giants have dipped into virtual reality advertising.

Augmented reality

The most well know example of augmented reality is Google Glass. A pair of glasses designed to display information in a smartphone – hands free type format. Wearing your glasses and going to the supermarket could open a world of offers, virtual coupons etc. If you are in the vicinity of a restaurant your glasses could notify you that there is a two for one meal offer. Again the possibilities are limitless.

Connected Cars

With cars having wifi connections and on board computers it is only a matter of time before advertisers tap into this new channel. If self driving cars is in the future passengers will likely adopt the commuter favourite of surfing the web, watching videos and of course viewing ads.

Much like progression from 60 years ago – the number of adverts we see in the future may not increase or decrease, the method in which we view them will adapt and change just as it has in the past. As a business or a marketer being aware of new channels as they become available is key.