The future is now: How the Internet of Things is changing marketing

Over a few short years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has morphed from a futuristic concept into reality. A growing array of devices and systems--smartphones, beacons, RFID, POS terminals, and smart homes and businesses--generate new connection points and new data points. They change the stakes in profound ways."We are entering a third wave of digital transformation," said Olof Schybergson, founder and CEO of Fjord, the design and innovation group at Accenture Interactive. "The first wave involved the introduction of the Internet, the second wave brought us mobility, and the third wave involves transformative digital services."Not surprisingly, marketers are at the center of this digital disruption. Not only is it necessary to understand constantly changing consumer preferences and behavioral patterns, it's critical to rethink products, services, and entire business strategies. The IoT introduces radically different ways to interact with consumers and businesses, but it also opens up new vistas for collecting, managing, and using data--including within the domain of predictive analytics."We are seeing the digitization of everything," said Suresh Vittal, vice president of marketing strategy for Adobe Marketing Cloud (Adobe is CMO.com’s parent company). "The Internet of Things cuts across channels, communication tools, and interaction points. It redefines brands and organizations."Read more.

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