Hear What Voice Means for Brands

Of course that hasn39t stopped us from embracing voice amp160While many now avoid talking on the phone like it39s the plague in favor of exclusively texting we are at the same time excitedly talking into smart machines at every chance we get amp160Regardless of the logic voice now seems to be a natural and desirable way for consumers to navigate information so we must ask What does it mean for brandsI think we need to take both a short and longterm look at voice technologies amp160Amara39s Law declares that the shortterm effects of technology are often overstated while its longterm impact is often underestimated amp160It is in this important longterm context that I believe the world of voice has a lot of promiseShortterm Disillusionment The current obsession with voice changing everything is a little naive amp160It shows a degree of familiarity with technology but only a passing understanding of humanityQuite honestly I just don39t buy the predictions amp160Gartner thinks that by 2020 30 of searches will be done without a screen Gartner October 2016 amp160Activate predicts that the connected speaker will be the fastest adopted product ever reaching 50 of US households in the next three years Activate October 2017 amp160Well I39ve used and loved multiple voiceactivated devices for two years and I still just don39t buy itAs Executive Vice President and Head of Innovation at Zenith USAamp160innovation is literally in my job title but watching me use voice is a bit like watching my parents use a mouse for the first time amp160you can see a degree of wonder but also that I39m using all sorts of brain muscles differently and for the first time amp160The reality is that for most people trained in the old way voice is hard and the payoff not greatMost articles about voice commerce seem to be written by those who have never used it amp160Buying things from a device is not easy amp160It39s not a faster way to get a pizza or a better way to procure shampoo it39s a long and uncertain journey filled with concerns and friction amp160If all we ever knew was voice technology the invention of the website would be our savior amp160There are great use cases amp160the weather alarm clocks the news music if you are not picky or can actually remember songs names and a few more but most of the time commerce simply isn39t itIn the next three years or so I just don39t see life changing much thanks to voice technologies despite the fact that millions of households may have bought them amp160Some people will of course continue to shout out demands for Alexa to order laundry detergent off Amazon and others will dabble with ordering an Uber while they get dressed just to see what it39s like amp160Perhaps a tiny percentage of households for a tiny percentage of their purchases will order this way but to say that it39s the entire future of commerce or branding shows a lack of understandingLongterm PotentialIf we take whole swathes of industries today from hailing taxis to paying energy bills ordering food to buying clothes finding flights to booking hotels the reality is that seeing is better than hearing amp160Voice is great for micro transactions and a magical way to check your credit card bill find out the remaining data on your monthly phone plan or pay off bills quickly but in its current state it simply isn39t the future of retailCombined with other emerging technologies however I see where the longterm potential of voice will come into play amp160A bigger disrupter to the overall retail industry is subscription shopping the ultimate frictionless experience The idea that you won39t ever need to engage anyone or anything because you merely have items arriving automatically each month or week amp160The magical piece to this awareness amp160is where voice can truly come into playThis is ultimately the same quandary faced by all brands First making sure the product is top of mind and that awareness is high second that the brand is liked and understood and finally that the products are good enough to be sure people want to use them time and time againAs emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence begin to reach their true potential it will power a whole new world of voice amp160In the longterm these technologies will become a new operating system a new gateway and glue to all of the devices that we own amp160We will see screens operate around us with TV ads that ask us to speak to our Alexa and then allow us to ask for maps to stores and locations to update magically in our carsIn the future the next generation will have grown ups using voice as the primary way to interact with devices and therefore people will build business models and products based on this construct amp160General AI will make voice devices feel human and rich and above all else smart amp160We will trust our devices and therefore automation will remove many of our brand choices amp160But even in this crazy new world we still need to know that a W Hotel is trendy that a Cadillac is a great car that Domino39s makes great pizza amp160The importance of branding won39t change amp160The importance of advertising and marketing remain amp160Like with all new ad technologies we will just need to find that added layer of humanity to reach through these new devices to the consumerClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Hear What Voice Means for Brands

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Tom Goodwin

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