Media Landscape: More Changes in Store for 2019

When I returned home from work today, a package was waiting outside my door.  It included new furnace filters, batteries and coffee filters.  This is the first time that my Google Nest household pre-ordered items for me based on what it detected was running low or in need of a change.

Though Google purchased Nest way back in 2013, it has taken them five years to perfect their system. The whole house integration definitely needed to work some bugs out before consumers would get on board…but now the time has come.

Likewise, we are now on the cusp of being able to serve ads to linked devices and appliances throughout wired homes. 80% of new homes are being built with this technology and approximately 40% of existing homes have been upgraded.  Are we really in age of grocery store ads appearing on the refrigerator when the milk starts running low? Yes, that time has come too.

At first, many people worried about the level of privacy infringement that these technologies were bringing us. As you’ll recall, we went through the trends of Big Data, Small Data and Segmented Data. We are now moving into the era of Home Data.  Despite their initial trepidation, as consumers got used to the efficiency that this research gave their life, they became open to even more advances in data-capturing technology.

From a marketing perspective, businesses have had to come to grips with the ways that consumers use media and how they react to these messages in different settings – be it car, work or living room.  Agencies must know what messages are going to spur consumers into action and when.  We have even seen the advent of the “home-based researchers,” firms that are allowed into consumer’s homes to track their daily interaction with media and to see how they respond to those messages.  The new bottom line is that marketing efforts have to be precisely timed, otherwise the message is lost.  This Home Data research is imperative if companies are to reach their marketing goals.

As in previous years, the trends of 2018 revolved around the changes that the digital world is thrusting upon us at lightning speed.  We can’t forget about “traditional” media, however.  Television viewing is at an all-time high.  The demise of Nielsen’s outdated rating system in 2016 paved the way for additional vendors to jump into the research arena.  Having a large base of cable provider boxes to collect data from has given us the most demographic targeting that we have ever had.  With the growth of Bluetooth-enabled cars and outdoor billboards we can create user specific messages as the consumer drives by.  Although they have been playing around with this technology since 2012, it has only now passed critical mass (and county legislation.) 2018 was a watershed year, in that respect.

In summary, 2019 will be another year of rapid change in technology and marketing.  Let’s just hope we don’t have any more incidents with Amazon Drones…