Our 6th Flash Briefing focuses on how changing user habits are signs of a dramatic paradigm shift
If you have already welcomed a Voice Assistent such as Alexa into your home, we're certain that you've already seen how the technology very quickly changes your daily habits.
Far beyond just playing music, Alexa's influence becomes pervasive as "she" begins to affect all members of the family. From modern husbands doing the cooking ("What temperature should I set for chicken?"), to retirees seeking company and intellectual stimulation ("Alexa, make me smarter!"), the family Bot has something for everyone.
Helping children to brush their teeth better, thanks to a fun new skill from Crest toothpaste.
Quick and reliable translations, to impress international guests.
Controlling lights and other Smart Home functions - the list is already impressive.
However, it's not only the growing library of Skills that are interesting. Rather, it's how we are beginning to interact with Alexa -- taking these (very) newly acquired habits for granted.
Order products with a simple sentence. Obtain information completely hands-free. Enjoy a speed and fluid, ease of use that is completely revolutionising the idea of Customer Loyalty.
Today, less effort = greater loyalty.
We are witnessing the birth of yet another paradigm shift, destined to shake up Advertising, Marketing and Commerce once more.
The Great Paradigm Shift
The personal convenience offered to us by AI Butlers and PA's is so compelling, that it will redefine many concepts we've embraced as "absolute truths", such as "Branding" or the multi-step process known as the "Purchase Funnel", necessary in a PC-based, click-driven online shopping experience.
Voice Commerce, ("v-Commerce") in its very infancy, has already begun to shatter the Purchase Funnel.
For example:
If my relationship with Alexa is based on my Amazon account, which also stores my payment data, geo-location, history of interests and purchases, there is no Purchase Funnel when I know what I want.
The problem of a empty diaper box is solved by a same-day delivery of Pampers -- or more Nespresso coffee capsules -- with just a word.
Will we see a new Purchase Funnel? What are the new anchor points that Marketers can hold on to?
Shocking Simplicity
Paul Fleming has coined three new terms to explain key aspects of this Great Paradigm Shift:
Bio-Logical. Hyper-Personal. And, "Ultra-Flow". Let's look at each, very briefly.
1. Bio-Logical
Let's not beat around the bush.
The Bio-Tech and Bio-Metric Revolution is in full sway. Retinal scans, fingerprint access and voice-prints: after years of cautiously expressing the idea that the "Human Interface" will be (in fact, already is) human, biologically-based computing is exploding.
At Mobile World Congress (#MWC19) in Barcelona this past February, a young Spaniard "got chipped" to enable biometric payments.
We're promised speed and status as Clear whisks us to our flights in the USA.
And now, Voice uses the very expression of our identity to enable a very "logical" interaction with an already omnipresent, wireless Internet. I seek it → I speak it. I speak it → I obtain it. Bio-Logical.
2. Hyper-Personal
Personalisation is one of the keystones of profitable, One-to-One Marketing. It has accompanied Internet Marketing since the days of pioneers Peppers & Rodgers.
Now, the Always-On and Often-Listening databases behind our virtual assistants are making Hyper-Personalisation far more than an inflated promise.
Armed with geo-positioning, a detailed purchase history -- and honed by Machine Learning about the personal context of 21st-Century consumers, truly Smart Data campaigns are more possible than ever. Cross-selling or up-selling from the family's "trusted advisor", be she Alexa or Samsung's Bixby, will render Brands invisible. And the importance of Audio Branding will be key (no pun intended!).
3. Ultra-Flow
Another constant of Digital Marketing has been FLOW, introduced as a source of personal happiness in the 1990s by a Hungarian best-seller -- and later developed as a Marketing Strategy in our saturated, click-obsessed society.
Less is More: not only in Luxury Marketing. Also as a means to an end: Conversions (Ka-ching! $€¥£).
To this end, we've spent a greater part of the last decade studying CCD (Conversion-Centric Design), CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) and celebrated visionary campaigns such as Amazon Prime's sponsorship of Downton Abbey that did everything possible to avoid emotional ruptures for the series' Fans.
Don't Cut the Flow!
Voice Marketing and v-Commerce are destined to be the non-plus-ultra of a satisfactory Customer Experience. Even more so when fueled by eye-popping 5G speeds.
Welcome to "Ultra-Flow".
As Shep Hyken, author of The Convenience Revolution observes:
"The likelihood that the customer will spend more with a brand increases by 88% with low effort experiences."
HOW TO LISTEN USING ALEXA: It's easy to set up Alexa to hear our Flash Briefing: step-by-step
Links | Flash Briefing 06 | April, 2019
- Paradigm Shift: PDF of Paul's talk (Catalan) 28/03/19, El Col·legi in Barcelona
- Power Deck: 3-in-1 (English, some Spanish): Alexa - Paradigm Shift - AI with Alexei Kounine
- Harvard Business Review: Marketing in the Age of Alexa
- Blog: 14 ways to control your home with Echo and Alexa
- Ultra-Flow: The Convenience Revolution: An Interview with Shep Hyken
- Podcast: Jonathan Laverentz, Multichannel Merchant | 12/2018
- Analysis: New Purchase Funnel | Voice Technology Marketing Revolution 01/2019
Flash Briefings and Resources mentioned by Paul:
- Harvard Business Review Tip of the Day
- The New York Times
- Daily Tech Headlines
- News in Slow French
- Minority Report (2002):
- Voicebot: China Is Driving Half of Global Smart Speaker Growth
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We hope you enjoy the monthy broadcasts, hosted by Paul Fleming, together with Anna Hernández.
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We look forward to hearing from you.
The Production Team of our European Marketing Alexa Flash Briefing: Pere, Anna and Paul
