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  • Essay / Apple Homepod Exploration – Delving deeper into the use and relevance of technology

    Building on the success of online shopping, Alexa's genius was to bring the online experience into home without the keyboard and screen interface. These are two major obstacles to a seamless digital experience. People used (and still use) VAD in their cars through programs like Siri and Cortana and bringing it home was the logical next step. And mobile phones still have limitations with their small screens and impractical inputs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The real value of VAD to Amazon and its competitors is threefold; consumer value, direct supplier value and indirect supplier value. The perceived value that the device brings to the consumer should not be underestimated. The device is considered “cool”, “avant-garde”, “futuristic”. Many people like to identify themselves as early adopters, and this device fits their needs perfectly. The value of having contextual information delivered on demand is also a driving factor for early consumer adoption, and the ease of use offered by voice (removing the need for physical interaction (keyboard and mouse)) is a new and convincing factor for the consumer. Driven by this value proposition, the supplier sees value both directly and indirectly. Clearly, the profits generated from the sale of the devices themselves (albeit at presumably modest margins) are a source of value. Use of the device is tied to a subscription service (e.g. Amazon Prime) which generates valuable recurring subscription revenue, whilst being able to offer other products and services to the customer online (e.g. example video streaming). Perhaps the most lucrative and long-term value VAD providers receive is indirect. VADs record all instructions given to them and forward these requests to the provider's cloud service. A massive volume of data is thus acquired; data from the heart of the consumer; living room, kitchen, car, etc. Analyzing literally terabytes of this data is a gold mine for the digital marketer. This includes demographics, information requests, items purchased, etc., and it is this data that allows Amazon to create parity with Google search through the entered search terms that the Google engine maintains. Amazon may use this data to refine its digital marketing strategy, improve its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, and sell the data at a higher price to third parties for their marketing analysis. What’s truly elegant about this approach to modern digital marketing is that it practically creates a win-win situation. Consumers are obviously demanding more VAD. New York-based consulting firm Activate Inc. estimated that Amazon sold 4.4 million Echo units in its first full year of sales, after it was made available to the general public in 2015. CIRP also reported that awareness of the Echo continues to rise, climbing to 69. percent from Amazon, based in the United States. com in September, up from 20% in March 2015. With VAD in millions of homes, sellers have established transparent tendrils into the hearts and minds of the consumer from the comfort of their couch. To illustrate how this data can be used by the digital marketer, let's look at an example: An Amazon Prime account allows you to enter information aboutyou and your family, and to get the best use of Alexa, you need a Prime account. . Let's say a family makes a series of requests via Alexa during summer vacation: "What is the temperature in Greece in July?" » and “Which airlines fly to Crete?” ". Amazon collects and correlates this data with demographic comparisons over time. With enough data on trends in these requests, Amazon can then use Prime to target holidays, airline discounts, summer books, and more. among Prime members with a similar demographic profile. Amazon also has the option to sell (anonymized) data to online travel agencies such as Expedia, booking. com etc. Companies are paying huge sums for this data because it is now becoming the only real way to compete in this digitized environment. Now imagine this similar process for hundreds of thousands of other correlated requests (cars, houses, clothes, groceries, etc. The list is potentially endless). The increase in revenue generated by this information is insignificant compared to VAD sales and online subscriptions. They are just ways to provide intelligent recommendations and derive behavioral data from them. Bringing voice to user experience requires creativity and a change from traditional marketing strategies. Establishing an impactful VOD marketing strategy takes time and research. Like any marketing strategy, you must first establish your consumer's needs and then link your product or service to the consumer by adding conversational interfaces to your product. On Amazon Alexa or Google Home, the best way to do this is with a “skill” or “action”. A skill is actually a voice application that can bring products and services to life on VADs. You can turn them on and off through the Alexa app. But like any marketing medium, creating relevant and interesting voice content is the first step to success. The popular “Ask Purina” skill is a smart trust-building strategy that increases the likelihood that the consumer will choose this brand over another when purchasing dog food. The skill provides detailed and informed answers on dogs, food, the best breed for children, etc., providing a reliable information hub for dog owners. So even if it doesn't result in direct sales, it builds brand awareness and improves the reputation of the Purina brand. Impressively, Purina has also integrated its content on Amazon's in-app product, the 'Echo show', displaying images of various dog breeds. Echo show is a product containing mini speakers and a touchscreen that displays visual output for responses from the Alexa assistant. Marketing integration at its best! American antihistamine brand Zyrtec is another brand that has smartly embraced the voice of user experience with its Alexa skill that notifies consumers of pollen counts before leaving their home. Inevitably, if the numbers are high, allergy sufferers are encouraged to obtain allergy medication from the pharmacy. It does not openly mention the brand name, but in order to know the pollen count by saying “Alexa Start Zyrtec”, the brand is a priority and likely choice for the consumer when purchasing. Without images on the Echo Assistant (and the Echo Show is currently of limited distribution), the script has to be very clever with a call to.