Smart Homes are already here to some extent, with inexpensive systems readily available on the market such as the Google Home Mini starting from $79 AUD or the Apple Home App on your iPhone. Who are the main contenders in the Australian market?
In the not too distant future, as customers upgrade appliances, more devices will be ‘connected’. You can already purchase a myriad of appliances that are smart home ready such as doorbells, light globes, barbecues, air conditioners and thermostats.
Smart homes will make services more convenient and personalised. For example, “Hey Siri, do my grocery shop for me”, or “Alexa, book me in with the hairdresser”. What happens when you want to buy a product using Amazon? It will use the Amazon network to source that. Even without being locked in, the intelligent agent already knows your preferences.
As a marketer, how do you reach an audience that is locked to a specific network for their everyday needs? With convenience and automation, there is a reduction in choice. Systems become personalised, knowing your preferences. As a marketer, the challenge to reach a new audience becomes a lot more difficult unless you are a part of that ecosystem. The conversation marketers will be having is not about ‘search engine optimization’ but intelligent agent optimization. This filters down to brands as well, partnerships and collaboration with smart home systems will become critical or you may be locked out from reaching customers. The smart home of the future will act as an intelligent agent to create the most value and convenience for the people they represent.
Good read! Very well written Steve. Along with tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Apple, there is also a significant rise in the production of smart home devices by an Australian-owned company called Kogan. Despite smart home devices of the future acting as an intelligent agent to create the most value and convenience for the people they represent, I believe when it comes to security and privacy it will be a big question mark.
I never thought about this in a marketer’s perspective. Owning an Amazon Alexa myself, its really amazing the things you can do with it, especially with buying products. I’d be curious to see how business are going to handle the collaborations with companies such as amazon. As smart AI’s get smarter I think, intelligent agent optimisation is an untapped area that is only going to get bigger. Great read Steve, cheers!