How marketers can navigate the new age of the internet
The promise of the internet has, arguably, not yet been fully realised. You tend to hear more about the downsides of ‘parasocial’ relationships and social networks than you do about the good enabled by the internet. However, one thing that is absolutely undeniable is that the technology that underpins this new era of communications has linked us all together to an extent that would have been unthinkable even in the late ‘90s.
Dr. Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO of Vivaldi, believes that we are currently in the Third Internet Age of interconnectivity. In his new book, he argues that our new age is as different from the previous age of social media that birthed Facebook as that time was from the age of search and ecommerce that led to the rise of Google and Amazon. Consequently, there is huge potential for a new internet titan to come and dominate this new age.
Just as we are all linked interpersonally, our smart devices are increasingly talking to other pieces of tech to share information, both with their users, manufacturers, and each other. These interlinked layers of connection means that companies and brands are having to transform themselves in order to not get left behind, both in terms of how they interact with other companies in their supply chains, and with audiences who have never been as connected as they are in 2019.
Interaction fields
Joachimsthaler coined the term ‘interaction fields’ to describe how the devices (and their users) interrelate and influence one another, stating: “Just as traditional businesses were disrupted in the second era, now it’s whole industries and categories that are blurring and will radically change and reorder. Competitors emerge from anywhere, including other industries – Tesla into aerospace, Netflix into content creation, and Google into mobility. As technologies converge, these walls disappear by democratising data, shrinking distance, eliminating intermediaries and empowering consumers, making way for ever- escalating customer expectations.”
He notes that, while industries like banking and financial services were among the first to really take advantage of the new opportunity, that was only because the information available in those industries was digitised sooner. Marketers, who by design now have access to a wealth of data in their own right as well as on behalf of brands and clients, are bound to be the successors of those industries.
Joachimsthaler used John Deere as a prime example of a company changing as a result of the interaction field model. Far from simply producing the old, mute pieces of machinery that helped establish it as a global brand, its new products are active data gathering machines. He points out that John Deere is no longer an independent entity, but instead one of many linked businesses that benefit from each other’s success. In the interaction field era, a rising tide floats all boats.
A new focus on consumers
There is currently a huge focus on brand values, driven in no small part by the fact that consumers can communicate on a much greater scale than ever before. The result of this is a much greater focus on brands using the communication tools at their disposal to set out their stalls in terms of their values, so that ever savvier audiences do not choose to use a competitor whose values align more closely with their own.
So while there is plenty of opportunity for the companies who are set to take advantage of interaction fields, there is commensurate risk for companies who fail to take into account the internet has changed for consumers as well.
“Companies must recognise [the extent of their own interaction field] and the opportunities the new technologies present to them in the third era of connectivity. Whether you are a brand or a company, you need to look at the customers or consumers you serve and start asking: ‘What are frictions or inefficiencies in this system of delivering it to consumers? How can we solve these frictions or inefficiencies? What entire new value can be created for consumers or customers?” Joachimsthaler asked.
It’s important, then, that brands don’t just differentiate themselves from competitors in terms of those values, but also in terms of what kind of interactions they facilitate with consumers and customers – and the companies that would once have been competition.
“Rather than pushing products and images out from the company, the company seeks to attract people and partners into their field – through gravitational pull. Higher interaction velocity pulls in new customers, competitors willing to collaborate, and new participants who help to create value for everyone in the interaction field,” he added.
Consequently, the reality is that marketing companies – and indeed any company that relies on direct relationships with the consumer – are being disrupted by the rise of interaction fields just as much – if not more – as any other industry. Attempting to manage the relationship between brands and consumers when each are inextricably connected to their peers and one another is orders of magnitude more complicated than ever before.
That isn’t to say that the industry needs to throw the baby out with the bathwater, however – there are still many fundamental communication skills that underpin everything that can be done with Interaction Fields. What this new age of the internet offers is a compounding factor; whatever was previously possible in the ages of search and platforms is now possible faster and on a broader scale. While many are undoubtedly already grappling with the challenges of this Interaction Field future, marketers are in a strong position to truly take advantage of its opportunities are well.
Source: The Drum
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