This week in tech: Elon Musk announced SpaceX will send two very wealthy civilians around the moon in 2018; YouTube claims viewers watch one billion (yes - that is billion with a B) hours of footage daily; Jigsaw, a Google subsidiary, has developed a tool to sift through online comments which are disruptive to public discourse; Twitter is doubling down its emphasis on videos follow an abysmal $400 million loss in 2016; and Facebook is implementing more mid-video advertisements.
Technology is - and has been - rapidly evolving. These advances indicate substantial changes to the status quo. Innovation is changing the ways we work, how we reach clients, make business decisions, and view the world around us. Subsequently, technology provides opportunities for proactive brand marketers and advertisers to differentiate themselves from their peers.
While circumnavigating the moon might not be in your organizations budget, understanding the latest research on the formerly overstated average view time of Facebook videos or the prospects of Adtech vs Martech should be.
Staying current on various emerging technological innovations can provide organizations with a leg up on the competition. While not yet utilized heavily in marketing and advertising, the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) markets are expected to eclipse $100 billion collectively by 2020 according to new research by Markets and Markets. Growth of this nature could profoundly transform advertising.
Snapchat is a great case study. Launched in late 2011, Snapchat was largely heralded as a way to send NSFW photos with friends. In barely four years, Snapchat has evolved significantly. The photo sharing app has ballooned into a marketing staple, especially for brands intending to reach a younger demographic, with an anticipated ad revenue of one billion in 2017 (again, that is billion with a B).
The staples of advertising in the future are unknown to us today. But we do know the future will be upon us sooner than we think.
Recent history suggests technological innovations will facilitate new platforms and revolutionary methods by which to reach consumers. Brands and agencies that wait too long to see which innovations emerge as the most prevalent will be left playing catch up to proactive organizations who possess an anticipatory, rather than reactionary, approach to organization evolution.
Depending on your position, the pace of innovation is either inspiring and exciting or alarming and intimidating. Regardless, it is adamantly clear that if you wait for the dust to settle, you will already be behind.
