New consumer touchpoints for 2018

Greg Paull talks on the evolving consumer purchase journey
The explosion of consumer touchpoints and the growing prevalence of ad blocking requires marketers to find new ways for brands to connect with consumers throughout their daily lives and their purchase decision journey.

In the inaugural issue of the tabloid version of MARKETING, we featured Greg Paull, Principal and Co-Founder of global consultancy R3, who talked about the new ways and tools marketers need to adopt to connect with consumers, while having a test and learn mindset and skillset.

He pointed out that there are six emerging touchpoints that can infuse digital innovation into a core media strategy.

Talking to MARKETING, he said, “Exploring unchartered territories necessitates a willingness to take measured risks, contextually relevant content, and the allocation of a budget dedicated to learning.”

So what are those six touchpoints relevant for the consumer purchase journey Greg has listed out?

The first is, beacons; which are triggered geolocation mobile experiences through small wireless sensors that transmit targeted messages to nearby mobile devices. Marketers are enabling beacons to learn more about specific consumer segments.

Next are Wearables. These are not just your day-to-day fitness trackers, wearables deepen the engagement and connectivity with customers. An example of wearables is Disney’s Magic Band which enables the customers for speedy check-ins, FastPass+ entrances, hotel room access and more.

Chatbots are screen and  voice based services, powered by AI that interact with consumers via chat interfaces such as Facebook Messenger and Slack.

VR Glasses such as Hololens and Oculus are making headway in marketing strategies. Companies like McDonald’s introduced the VR Happy Goggles, a virtual reality headset from their happy meal boxes which enables kids to play a ski themed VR game.

Connected Cars gives the marketer the ability to target drivers with location-based offers or alerts. Information such as driving habits and app usage can be used by marketers to deliver targeted messaging through platforms like Android Auto.

The last touchpoint Greg talks about is Voiced-Powered Search. With over 45 million voice-assisted devices now in the United States, the number is expected to rise to 67 million by 2019.

For more on the Greg Paull interview, click on this link