Connecting digital technologies — data, devices, screens, and sensors — will define the social experience, leading aviation marketers to customize the brand experience based on society and cultural relevance.

The Futures Company published “Technology 2020: How the Digital World is Reshaping Business.” The report provides a framework for, and a view of, the way in which digital technology will evolve over the next decade, and helps organizations plan their response to these changes.

My views on how technology changes will affect aviation marketing are below.

ICT (information and communication technologies) are challenging the idea of the brand defined by solutions and needs because interconnected technology is fluid, redefining the relationship between brands and their customers.

4 technology groups that will impact brand differentiation:

1. Data – large amounts of information on all aspects of customer behavior, which can be stored, shared, and analyzed to gain a greater understanding of buying patterns and trends.
2. Devices – internet-enabled devices such as mobile phones, tablets or computers capable of accessing, communicating and sharing information without the need of a physical office.
3. Screens – flexible and immersive ways of displaying information beyond the traditional 2D computer, mobile, or television screen.
4. Sensors – wireless-enabled sensors embedded in products that can send and receive information about how customers interact with them.

For aviation marketers and manufacturers, it is important to understand the interconnection of these technologies. However, as these technologies become unbundled and more sophisticated, customers will become accustomed to high speed “ubiquitous computing” where ICT is integrated into everyday life through interaction with product and services.

Implications of technology change

Certainties:

• Pervasiveness and interconnection: When the dominant model of the personal computer fades into insignificance.
• Mainstream adoption of 4G networks: Explosion of innovation in location-based services and applications.
• Aggregating and analyzing data: Understanding patterns of behavior at a macro and individual level will be a marketing imperative.
• Technology will become more visible: As customers become more comfortable with technology, digital disruption will increase.

Uncertainties:

• Consumer concerns around data monitoring and privacy: Customers’ concerns about where, how, and with whom their information is being stored and shared.
• People switch off from technologically mediated contact in a major way: Customers limiting their exposure to digital communication due to information overload and burnout.
• Marketing moves from being in a “solutions and needs” business to a technology-driven, higher-service, questions business: Companies move from marketing product differentiation based on functionality to technology solutions based on individual customer’s needs.

Click on the following link to view the full Futures Company report “Technology 2020: How the Digital World is Reshaping Business”

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