Computer says no – why brands might end up marketing to algorithms
The proliferation of "technology" sections in the national newspapers and specialist magazines and websites illustrates the profound shift in our interests and lifestyles over the last decade. We have become a society preoccupied with consumer technology.
It is fun, useful, keeps us in touch and enhances our daily existence. We love it, we're smitten and according to the Spike Jonze film Her staring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson we could soon form a genuine emotional relationship with software.
If you haven't seen it, the film sees Phoenix's character fall for the operating system (OS) on his computer played by Johansson. She or "Her" learns to respond to him in an intuitive way and together they forge an emotional bond.
Setting aside the intriguing possibility of falling in love with an artificial intelligence, the film raises a potentially terrifying possibility for the marketing industry.
It suggests a world where an automated guardian manages our lives, taking away the awkward detail; the boring tasks of daily existence, leaving us with the bits we enjoy, or where we make a contribution. In this world our virtual assistants would quite naturally act as barriers between us and some brands and services.
Great swathes of brand relationships could become automated. Your energy bills and contracts, water, gas, car insurance, home insurance, bank, pension, life assurance, supermarket, home maintenance, transport solutions, IT and entertainment packages; all of these relationships could be managed by your beautiful personal OS.
Brands in these categories could find themselves dealing with the digital butler (unless we, the consumer, step in and press the override button), in which case marketing in these sectors could become programmatic in the truest sense.
It's entirely possible that the influence of our virtual minders could reach far further. What if we tell our OS that we'll only ever buy products that meet certain ethical standards; hit certain carbon emission targets or treat their employees in a certain way? Our computer may say no to brands for many different reasons.
This may sound like science fiction, but actually we are close to combining concept areas such as big personal data management, the internet of things and operating systems that learn how to provide the perfect approach to life management, just for us. The ingredients are already there and companies that could potentially deliver a "Her" are already hard at work putting the building blocks of personal technology in place.
Google Now and Siri are early attempts to create easier interfaces with information and services. These may seem clunky now but they are a signpost to where we're headed.
In a world where many functional services are bought and managed automatically according to personalised algorithms that select the best options for each individual, what role will advertising play?
It's impossible to make accurate predictions, but clearly the use of paid media channels and creative messaging will need to evolve to cope.
Individuals may choose which brand relationships are automated and which are not. Some categories may tend to sit on one side or the other of the electronic fence. Brands will naturally offer incentives to be chosen personally.
While above-the-line or visible marketing continues, machine-to-machine marketing may occur in the background as a programmatic brand marketing campaigns attempt to woo our OS.
We may tell our OS to inform us when they make changes to our services and emotional or logical marketing messages may prompt us to disagree with or change automated decisions. We might tell our OS about products, tips and ideas we've seen in the real media world or heard through human conversations. Brand appeal or human trends may override logic.
Brands are likely to integrate technology products and platforms far more closely with paid media options and it will become absolutely imperative for brands to either forge an emotional bond with consumers; prove they deliver exceptional value and results or make themselves indispensable.
The uncomfortable truth for marketers and media strategists is the future may be closer than we think; brands and media strategists that wish to thrive will soon need to get to know "Her".
Toby Gunton is head of innovation at OMD UK.
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