Marketers: condition customers for the next phase of disruption
In the next decade, we will experience the biggest (positive) disruption to our way of life since the internet became a thing. We have all been hearing about the impact that autonomous cars will have on everything from travel, retail, entertainment to parenting but where are the companies responsible for creating the real “tipping point” really at? As marketers, we not only need to take heed but help our customers and the community start getting their heads around the phenomenon.
KEY POINTS:
- Transport technology innovation and disruption isn’t a matter of IF, it’s WHEN
- Despite the Elon Musk’s bluster and hyperbole, forecasts on the volume of autonomous vehicles produced by 2017 have been missed and unlikely to be met in 2019. Nissan has openly challenged Tesla’s claims, stating that the industry will not reach “fully autonomous” for another decade
- Driverless cars will create more jobs than they will destroy. McKinsey estimates that the introduction of the personal computer destroyed 3.5M jobs but went on to create 19.3M jobs
- Hyper loop, who create pod-like vehicles that travel in a tube (think Sci-Fi movies) are alive and well, with real large scale government projects underway. This will have a big impact on short haul air travel and commercial real-estate
- Mobile retail will become ubiquitous. Think of travelling mini-marts and bottle shops, exploding “on demand” food delivery
When I was a start-up guy, the daily reading list always included TechCrunch. From brand watching to chasing unicorns, it gives everyone an insight into the future of all industries. And there is no bigger disruption coming to the world of consumers than shops that come to you, hotel rooms on wheels and chauffeurs that are robots. It will change the way we engage with the world around us, how we work and how we play.
Here, Cyrus Radfar (the author) gives us a running update on the progress of the likes of Telsa, Uber and Hyperloop. While the thought of never having to drive a car again or flying around in a suspended glass pod may feel very far-fetched, I also want to remind you that once upon a time, we wrote hand written letters, put them in envelopes and bought little things called stamps and had to find a red box to slide them into. Today, this feels so antiquated a mode of communications that my kids would laugh at the idea.
That’s why it’s important for us not only to stay abreast of developments in this space but to take a moment to consider what it might mean for our businesses, our governments and the way we behave in future. Importantly for marketers, we can begin speaking and, dare I say it, conditioning our customers and the community to be ready and willing to accept the way we will deliver our services, do our jobs and price our product.
It isn’t a question of IF, it’s a question of WHEN, and will we be ready?
