 "Wearable gadgets could become next ad frontier")
Even before wearable technology gains widespread popularity, advertising companies are devising ways to deliver marketing messages directly to people who don watches, glasses and headgear that double as computers.
Case in point: InMobi, a maker of mobile-ad tools, has a team of developers creating virtual mock-ups of ads on smartwatches, head-mounted displays and other gadgets to get a feel for how they can serve as a platform for marketers. The engineers, surrounded by powerful computers with large monitors at the company's offices in San Francisco and Bangalore, India, are trying to get a head start in the nascent market, which has captured the attention of Google and Apple. "Any device with a screen allows for an interesting opportunity," says Atul Satija, vice-president and head of revenue and operations at inMobi.
Millennial Media and Kiip have joined the search for viable wearable-ad technology, underscoring the appeal of the devices as marketing platforms. Shipments of wearables are projected to reach almost 112 million units in 2018, up from less than 20 million this year, according to IDC. While that is still a tiny fraction of the more-than-1-billion smartphones that will be sold in 2014, it is enough momentum to induce ad companies to move products out of the lab.
Wearables also promise troves of unique data related to health, activities and location to marketers. So, they could send a user an electronic coupon for cookies when she is in the snack aisle of a grocery store. Or, marketers might try to sell consumers a new pair of running shoes after collecting jogging data. Devices such as computerised eyewear could even detect what a user is looking at when they're shopping, says Julie Ask, analyst, Forrester Research.
Ad companies are also preparing to market on wearables. Kiip, which already sells tools to display ads via smartphones, is looking at how the gadgets could carry promotions, according to Brian Wong, CEO, Kiip. Millennial Media's CTO Bob Hammond, says, "We recognised it as a really interesting, possible next step for advertising," and sees it as an extension of the growing number of places where ads can show up, be that on smartphones, cars or connected televisions.
Challenges
Much will depend on whether users embrace the idea. Yeager says, "You run into privacy considerations." Companies have to be mindful not to turn away users by appearing to be intrusive or using sensitive information, Yeager says.
"I think the industry has learnt a lot from how do you deal with privacy on the mobile side," says Naveen Tewari, CEO of InMobi. Google Glass, one of the most closely-watched platforms in wearables, currently doesn't allow advertising. It wasn't until 2011 - four years after the debut of the iPhone - that ads on smartphones took off, Yeager says.
Google has been granted a patent that shows how images displayed on computerised eyewear could include paid promotions. The Glass team has no plans to use this patent now or in the foreseeable future, Google says in an e-mailed statement.
One of the early smartwatch players, Pebble Technology, has spurred conversations with partners about how advertising could work, according to Asad Iqbal, head of business development. "Pebble is definitely ripe for advertising, but it may not be in the form that you see advertising traditionally - say on mobile devices or other mediums," Iqbal says. Since these gadgets don't need to be carried or stuffed in a pocket, they enable quick and casual interactions.
Case in point: InMobi, a maker of mobile-ad tools, has a team of developers creating virtual mock-ups of ads on smartwatches, head-mounted displays and other gadgets to get a feel for how they can serve as a platform for marketers. The engineers, surrounded by powerful computers with large monitors at the company's offices in San Francisco and Bangalore, India, are trying to get a head start in the nascent market, which has captured the attention of Google and Apple. "Any device with a screen allows for an interesting opportunity," says Atul Satija, vice-president and head of revenue and operations at inMobi.
Millennial Media and Kiip have joined the search for viable wearable-ad technology, underscoring the appeal of the devices as marketing platforms. Shipments of wearables are projected to reach almost 112 million units in 2018, up from less than 20 million this year, according to IDC. While that is still a tiny fraction of the more-than-1-billion smartphones that will be sold in 2014, it is enough momentum to induce ad companies to move products out of the lab.
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A hit product would not only spur sales for Apple, Google, Samsung Electronics, it will also open up new ways to make money from apps, reach consumers and gather data. Given the small display size, the ads will be smaller than those on smartphones. "Obviously, advertisers are already experimenting," Bryan Yeager, an analyst at EMarketer says. "If we continue to see that positive growth and upward trajectory, then I think that advertising will follow."
Wearables also promise troves of unique data related to health, activities and location to marketers. So, they could send a user an electronic coupon for cookies when she is in the snack aisle of a grocery store. Or, marketers might try to sell consumers a new pair of running shoes after collecting jogging data. Devices such as computerised eyewear could even detect what a user is looking at when they're shopping, says Julie Ask, analyst, Forrester Research.
Ad companies are also preparing to market on wearables. Kiip, which already sells tools to display ads via smartphones, is looking at how the gadgets could carry promotions, according to Brian Wong, CEO, Kiip. Millennial Media's CTO Bob Hammond, says, "We recognised it as a really interesting, possible next step for advertising," and sees it as an extension of the growing number of places where ads can show up, be that on smartphones, cars or connected televisions.
Challenges
Much will depend on whether users embrace the idea. Yeager says, "You run into privacy considerations." Companies have to be mindful not to turn away users by appearing to be intrusive or using sensitive information, Yeager says.
"I think the industry has learnt a lot from how do you deal with privacy on the mobile side," says Naveen Tewari, CEO of InMobi. Google Glass, one of the most closely-watched platforms in wearables, currently doesn't allow advertising. It wasn't until 2011 - four years after the debut of the iPhone - that ads on smartphones took off, Yeager says.
Google has been granted a patent that shows how images displayed on computerised eyewear could include paid promotions. The Glass team has no plans to use this patent now or in the foreseeable future, Google says in an e-mailed statement.
One of the early smartwatch players, Pebble Technology, has spurred conversations with partners about how advertising could work, according to Asad Iqbal, head of business development. "Pebble is definitely ripe for advertising, but it may not be in the form that you see advertising traditionally - say on mobile devices or other mediums," Iqbal says. Since these gadgets don't need to be carried or stuffed in a pocket, they enable quick and casual interactions.