Flash Forward to the Future

Some of the team from eppiq Marketing attended the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce International Technology Conference last week.

The conference is in its fifth year and was held at Microsoft HQ in Reading. The day explored innovative advances in technologies, showcasing the latest tools and methodologies needed for succeeding in an ever growing and advanced world.

 

Focus on moving forward

 

This year the key focus was around innovation and entrepreneurship. Without innovation there is no progress, without entrepreneurs there is no action. Some of the most famous entrepreneurs of all time include Walt Disney, J.K Rowling, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

Steve Jobs famously dropped out of college because his family couldn’t afford his tuition. He figured out he could attend classes by auditing them and credits a calligraphy class as his inspiration for the Mac’s typography and font design. His love of electronics even led him to approach Bill Hewlett (Hewlett-Packard) for parts for a project, and Hewlett actually gave him a summer job on a production line. His desire and innovations led him to an amazing career and earned him the title “The Grandfather of the Digital Revolution.” (Source: www.inc.com)

 

Expectations

 

Steve Wells the COO of Fast Future Publishing spoke at the conference and said: “if we always do what we’ve always done, we always get what we’ve always had.” Technology changes people and their expectations, businesses fail due to not understanding the customer’s need.

 

Inspire and Enhance Innovation

 

Norbert Morawetz, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at Henley Business School, discussed the need to boost entrepreneurship and encourage continuous learning.

This is relevant in all areas of life and business. Just because something works doesn’t mean it can’t be better. Think about a mobile phone, when first introduced the thought of being able to contact people whilst on the move was exciting. We could make and receive phone calls whilst we were away from the home or office. Today a mobile phone has become a lifeline! Emails, reminders, alarms, fitness tracker, heart rate monitor, social media hub, banking. even the ability to control household appliances such as heating and lighting. Innovation has taken the mobile phone from 0-100 in just over 30 years. Inventors in smartphone laboratories across the world looked at all the possible things consumers could want and where technology allowed – created apps.

 

Digital Marketing and Innovation

 

The first clickable web-ad banner appeared in 1993, swiftly followed by the first e-commerce transaction in 1994. As global internet usage rose, mainly due to the availability of personal computers, more and more marketing opportunities came about. Email became an instant marketing success and search engines made the whole “internet” process straight forward helping users find the information, products and services they were looking for.

The introduction of social media sites pushed inbound marketing opportunities to the foreground as people were sharing more and more personal information online. This made it possible to track patterns and trends of behaviour, then use this data to generate specific marketing plans and strategies.

As we mentioned earlier the mobile phone has changed beyond recognition from a simple communication device, the first modern smartphone was produced by BlackBerry in 2003 and allowed email and web browsing but it was only really used by business professionals. The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 catapulted the smartphone to the commercial market and today smartphone ownership in the UK is 76% with a quarter of smartphone owners making no voice calls! Mobile phones have now become digital marketing goldmines – right in the consumer’s pocket.

The Future and Beyond

 

The conference gave us an insight into the future with predictions from industry specialists. The combination of the physical and digital worlds leads to mass advancements in Augmented Reality. The medical industries are constantly finding new and innovative ways to approach various conditions, smart glasses for example are helping people with degenerative eyesight.

Innovation is about thinking of what you want to achieve, having a clear vision and working to that. The importance of a digital marketing strategy is key, knowing what you want and how you are going to achieve that. For example if you want people to visit a particular page, you might have a PPC campaign, one one that page consumers could be prompted to sign up to a newsletter, cue email marketing campaign, social media “like” buttons to increase awareness. Each stage of a good digital marketing campaign has a desired outcome.

The future is vast in the world of technology, digital marketing tactics are only set to become better with the constant advancements and innovations. As technology evolves so does marketing and those who rise to the top will be those who keep an eye of the future and adapt with it.

 

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