Author: mybuddypeted

Non brand created content has more value than we thought

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CONSUMER-GENERATED CONTENT HELPS DRIVE ONLINE SALES: Consumer-generated content (CGC) is on the rise as e-commerce continues to grow thanks to social media and product review sites. Shoppers are able to more readily spread the word of their favorite brands and products, and retailers are taking advantage to drive sales, according to a report from BazaarVoice.

Shoppers that interact with CGC are 97% more likely to convert with a retailer than customers who do not. Brands see a 78% lift in conversion rates when customers interact with CGC.
Revenue per visitor for retailers increases 106% when customers interact with CGC versus those that do not. For brands, revenue per visitor sees a 75% lift due to CGC.
Average order value among retailers gets a 10% lift when shoppers interact with CGC. For brands, AOV sees an 8% lift.
Taking advantage of the high volume of CGC is vital to retailers that want to win over potential shoppers and their trust. US consumers are heavily reliant on online reviews before making both in-store or online purchases, according to a separate report from Bazaarvoice cited by Internet Retailer. In addition to including shoppers’ social media posts in their own campaigns, brands and retailers can reprint positive feedback in brick-and-mortar locations, print advertisements, and other online ad campaigns to help drive sales.

54% of US shoppers read online reviews before making an e-commerce purchase.
39% of shoppers read online reviews before buying in-store.
82% of shoppers read reviews while inside a store immediately before making a purchase.
The most read reviews are for electronics, with 58% of shoppers performing research before buying anything in this product category in-store.
bii cgc on purchase journey

You or your neighbors? 50% of homes will be smart

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Some homes will be getting smart and others won’t.

The latest forecast of North American broadband households shows that half of them will be smart homes within four years.

Of course, this means that the other half will remain not so smart.

Most (84%) of U.S. households will have broadband this year, so this pretty well translates to most homes, according to the new data from Parks Associates.

Just a day ago, the same researchers identified that many consumers want to be able to connect the smart objects in their homes to their cars, as I wrote about here (Consumers Want Their Home And Car Connected To Each Other). But again, some, not all.

Connected home systems ultimately can incorporate devices such as wearables, smart thermostats, home security, apps and various mobile devices.

But the key is the broadband connection, through which many of the devices communicate to each other and to consumers.

Ownership of smart home products increased from 16% to 19% of U.S. broadband households in the last year and 44% of households that do not have a smart home device plan to purchase one this year.

This growth will continue and 50% of North American households with broadband will be smart homes by 2020, according to the study.

Major companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook, are active in connected homes, since they all have a vested interest in creating smart products that might appeal to consumers.

For example, Amazon’s Echo, with its Alexa natural language processing, has been teaming with many other companies that want to be enabled through Amazon’s technology, creating more of a bond with consumers.

The marketing challenge will be to keep up with messaging methods to smart homes and homes that aren’t.

And then there’s the issue of which devices will be more marketing adaptable, since some will have screens through which video communications can be sent while others will be more audio oriented, requiring a different form of messaging.

It appears there will be a divide between the number of consumers who gravitate to smart devices and those who don’t.

Kind of reminds me of the early days of smartphones.

Customer Experience is the real value of IoT

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Probably the best post I have read about the true value of IoT.

 

This misunderstanding of IoT’s role is contributing to a growing list of commercial failures by product manufacturers. Their excuses for missteps include security issues, complexities of managing product life cycles, and lack of interoperability. But most often the root cause is that IoT companies with traditional B2B business models and B2B2C distribution channels have been pushing IoT technology rather than addressing the pull of customer needs and tastes.

Do you have or know someone who has kids?

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Two very good friends (who happened to be married) have followed their passion and started a small craft-publishing business. As an entrepreneur, I applaud their willingness to bring a vision to life. As a fellow creative-minded person, I am jealous of just how great their first few projects are.

I encourage anyone who has kids, knows people with kids or knows what a kid is to buy their books.

https://www.peachwoodpublishing.com/

slideshow_1

Killer AR ideas

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Put simply, AR is the technology that superimposes computer generated imagery onto the real world when looked at through a portable device. But, as marketers have discovered, AR can be so much more.

AR has not only succeeded where QR codes failed, but it has quickly shut down any opinion that its technology is gimmicky. No longer is AR the stuff of ‘oh look at this funny animation protruding out of a cola can’. Now genuinely useful experiences can be achieved to help your customers, clients and service providers in a real-life practical way.

Let’s take a look at some of these experiences…

The first three examples are taken from Blippar’s own case studies:

https://www.clickz.com/2016/04/29/how-to-optimise-your-page-images-to-increase-site-speed?ce_b4=*|EMAIL_B64|*&utm_source=ClickZ+Global&utm_campaign=fb6c3b5ffe-02_05_2016_NL&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_33e702b796-fb6c3b5ffe-16522205

the cost of fixing technical problems and making repairs to devices estimated 10-33% of operational expense for industrial IoT deployments

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BREAKING DOWN OPERATIONAL EXPENSES FOR INDUSTRIAL IoT DEPLOYMENTS: Jasper, which provides a software platform for connecting and managing IoT devices and was recently acquired by Cisco, released a study this week breaking down operational expenses for industrial IoT deployments, and explaining how companies can save on those expenses.

The cost of operating IoT devices can vary widely for enterprises depending on a multitude of factors including the type of devices, the type of internet connection it uses, and where it is deployed. This makes it difficult for enterprises to estimate the full cost of deploying IoT devices and their ROI on IoT initiatives.

The study grouped operational expenses into three categories:

  • Network communication: This is the cost of providing a data connection for the devices. Jasper estimated that this usually makes up one-third to one-half of the operational expenses for industrial IoT deployments.
  • Administrative labor: This is the cost of managing and monitoring devices, and creating reports from their data. This makes up anywhere from 20-50% of the total operational costs of IoT initiatives, the study found. 
  • Technical support: This is the cost of fixing technical problems and making repairs to devices in the field. Jasper estimated this makes up 10-33% of operational expense for industrial IoT deployments.

Companies can reduce these expenses with certain solutions and strategies. For example, if a company’s data usage for its IoT deployments fluctuates monthly, it can opt to pay its data subscription on a per megabyte basis instead of paying the same amount every month.

The study also found large disparities in costs for devices depending on whether they were connected to a software services platform. The study estimated that administrative costs per 100,000 connected devices dropped from $2 million per year to $800,000 per year if they’re connected to a platform. Jasper is one of the major providers of such platforms, so the finding is certainly helpful for its business. However, if platform providers can provide such steep cost reductions for their enterprise clients, then it could be a major boon for enterprise IoT adoption.

The Next Wave Of Brand Engagement

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From a marketing perspective, the Internet of Things is really about engagement.
New connections among billions of objects will provide new methods and opportunities to connect with consumers.
It’s not so much about the technology involved, or what I view as the IoT plumbing, as much as it is about what can happen when so many connections are in place.
And now a new report is out suggesting that brands should look beyond the technology and understand that the intersection of mobile and IoT will drive the next wave of brand engagement.
We heard bits and pieces of this idea at the MediaPost OMMA Boston conference this week.
Forrester Research has taken a deep dive into the subject in a new study, ‘The Internet of Things Redefines Brand Engagement,’ which is based on a survey of 4,600 U.S. adults, weighted to reflect the general population.
The IoT brings several capabilities for marketers, including being able to listen to customers to analyze real behaviors, create more frequent  and intimate consumer interactions, differentiate customer experiences and build new offerings and business models, according to Forrester.
There still are short-term challenges, including the lack of mass reach due to niche consumer adoption and single-purpose applications being too limited, with abandonment but a click away.
For example, Forrester found that only 14% of U.S. consumers control or monitor home appliances or utilities using a phone or tablet, still the main control devices for connected or smart objects.
However, a third (33%) of U.S. online adults will use some form of IoT across home, wearables or car this year, with the main usage centering around wearables and smartwatches.
Brands are expected to leverage various aspects of the IoT. Here’s how various categories of brands are expected to tap into the IoT opportunity in the next couple of years, according to Forrester:
Sport, fitness, health brands – Consumer brands in this space are poised to benefit from consumers’ interest in capturing and storing personal data on wearables. Marketers are likely to develop specific engagement tactics, such as gamification to drive behaviors toward more wellness.
Automotive brands – In advance of driverless cars, which may be 10 years or so out, about 10% of U.S. online consumers this year will use smartphone-enabled, auto app accessories, that retrofit connected car features to older cars. These can provide a new gateway to consumers in cars.
Insurance companies – Home insurance companies this year will begin to broadly promote smart home discounts.
Retail – Emerging digital technologies, such as virtual reality, digital mirrors, RFID tags and beacons, are transforming retail experiences both in stores and at home. Embedding tech such as NFC tags, QR codes, image recognition and augmented reality into product packaging is an opportunity to engage at the point of sale and later. Forrester says marketers should experiment with these technologies early to learn how to extend product opportunities and experiences directly into homes of consumers.
Each brand category ultimately will be involved with consumer engagement within the Internet of Things.
The only question is which brands and agencies will be early and which will be late, both of which have obvious consequences.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/273997/internet-of-things-driving-the-next-wave-of-bra.html

Dell Teams With GE, Microsoft, OSIsoft, PTC, SAP, Software AG and Others to Advance the Internet of Things | Business Wire

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Dell today is launching the Dell IoT Solutions Partner Program for the advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and solutions. The program builds an ecosystem of partners to help customers navigate the fragmented IoT landscape and identify the right technologies to develop their IoT solutions. As a global leader in computing technology, Dell will offer participating partners access to the industry’s most robust and reliable product portfolio, world-class support and increased opportunities for incremental business growth.

“Software AG’s partnership with Dell is hugely significant for any enterprises looking for ways to simplify and cost effectively utilize the Internet of Things. Together we are bringing industrial strength real-time analytics to the edge of the IoT, significantly reducing network traffic and accelerating the ROI of IoT projects”
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The program will combine a global, multi-tiered (Executive, Associate, Registered) network of experienced Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) with Dell’s broad portfolio of IoT assets, including purpose-built, intelligent gateways and embedded PCs, security and manageability tools, data center and cloud infrastructure, and data integration and analytics software like Boomi and Statistica. These assets will help organizations develop, deploy and maintain leading-edge IoT solutions.

“Dell believes that opportunities increase when you help others win,” said Andy Rhodes, executive director, Commercial IoT Solutions, Dell. “We are passionate about collaborating with this strong group of companies and believe ISVs are critical in building the bridge between the exciting industry potential of IoT and profitable market reality.”

Dell works with Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT) organizations to create a unifying IoT strategy for bridging their differing business approaches. The IoT Partner Program will include companies across a wide range of industries that further strengthen Dell’s expertise in areas such as industrial and building automation and transportation. It launches with more than 25 partners including GE, SAP, Software AG, Microsoft, OSIsoft and others, many of which are utilizing the Dell Edge Gateway 5000 Series to power their own IoT solutions. Dell also continues to build relationships with systems integrators (SIs) with vertical expertise and deployment scale.

The Dell Edge Gateway now also supports Windows 10 for secure, reliable, and streamlined support and is Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT. Customers can depend on the Edge Gateway for seamless and security-enhanced data with the Azure IoT Suite, so they can get their projects running quickly.

Creating use case blueprints is one of the many ways Dell is working with partners to help customers speed up their IoT projects and make sense of the vast ISV landscape. Dell, Kepware, and Software AG are collaborating to develop IoT enabled predictive maintenance models utilizing distributed analytics to address the industry’s biggest operational challenges, such as unplanned downtime, overall equipment effectiveness, maintenance cost and return on assets.

With Microsoft and Blue Pillar, Dell is delivering Automated Demand Response solutions which help utilities maintain grid reliability and enable customers to realize significant value through dispatch of onsite power generation or reduction in consumption. This allows our customers to improve profitability through demand response incentives and reduce operational risks through proactive notification from the utility of potential power disruptions.

Dell and SAP are also collaborating to bring business to the edge with models designed to help address the industry’s biggest operational challenges, such as business continuity, overall equipment effectiveness, maintenance cost and return on assets.

The Dell Edge Gateway 5100 Model designed for the extended temperature ranges found in industrial environments is now available on Dell.com. Dell also launched five new accessories for the Edge Gateways, including I/O and power expansion modules, ZigBee module, CAN bus card, and IP65-rated rugged enclosure. Finally, Dell revealed new cloud-based manageability software, the Edge Device Manager (EDM), which provides centralized reporting and control of edge gateways from a single cloud-based console. Learn more about these new product updates here.

Additional partners are adding tremendous value through their specialized areas of expertise, including Azeti, Blue Pillar, Datawatch, Eigen Innovations, Flowthings, Flutura, GE, Kepware, Lynx Software, Microsoft Azure, OSIsoft, relayr, SAP, Software AG, and ThingWorx.

Partner Quotes

“Dell brings an excellent balance of purpose-built features set and the enabling security and manageability software that build credibility with IT organizations. By combining Dell’s deep roots in the industrial sector and strong focus on data-driven innovation with GE’s Predix platform, we are enabling Dell’s IoT gateways to be Predix-ready, and connect seamlessly into the Predix software stack,” said Denzil Samuels, Head of Global Channels and Alliances, GE Digital.

“Microsoft is continuing its work with Dell across our offerings for every IoT scenario, from the Azure IoT Suite to Windows 10 on the Dell Edge Gateways. Our collaboration will help both companies to ensure that our customers receive a world-class ecosystem of devices and services and time to production at industry-leading speeds,” said Caglayan Arkan, general manager, Worldwide Manufacturing, Microsoft Corp.

“Our PI System, the industry standard in enterprise infrastructure for management of real-time data and events, running on the Dell’s Edge Gateway on Windows 10 lowers the barriers to pervasive monitoring; enabling operators and engineers to capture additional sensor data without impacting or upgrading traditional automation and control systems,” said Richard Beeson, Chief Technology Officer, OSIsoft. “Our partnership with Dell to deliver IoT data to PI allows our joint customers to receive substantial enterprise insights and value.”

“Software AG’s partnership with Dell is hugely significant for any enterprises looking for ways to simplify and cost effectively utilize the Internet of Things. Together we are bringing industrial strength real-time analytics to the edge of the IoT, significantly reducing network traffic and accelerating the ROI of IoT projects,” said Eric Duffaut, Chief Customer Officer (CCO), Software AG. “Our Streaming Analytics Platform together with Dell’s purpose-built edge gateways allow customers to process large amounts of real-time data close to where the action is. This in turn drives faster automated decisions and appropriate digital responses locally, only sending a subset of critical data to the core for further analysis and action.”

Additional Links

http://delliotpartners.com/
Dell’s IoT Strategy and Partner Programs: Part One and Part Two by Laurie McCabe, Partner, SMB Group
Follow us at @Dell on Twitter and Dell Internet of Things on LinkedIn

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160419006304/en/Dell-Teams-GE-Microsoft-OSIsoft-PTC-SAP

If Apple was in talks to buy Tesla, this won’t help.

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Apple has reportedly poached a top Tesla execute, Chris Porritt, Tesla’s former VP of engineering, according to Fortune. Porrittt will likely join Apple’s secretive car project, dubbed Project Titan.

Prior to working at Tesla, Porritt was Aston Martin’s chief engineer and was also a principal engineer at Land Rover.

Apple has never publicly acknowledged that it is developing a car, but the existence of Project Titan is an open secret among tech companies and automakers. Apple has hired hundreds of automotive engineers to work on the project, many of whom previously worked at Tesla. Reports surfaced last year that Apple had been poaching so many engineers from Tesla that it was slowing down Tesla’s production.

Porritt said last year that he met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk “three to four times per week,” so he brings with him a great deal of knowledge about Tesla’s business model, production processes and supply lines, and future plans. Given that Apple is expected to make an electric, connected vehicle, just as Tesla has, that knowledge could be just as valuable to Apple as Porritt’s engineering expertise.

Apple’s car project lost its leader, Steve Zadesky, a former Ford engineer, earlier this year. It also was hit with a hiring freeze after an unfavorable review by Jony Ive, Apple’s design chief, found a lack of progress at the project, Apple Insider reported. The hiring of Porritt seems like an effort to reset the car project and make progress towards its goal of developing a car by 2019.

Internet of Things (IoT) Market Soaring at 33.3% CAGR to 2021

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The worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) market is projected to hit a CAGR of 33.3% to 2021 driven by rising need for operational efficiency and increasing penetration of connected devices while the services segment is expected to gain maximum growth during forecast period.

Complete report on global Internet of Things (IoT) market spread across 154 pages, profiling 10 companies and supported with 65 tables and 47 figures is now available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/internet-of-things-iot-market-by-software-solution-real-time-streaming-analytics-security-data-management-remote-monitoring-network-bandwidth-management-platform-service-application-domain-and-region-st-to-2021-market-report.html .

The growth of Internet of Things (IoT) Market is driven by factors such as development of cheaper and smarter sensors, rising adoption of cloud computing, evolution of high speed networking technologies, and increasing penetration of connected devices. In terms of segments, the Services segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the increasing penetration of connected devices and higher adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions across industry verticals. Managed services segment is expected to grow at the highest rate between 2016 and 2021. Due to the increasing technological adoption, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is projected to witness the fastest growth rate among regions.

In the process of determining and verifying, the market size for several segments and sub segments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews were conducted with key people. In Tier 1 (20%), Tier 2 (42%) and Tier 3 (38%) companies were contacted for primary interviews. The interviews were conducted with various key people such as C-level (55%), Director Level (26%) and others (19%) from various key organizations operating in the global Internet of Things (IoT) market. The primary interviews were conducted worldwide covering regions such as North America (47%), Europe (32%) and APAC (21%).

The key vendors profiled in the Internet of Things (IoT) market research report such as  IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., SAP SE, PTC, Inc., General Electric, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Symantec Corporation, Amazon Web Services and Bosch Software Innovation. Order a copy of Internet of Things (IoT) Market by Software Solution (Real-Time Streaming Analytics, Security, Data Management, Remote Monitoring, & Network Bandwidth Management), Platform, Service, Application Domain, and Region – Global Forecast to 2021 research report at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/contacts/purchase?rname=527884 .

The latest trends in Internet of Things (IoT) include growing IoT integration across different industry verticals, diversification of IT giants toward providing analytics and security software, and cost benefits of predictive maintenance. The availability of cloud deployment options for Internet of Things (IoT) solutions has further provided a huge opportunity.

On a related note, another research on Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Cities Market Global Forecast to 2020 says, increasing demand for intelligent cities and IoT devices is expected to drive the Internet of Things (IoT) in smart cities market. Data management solutions sub segment holds the most promising potential for the next five years. The overall market size is estimated to grow from USD 51.96 billion in 2015 to USD 147.51 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 23.2%. Companies like Bosch Software Innovation Gmbh, CISCO Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, Intel Corporation, IBM Corporation, Harman International Industries (ADITI TECHNOLOGIES), Enevo Oy Technologies, Infineon Technologies AG, Symantec Corporation and Schneider Electric Software, Llc. have been profiled in this 135 pages research report at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/internet-of-things-iot-in-smart-cities-market-by-solutions-remote-monitoring-data-management-platform-application-device-management-application-building-automation-energy-management-transportation-glo-st-to-2020-market-report.html .

Explore more reports on the Information Technology & Telecommunication market at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/reports/information-technology-telecommunication.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/internet-of-things-iot-market-soaring-at-333-cagr-to-2021-576025721.html