For those of us involved in some capacity in “the industry” – some who can remember as far back as wood-grain boxes that enabled users to watch twenty channels – we have confidently applied a name to the business: broadband.
Our CEO Michael Caccavale and I have been talking a lot about a recent eMarketer report on smart homes, entitled “The End of Interruptive Marketing as We Know It.” In a three-part blog series, we’ve discussed the emergence of smart homes and what it all means for marketers. And while marketers’ roles are clearly evolving in this space, the question remains: which industries stand to gain the most from the growth of smart homes?
eMarketer recently released a really interesting report on smart homes, entitled “The End of Interruptive Marketing as We Know It.” Our CEO Michael Caccavale isn’t new to the smart home game (here’s a throwback to a fun piece in AdAge) so we sat down to look at the report and talk shop about what’s coming next. In this three-part series, we’ll talk about the emergence of smart homes, the challenges and opportunities for marketers, and which industries stand to gain the most from this new frontier.
It’s no secret that technology continues to outpace even the nimblest marketing plans. So how do we outsmart smart homes and stay relevant to consumers? I sat with our CEO Michael Caccavale to discuss.
Gary Satterfield and I go way back. We met while I was working on a marketing research project for Gary twenty years ago at a utility. And he’s since gone on to become an expert in the retail energy space and was kind enough to sit down with me and my team to talk shop. The topic of deregulation, removing restrictions in a particular industry, ran a thread through much of our conversation. This has implications for consumers – and therefore, marketers.
As marketers – and as consumers – connecting the dots between previous and future behavior is the key to appreciating a good offer when we see one. And today, that’s not as simple as recommending a fun pair of boots after I bought designer jeans. With our offices, mobile devices, and homes all connected and talking to each other, being on time and on message is increasingly complicated. I recently sat down with our CEO Michael Caccavale to talk about the challenges and opportunities that marketers can uncover when we look at the smart home market.
United States energy suppliers face a challenge that is not unique to their industry and yet each and every one of the suppliers feels the pain in one way or another. Deregulation has forced energy companies to consider new ways to profit for the first time ever: to diversify their product offering and market for the first time. An increasingly crowded field of service providers offer an ever more varied assortment of pricing, packages, promotions, and add-ons, including energy. While this is happening, domestic utilities consumers are becoming more sensitive to the value of the service compared to the price they're paying. Consumers expect to be able to purchase only the services that they require based on their individual needs. And they are becoming more discerning on customer service when they need individualized attention – and more vocal when their expectations are not met.
